The recent conflicts in Bolivia are a portrait of Latin America’s degree of stupidity.
Evo Morales was elected president in 2005 with a Party called Movimiento al Socialismo (Movement towards Socialism), under which are different social movements and workers unions such as the “cocaleros” , or coca growers union.
Like other leftist movements in the continent, Morales blamed everything that was wrong in Bolivia on the old colonizers, the Spanish, and on what they think is the new Empire, the United States.
To start with the old enemy, the Spanish and their descendents, the white upper class that ruled Bolivia for the last 500 years, Evo’s government took measures to oblige every school to teaching Indian languages in order to “decolonize the mindset and the Bolivian State”. One of his ministers also suggested that Catholicism should not be the official religion anymore, but gave up his project under a massive protests of Bolivian catholics. Evo also wanted to start land reforms, which were particularly harmful to the farmers of Santa Cruz Department. But most important of all, Evo Morales wants a new Constitution for Bolivia, which will change democratic representation based on ethnic origins. So, in some regions a group of 20 indigenous people of some ethnic group will actually have the same representation than a group of 100,000 white men.
On his battle against what he calls US Capitalism, Evo Morales nationalized the Bolivian gas reserves and his soldiers took 53 installations of private gas exploring companies such as the Brazilian refineries of Petrobras. Brazilian leftist government gently agreed. Evo also nationalized Swiss metal company Glencore.
These past months, 5 out of Bolivia’s 9 departments revolted against La Paz. The opposition governments demand more autonomy for their regions and do not agree at all with Morales ideas for the new Constitution.
Up to 2005, department governments were appointed by the president. Today, they have limited power and even simple decisions as bus routes taken in La Paz. Evo’s government also changed the law the let the departments keep part of the royalties and revenues from gas exploration.
The conflicts on the departments provoked the death of 18 people; hundreds were hurt as Morales mobilized his unions against the opposition. Governor of Pando department was arrested, opposition responded bombing gas ducts, which had a direct impact on La Paz finances but on Brazilian industry as well.
When everything went wrong, Evo blamed the Americans (!) expelling the US Ambassador from Bolivia. In solidarity, Hugo Chavez did the same, threatened to send his army to Bolivia to help his friend and invited the Russian navy to some military exercises in Caribbean waters. Governments of Brazil, Ecuador and Argentina also expressed their solidarity to La Paz, in the same week the FBI proved that Hugo Chavez had indeed send money to help Cristina Kirchner’s electoral campaign in Argentina.
Evo was finally forced into dialogue when even the Military started to show some impatience and mistrust on his orders.
How justified could be his quest for social justice, Evo Morales, choose the wrong path, the same path called bolivarianism that created a dictatorship in Venezuela.
The fact that he has a majority support in his country, and the belief that he is acting in the name of the poor and the oppressed gives him the will of ignoring institutions and crushing any opposition. There is no future for democracy there.
His bolivarianism created chaos, death, racial division and will actually make Bolivia poorer than it is now.
Venezuela and Bolivia are lessons to the other leftist governments in the continent.
Even in Brazil there are several admirers of the bolivarianism, but fortunately Brazil has proven in the last years that it could resist such a threat.
Even with all corruption scandals from Mr. Lula’s Workers Party and his attempts to silence press and Congress, Brazilian institutions wouldn’t allow a situation like what is happening now in Bolivia.
Not because our leftists don’t want it, because they also have huge popular support, but because they can’t.
In the past years, since the redemocratization of Brazil, no government tried to change the fundamentals of the rule of law. A good heritage of our presidents before Mr. Lula.
Evo Morales was elected president in 2005 with a Party called Movimiento al Socialismo (Movement towards Socialism), under which are different social movements and workers unions such as the “cocaleros” , or coca growers union.
Like other leftist movements in the continent, Morales blamed everything that was wrong in Bolivia on the old colonizers, the Spanish, and on what they think is the new Empire, the United States.
To start with the old enemy, the Spanish and their descendents, the white upper class that ruled Bolivia for the last 500 years, Evo’s government took measures to oblige every school to teaching Indian languages in order to “decolonize the mindset and the Bolivian State”. One of his ministers also suggested that Catholicism should not be the official religion anymore, but gave up his project under a massive protests of Bolivian catholics. Evo also wanted to start land reforms, which were particularly harmful to the farmers of Santa Cruz Department. But most important of all, Evo Morales wants a new Constitution for Bolivia, which will change democratic representation based on ethnic origins. So, in some regions a group of 20 indigenous people of some ethnic group will actually have the same representation than a group of 100,000 white men.
On his battle against what he calls US Capitalism, Evo Morales nationalized the Bolivian gas reserves and his soldiers took 53 installations of private gas exploring companies such as the Brazilian refineries of Petrobras. Brazilian leftist government gently agreed. Evo also nationalized Swiss metal company Glencore.
These past months, 5 out of Bolivia’s 9 departments revolted against La Paz. The opposition governments demand more autonomy for their regions and do not agree at all with Morales ideas for the new Constitution.
Up to 2005, department governments were appointed by the president. Today, they have limited power and even simple decisions as bus routes taken in La Paz. Evo’s government also changed the law the let the departments keep part of the royalties and revenues from gas exploration.
The conflicts on the departments provoked the death of 18 people; hundreds were hurt as Morales mobilized his unions against the opposition. Governor of Pando department was arrested, opposition responded bombing gas ducts, which had a direct impact on La Paz finances but on Brazilian industry as well.
When everything went wrong, Evo blamed the Americans (!) expelling the US Ambassador from Bolivia. In solidarity, Hugo Chavez did the same, threatened to send his army to Bolivia to help his friend and invited the Russian navy to some military exercises in Caribbean waters. Governments of Brazil, Ecuador and Argentina also expressed their solidarity to La Paz, in the same week the FBI proved that Hugo Chavez had indeed send money to help Cristina Kirchner’s electoral campaign in Argentina.
Evo was finally forced into dialogue when even the Military started to show some impatience and mistrust on his orders.
How justified could be his quest for social justice, Evo Morales, choose the wrong path, the same path called bolivarianism that created a dictatorship in Venezuela.
The fact that he has a majority support in his country, and the belief that he is acting in the name of the poor and the oppressed gives him the will of ignoring institutions and crushing any opposition. There is no future for democracy there.
His bolivarianism created chaos, death, racial division and will actually make Bolivia poorer than it is now.
Venezuela and Bolivia are lessons to the other leftist governments in the continent.
Even in Brazil there are several admirers of the bolivarianism, but fortunately Brazil has proven in the last years that it could resist such a threat.
Even with all corruption scandals from Mr. Lula’s Workers Party and his attempts to silence press and Congress, Brazilian institutions wouldn’t allow a situation like what is happening now in Bolivia.
Not because our leftists don’t want it, because they also have huge popular support, but because they can’t.
In the past years, since the redemocratization of Brazil, no government tried to change the fundamentals of the rule of law. A good heritage of our presidents before Mr. Lula.
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