Bolivia turns back the clock in bid to rediscover identity and 'southernness'

Foreign minister says the horological initiative is intended to help people find their indigenous roots

From Sam Jones and Sara Shahriari in La Paz, the Guardian, Wednesday 25 June 2014 18.09 BST

In the latest – and by far the most literal – sign that times are changing in Bolivia, the numerals on the clock that adorns the congress building in La Paz have been reversed and the hands set to run anticlockwise in proud affirmation of the Andean nation's "southernness".

According to Bolivia's foreign minister, David Choquehuanca, the horological initiative is intended to help Bolivians rediscover their indigenous roots.

"We're in the south and, as we're trying to recover our identity, the Bolivian government is also recovering its sarawi, which means 'way' in Aymara," he said. "In keeping with our sarawi – or Nan, in Quechua – our clocks should turn to the left."

You can also buy 'left-handed' clocks in the UK (and I suppose anywhere else).