From any vantage point in La Paz, Bolivian President Evo Morales’ new presidential residence is hard to miss. The 29-story glass-fronted skyscraper towers over the low-rise historic center of the city.
For Morales and his supporters, it represents a new Bolivia, a break from a painful colonial past. For others, it is an overpriced vanity project aimed at glorifying the nation’s longest-serving leader.
Public disquiet turned to outrage when it was reported that Morales would enjoy a 1,068m2 suite fitted out with a jacuzzi, sauna, gym and massage room. Other luxuries included a private elevator, according to architectural plans leaked to local newspaper Pagina Siete.
Photo: Reuters
Bolivian Minister of Communications Gisela Lopez refused to confirm or deny the report, but said the high-rise had been built “for the people” without running over a US$34 million budget, the state news agency reported.
However, the building has also become a focal point for growing anger at Morales’ refusal to relinquish power after 12 years and his vow to run for a fourth term in next year’s elections.
Amid street protests, Morales inaugurated the building on Thursday last week.
“We leave behind the palace of a colonial state to come here to the People’s Great House of the plurinational state of Bolivia,” he said in a speech, which listed the many presidents and independence leaders who had been killed inside or near the old palace during Bolivia’s tumultuous past.
At 120m tall, the People’s Great House, or Casa Grande del Pueblo, looms over the old government palace, which it replaces.
Known as the Burned Palace, or Palacio Quemado, the old building — which was twice gutted by fire — is to become a museum.
Its replacement flouts municipal bylaws prohibiting high-rise constructions in the city center, but Morales used his party’s parliamentary majority to override the ban.
“It’s an insult to the country,” political analyst Carlos Toranzo said.
“[Morales] wants to immortalize himself with a building which is not only anti-aesthetic, but also anti-ethical because in Bolivia we don’t have even the right to be ill,” he added, referring to the city’s under-resourced main hospital.
Opposition leader Samuel Doria said the building should be turned into a cancer hospital, which he said is an urgent necessity.
However, Morales has brushed off criticism, saying the construction would save government spending by housing, along with the presidential and administrative offices — five ministries that currently rent quarters costing about US$20 million a year.
Topped with a helipad and with three underground floors, the tower has architectural features resembling Tiwanaku, Bolivia’s preeminent archeological site.
It features indigenous symbols such as the chakana, or Andean cross, and has several large murals, some of which depict workers overcoming social injustice.
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