Bolivia: March for constitutional reform - full text
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President Evo Morales on Oct. 20 participated in a demonstration in La Paz (the capital) in support of his proposed new constitution intended to empower the country's indigenous peoples and promote nationalisation of resources and industries. Tens of thousands of people were reported to be participating in the demonstration, which marked the end of a mass march from Caracollo to La Paz that had begun on Oct. 13. On Oct. 21, Congress (the bicameral legislature) agreed that the proposed constitution would be put to a referendum.
Immediate Context
Bolivia's constitutional conflict erupted in widespread civil unrest in September, as opponents of President Morales stormed government buildings, sabotaged natural gas pipelines, and battled with government supporters in the opposition-controlled departments of Beni, Pando, Santa Cruz, and Tarija. At least 15 government supporters were shot dead and more than 35 others were injured during violent clashes in Pando on Sept. 11, prompting the government to impose martial law in that department on Sept. 12.
The governor of Pando governor was arrested and charged with genocide on Sept. 16, after being accused of having hired foreigners to perpetrate the massacre, the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency reported on Sept. 18.
On Sept. 18 talks between the opposition prefects and government officials opened in the city of Cochabamba (the capital of Cochabamba department) with the aim of addressing the underlying causes of the constitutional crisis.
Reaction and Outlook
Fearing the possibility of further unrest in Bolivia, the heads of state of member countries of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) held an emergency summit in Santiago (the capital of Chile) on Sept. 15. The summit concluded with the issuing of a statement in which UNASUR declared its overwhelming support for Morales and warned that any attempts to remove him from power or destabilise Bolivia's institutional order "would not be tolerated".
The crisis also strained Bolivia's diplomatic relations with the USA, when, on Sept. 10, Morales expelled the USA's ambassador to Bolivia, after accusing the US government of fomenting the violence in the provinces. In a tit-for-tat move on Sept. 11, the US government expelled Bolivia's ambassador to the USA.
Historical Context
Bolivia was once a part of the ancient Incan empire. After the Spaniards defeated the Incas in the 16th century, Bolivia's indigenous population was reduced to slavery. The difference in power and wealth between the two groups has persisted to the present day.
Under the leadership of Simon Bolivar, the country broke away from Spanish rule in 1825. Much of its subsequent history consisted of a series of nearly 200 coups and countercoups, often pitting indigenous workers, such as miners and farmers, against the wealthy descendants of the European colonialists.
During the 19th and 20th centuries, Bolivia lost access to the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific War of 1879-83 against Chile and Peru. The Chaco War (1932-35) against Paraguay led to the deaths of nearly 100,000 troops and left both countries economically weakened.
The National Revolutionary Movement (MNR) emerged as an alliance of indigenous and workers' groups. In 1951, its leader, Victor Paz Estenssoro, won the most votes but not the constitutionally required majority in elections, so power was handed to a military regime. However, in 1952 the MNR led an uprising that overthrew the military regime.
Under the reformist presidencies of Paz Estenssoro (1952-56; 1960-64) wealth redistribution and nationalisation programmes were instituted and indigenous people benefited from improved education and the introduction of universal suffrage. Paz Estenssoro was himself ousted in a military coup in 1964, and in 1967 impoverished workers again attempted to overthrow the government, led by Cuban revolutionary Ernesto ('Che') Guevara. US forces helped to suppress the uprising and Guevara was betrayed and killed.
In 1980, Gen. Luis Garcia Meza carried out a violent coup that nullified an election that would have brought a government of the moderate-left to power. His government (1980-81) was accused of permitting human rights abuses, allowing narcotics trafficking, and mismanaging the economy. In 1995 he was extradited from Brazil and began serving a 30-year sentence, having been convicted in absentia of murder, looting the national treasury, corruption, and abuse of constitutional power.
Following elections in 1985, Paz Estenssoro again became president, leading a coalition of the MNR and the Movement of the Revolutionary Left. When he took office, however, Bolivia was collapsing economically. GDP and exports had been declining for several years and inflation reached an annual rate of 24,000 per cent. Paz Estenssoro imposed unpopular economic austerity measures to try to control inflation, which were continued by his successor, Jaime Paz Zamora, who became president in 1989. When the MNR's Gonzálo Sánchez de Lozada was named president by a coalition in Congress in 1993, he launched a privatisation programme under which investors acquired 50 per cent ownership and management control of the state oil corporation, telecommunications system, airlines, railways, and electric utilities.
Following the inconclusive 1997 elections, the former dictator Gen. Hugo Bánzer Suárez, leader of the right-wing Democratic Nationalist Action (ADN), formed a coalition to defeat the MNR candidate and secure the presidency. The Bánzer government continued the free market and privatisation policies of its predecessor and acted decisively to curb coca cultivation, permitting physical destruction of crops.
The MNR candidate Sánchez de Lozada won the 2002 elections on a platform of job creation, anti-corruption, and social inclusion. Evo Morales of the Movement Toward Socialism came second with almost 21 per cent of the vote. Mass demonstrations forced Sánchez de Lozada to resign in 2003.
Morales won elections in 2005 and became the first indigenous person to be elected president in the history of Bolivia. He had stood on a platform of redrafting Bolivia's constitution, nationalising hydrocarbon industries, and reforming provincial powers. His support of coca farmers producing the leaf for traditional purposes brought him into conflict with US counter-narcotics policies, which demanded total eradication of the plant. He also exacerbated tensions with the USA by forging a strong relationship with Venezuela's socialist President Hugo Chávez Frías.
In August 2006 Morales established a constituent assembly to re-write the constitution with the aim of empowering the indigenous population. When the proposed new constitution was approved by Congress in December 2007, the governors of four resource-rich provinces (Beni, Pando, Santa Cruz, and Tarija) responded by unilaterally declared the provinces to be autonomous, creating a constitutional crisis.
