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Contributions from
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Monitor
Bolivia split over government plans
Male circumcision reduces AIDS risk
German volunteers in developing countries
81 journalists killed in 2006
Debate on impact of Paris Declaration
Much remains unresolved in EPA talks
Trade in blood diamonds continues
US to boost the military attention it pays Africa
Fewer wars and cases of genocide
02/2007
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[ Political unrest ]
Bolivia split over government plans
One year after president Evo Morales took office, the stability of the Bolivian state is being tested. In January, tensions between the opposition and those who support Morales led to violent clashes in Cochabamba. Several lives were lost. Tension primarily stems from the constitutional reforms planned by Morales, who wants to change the relationship between the federal government and the provinces and intends to implement a land reform.
In a recent report on Bolivia, the International Crisis Group (ICG), a private-sector think tank, regards tensions as an expression of the increasing estrangement between the country’s western and eastern regions. Eastern Bolivia is economically much better off, thanks to oil and gas as well as large landholdings of export-oriented agro-business. In contrast, small-scale subsistence farming predominates in the western highlands.
The dispute over a new constitution escalated when the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), Morales’ party, used its majority in the Constituent Assembly to modify procedures, defining its simple majority as sufficient for taking all important decisions. The opposition reacted with strikes and protests. Before, proceedings in the assembly had not moved on for months.
Morales wants to “refound” Bolivia by means of a constitutional reform, granting indigenous people and other disadvantaged segments of the population more rights. The opposition considers these plans a threat to its clientele’s current standing. Members denounce Morales’ reform plans as an “ethnic project” that does not represent the will of the majority in the country.
The International Crisis Group suggests appointing an international mediator between the two sides. A possible compromise could make simple majority in the Constituent Assembly suffice for routine decisions and important issues depend on a two-thirds majority.
One of the contested issues is regional autonomy. A referendum in summer 2006 exposed the country’s deep division. In the east, a majority voted for the regions to have more decision-making powers, while the west was opposed. Nationally, 57 % voted against stronger devolution of powers. Next, the central government blocked all further debate on this subject in the constitutional negotiations. It suspects that the regions are demanding more autonomy in order to sabotage land reforms and to secure income from natural resources.
Meanwhile, the provincial authorities in the east worry that the central government might restrict their jurisdiction. In Congress, the MAS introduced a bill that would allow parliament to impeach provincial prefects. That step fuelled opposition fears, and six of the nine provincial governments broke off all contact with La Paz in November. President Morales, in turn, justified the bill, arguing that it was necessary to do more in terms of monitoring accountability. According to the ICG, the most urgent step for resolving the dispute over regional autonomy would be establishing a rule for distributing revenues from the extraction of natural gas.
As for land reform, the ICG believes that both sides need to become more willing to compromise. In late 2006, Congress passed a law that provides for the expropriation and reallocation of unused landholdings. The opposition considers this law a threat to Bolivia’s export-oriented agriculture.
According to the ICG, the government should now ensure that the new owners of reallocated land use it productively – by providing investment capital and training, for example. On the other hand, the ICG wants large Bolivian agro-businesses to give up their fundamentalist opposition and instead cooperate on land-reform plans with the goals of more equitable land allocation and, at the same time, achieving maximum productivity. (ell)
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