LA PAZ (AFP) – For a month every year, thousands of Bolivians throng the stalls of an unusual market in La Paz, shopping for tiny toy houses and wads of fake cash – substitutes for the real-life objects their hearts desire.
Customers of the Alasita market believe the trinkets, “blessed” by religious leaders, will somehow pave the way for the real thing.
This year, with Bolivia in economic and political turmoil, few items have been as popular as stacks of worthless, paper dollar notes similar to Monopoly money.
“The dollar is disappearing in Bolivia,” said Vilma Mariaca, a homemaker who said she bought some fake greenbacks “in the hopes that we will have more” real ones.
She did not buy a single boliviano – the national currency that has lost some 40 per cent of its value to the US dollar since 2023.
At the same time, the Bolivian government is running low on dollar reserves – forcing it to limit imports of subsidised fuel, causing shortages that have led to numerous protests.
Set in one of the world’s highest cities, the Alasita market offers a stunning array of miniatures to choose from. There are tiny buses and trucks, jewellery boxes, fuel canisters, stoves, visa cards, even replicas of university degrees.
In a reflection of recent shortages, there are tiny bottles of cooking oil, miniscule bags of rice, and canisters of diesel.
Pocket-sized houses, too, can be purchased, or for those on a budget, the doors, windows or construction materials needed to build one.
Some items go for less than a dollar, while a stack of fake bills costs about USD2.
A house can fetch anything from USD10 to USD30 depending on the size and ornateness.
In an age-old tradition inspired by El Ekeko – the indigenous Aymara deity of abundance – the purchased items are “blessed” by shamans clutching bouquets of smoking incense, then taken home to put on display.
Trader Rosa Vito, 75, insists the system is foolproof.
“When I was young, I bought a miniature house. We didn’t have a penny. And my husband said: ‘What are you buying? It’s expensive!’ I bought the little house with faith, and within a few years, I bought my (real) house.”
Many clients, she told AFP, “have had their wishes come true”.
Mine worker Luis Sosa, 40, said his purchases at the market last year brought him good luck – particularly the dollar notes.
“I didn’t lack any, I even had more than I needed,” he told AFP.
