[News] Bolivia - MAS, opposition prepare for recall referendums

[Anti-Imperialist News]

http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/18236

Bolivia
MAS, opposition prepare for recall referendums

July 22, 2008 By Federico Fuentes
Source: <http://www.greenleft.org.au/2008/759/39206>Green Left Weekly

With the victory of an unlikely opposition 
candidate in the June 29 election for prefect 
(governor) of Chuquisaca, the number of 
opposition-controlled prefectures increased to seven out of nine.

The result came as the right-wing opposition 
plots the extension of its regionalised 
resistance against Bolivia's first indigenous president, Evo Morales.

Sabina Cuellar ­ a former peasant leader, 
indigenous woman, graduate of the government's 
literacy program and former constituent assembly 
delegate for the governing party, Movement 
Towards Socialism (MAS) ­ will replace 
evangelical pastor and former MAS prefect David Sanchez.

Sanchez is now living in exile in Peru after 
resigning earlier this year following violent 
clashes between urban mestizo (mixed blood) 
sectors and indigenous peasants in the department's capital, Sucre.

Racist attacks against indigenous constituent 
assembly delegates meeting to draft a new 
constitution for the country forced the assembly 
to reconvene, without the presence of opposition 
delegates, in a military compound where they 
finally approved the controversial document in 
December last year. The draft still awaits popular approval at the polls.

Heading an anti-Morales alliance that campaigned 
in favour of greater regional autonomy, Cuellar 
won with 55% of the vote; the MAS candidate 
obtained 41%. Although in the city of Sucre, 
Cuellar won 71% to 24%, in the rural area the vote was reversed 33% to 64%.

Pro-autonomy prefect

Not long after winning the vote, Cuellar publicly 
refused to meet with Morales, stating she would 
push for a vote on autonomy in Chuquisaca. In the 
2006 national autonomy referendum, Chuquisaca 
voted overwhelming against autonomy, with 62% 
voting "No". However, the pro-autonomy forces 
hope that the new situation can consolidate 
Chuquisaca as part of the pro-autonomy bloc of departments.

Cuellar's victory comes as the national MAS 
government gears up for the August 10 recall 
referendums on the president, vice-president and 
remaining eight prefects. Still uncertain is the 
date for the vote on the new constitution, aimed 
at institutionalising the government's indigenous 
and national-popular project. The central plank 
of this project is the inclusion of Bolivia's 
historically excluded indigenous majority within 
a "plurinational" state, and greater state control over natural resources.

However, strong resistance from the right-wing 
elites threatens to slow down, if not halt, the 
progress of MAS's self-proclaimed "democratic and cultural revolution".

Since May 4, the four departments that make up 
the opposition-controlled "half moon" in the east 
­ Santa Cruz, Tarija, Pando and Beni ­ have 
organised referendums on autonomy statutes, 
deemed unconstitutional by the government and National Electoral Court.

While the opposition have claimed overwhelming 
victories, with "Yes" votes of 70-85%, the 
national government has been quick to highlight 
the abstention rates of 35-45%, in the context of 
threats and violent attacks against opponents of the autonomy push.

The proposed "autonomy" statutes are aimed at 
undermining the power of the central state by 
handing over enormous power to the prefectures ­ 
including control over natural resources and distribution of land titles.

The push has been driven by the elites tied to 
large agribusiness and gas transnationals located 
in Santa Cruz (origin of 30% of Bolivia's GDP and 
over 50% of tax revenue, and home to 47.6% of 
foreign investment in the country). These elites 
have gradually been displaced from national power 
as indigenous, peasant, worker and social 
movements have surged forward, overthrown 
presidents and united behind MAS's national project for change.

Retreating to their trenches in the east, where 
they continue to maintain a strong political, 
social and cultural hegemony, the elites have 
been able to mobilise significant sections of the 
population in the half moon through a discourse 
that combines railing against "La Paz 
centralism", promoting long-held sentiments of 
"crucenista identity", and outright racism.

When the sensitive issue of where Bolivia's 
capital should be located was brought up in the 
constituent assembly, the eastern-based 
opposition was quick to stoke controversy about 
the issue to gain influence in another 
department. While Sucre is the historic capital 
of Bolivia, all the state powers were shifted to 
La Paz following the 1899 Federal War between 
conservative forces based in the south and liberals in the west around La Paz.

The hope that returning the political capital to 
Sucre could help fuel development and employment 
mobilised important sectors of the city, 
particularly students and middle class. This led 
to violent clashes, as peasant MAS supporters 
marched on Sucre to defend the government and assembly.

Two economic models

Following Cuellar's victory, the prefects of the 
half moon, organised through the National 
Democratic Coordinator (CONALDE), announced they 
would reverse their June 23 decision to oppose 
the recall referendums on the president, vice-president and remaining prefects.

The Senate, controlled by the opposition party 
Podemos, after allowing MAS's law on holding the 
referendums to gather dust for over four months, 
approved the law in May. This move surprised the 
pro-autonomy forces and raised excitement in the 
presidential palace about the prospects of 
removing at least two opposition prefects, with a 
further two in serious jeopardy.

Speaking in Santa Cruz on July 17, Morales said 
that what was at stake in the August 10 
referendums was more than just who would be 
president or prefect. "Here there are two 
economic models at play, two economic programs: 
neoliberalism or the process of change. That is 
what is in discussion", he stated as he handed 
over funds for the implementation of 21 potable 
water projects in the department worth US$1.8 billion.

Counting on a solid voting base of some 90% in 
the Chapare coca region, 70% in El Alto, similar 
proportions in the countryside, and a base vote 
of 30% in Santa Cruz, the government is pretty 
sure it will match its 53.7% vote obtained in the 2005 presidential elections.

However, the vote in Chuquisaca reflects the 
growing tensions between the MAS government and 
urban middle-class mestizo sectors, many of whom 
voted for Morales with the hope of returning stability to the country.

It also reveals the advances made by the right in 
pushing back MAS's drive for national hegemony.

To counter this, MAS has been working to shore up 
some fragile alliances built since 2005, 
particularly with the Movement of those Without 
Fear (MSM), grouped around La Paz mayor Juan Del 
Granado and made up of middle-class professionals and intellectuals.

International attacks

Meanwhile, tensions between the government and 
Washington have been rising, as more information 
comes out regarding the funding of opposition 
groups in Bolivia via the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

Last month, Washington recalled its ambassador to 
Bolivia following massive protests outside the US 
embassy, which the US accused Morales of inciting.

The protests were over the decision to give 
asylum in the US to former minister of defence 
Carlos Sanchez Berzain, known as the "minister of 
death" for his role in brutal repression that 
left some 70 people dead during an October 2003 
uprising that overthrew President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada.

The Bolivian government has requested the 
extradition of both men to face trial over their roles in the massacre.

Attacks have also come from transnationals. The 
government faces legal challenges from Telecom 
Italia following the May 1 nationalisation of its 
subsidiary Entel, which controlled 80% of the 
long-distance market and 70% of the country's mobile telephone services.

The move was the latest in a wave of 
nationalisations in strategic sectors such as 
gas, telecommunications and railways.

In response, Bolivia seized some $49 million 
transferred by Telecom Italia from Entel to a 
British bank. It is also seeking to seize another 
$31 million transferred to a US bank prior to the 
carrier's nationalisation, because of the 
company's failure to meet investment commitments 
and its $645 million debt to the state in fines and back taxes.

Bolivia has refused to allow the World Bank to 
arbitrate the dispute, citing the fact that it 
withdrew from the World Bank's International 
Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes last year.

The nationalisation of Bolivia's largest tin 
smelter has also been challenged by its former 
owner, Glencore, with which the government is 
also in discussions regarding two other mines.

In June, to deal with these conflicts, in June 
Morales created a new ministerial post to defend 
the country from attacks against its nationalisation policies.

On July 14, Bolivian gas minister Carlos Villegas 
announced that Venezuela would spend $883 million 
to boost Bolivian oil and natural gas output by 
2013 ­ nearly 50% more than it originally promised its Andean ally.

AP reported that "about three-quarters of the 
Venezuelan money will finance exploration and 
production at southern Bolivian fields run by 
Petroandina, a joint enterprise between Bolivia's 
and Venezuela's state oil companies".

At a public rally with Morales in Santa Cruz, 
Brazilian President Ignacio "Lula" de Silva and 
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced on 
July 17 that they would contribute loans of $230 
million and $300 million respectively to aid 
integration of the departments of La Paz, Beni 
and Pando through constructing highways.

Earlier in the day, clashes involving police, the 
opposition and government supporters occurred as 
Morales arrived in the city. Extremist youth 
opposition groups have vowed to not allow Morales 
to campaign in the east over the three weeks leading up to the referendum.





Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20080722/7b75f74d/attachment.htm>