La Relación entre KOLLAS y CAMBAS

Bolivia is a country with an ethnic, bio, cultural, and linguistic diversity. Here there is an interesting classification of people: Kollas and Cambas. Kollas are the people living at the high altitudes of Bolivia like La Paz(3600M) and Potosi (4000M).　On the other hand, Cambas mean the people living at the low altitudes especially in Santa Cruz (450M).

My Spanish teacher Martin, as a real Kolla born and raised in La Paz, say "The Cambas are often compared to Texans in the USA. They are into drinks, parties, women, superficial beauty, sex, and those kinds of vanities, Nats. Those folks at Santa Cruz are too proud of themselves. They think they are the most important people in Bolivia!" Obviously he is saying that La Paz is more important than Santa Cruz, criticizing the Cambas people .

This is just a tiny antagonism ---sometimes rather hilarious to me though--- at the personal level. In fact, however, at the political level there are serious conflicts between Kollas and Cambas. Commercially speaking, Santa Cruz is the most powerful prefecture, yielding the most profits of the entire country. Yet, practically, La Paz is the capital of Bolivia, possessing the political functions and most of authority of Bolivia. Cambas, or the people in Santa Cruz, are eager to get independent from Bolivia, the poorest country in the whole of Central and South American countries in terms of GNP, to become another country.