IPS-English BOLIVIA: Indigenous Majority Won Struggle for New Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2006 14:17:30 -0800 ROMAIPS LA DV HD IP PR CS IN WO=20 BOLIVIA: Indigenous Majority Won Struggle for New Constitution Franz Ch=E1vez LA PAZ, Mar 31 (IPS) - The roots of the process that will lead to the Jul= y election of a constituent assembly to rewrite Bolivia's constitution ca= n be traced back to a 700-km 1990 march through Amazon rainforest and ove= r the mountains surrounding the capital by indigenous people demanding re= spect for their rights over their land. One of the first bills to be signed into law by indigenous President Evo = Morales, who took office in January after winning the Dec. 18 elections w= ith 53.7 percent of the vote, was the =94special law to convene a constit= uent assembly=94, under which some four million voters will elect 255 del= egates to redraft the constitution. The elections will take place on Jul.= 2. Simultaneously, a referendum will be held on greater autonomy for the res= ource-rich eastern provinces, as demanded by the elites in the wealthy pr= ovince of Santa Cruz.=20 Bolivia, a country of nearly nine million people, is divided between the = western highlands, home to the impoverished indigenous majority, and the = wealthy eastern provinces, which account for most of the country's natura= l gas production, industry and gross domestic product (GDP). Much of the = population of eastern Bolivia is made up of people of European (mainly Sp= anish) descent.=20 Bolivia's 53 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves, worth an estima= ted 100 billion dollars - the second-largest in South America after Venez= uela's - are concentrated in the eastern and southern parts of the countr= y. Civic leaders in the eastern provinces want greater local control over th= e administration of natural resources and the taxies levied on them. The constituent assembly, meanwhile, will begin to meet Aug. 6 in Sucre, = the country's =94constitutional capital=94, and will have six months to a= year to draw up the new constitution, which will be voted on by Bolivian= s in a referendum within 120 days of its completion. The 1990 march =94for land and dignity=94 was prompted by longstanding co= ncerns of small indigenous groups on the verge of disappearing, who were = facing intense pressure from landowners, ranchers and loggers constantly = encroaching on their ancestral land. On a sunny day that year, some 600 men and women set out from the central= square of the city of Trinidad, the capital of the northeastern Amazon j= ungle province of Beni. The church bells marked the start of their 35-day= journey, which gradually drew media attention as they made it over high = passes in the Andes mountains and reached La Paz. The march created public awareness on the plight of indigenous people, an= d the growing pressure prompted then president Jaime Paz Zamora (1989-199= 3) to issue decrees that prevented logging on certain tribal lands in the= province of Beni, restored land to indigenous groups, and marked out sev= eral indigenous territories. The demonstrators helped Bolivian society =94discover=94 the indigenous p= eople of the country's Amazon jungle region. Indigenous people in the eas= tern lowlands are hunters and gatherers, and their way of life differs fr= om that of the highlands Quechua and Aymara Indians, who comprise a major= ity of the Bolivian population. The demand for recognition of their traditional lands was a question of l= ife and death for these small ethnic groups, who were condemned to vanish= if their territory was not preserved. According to the Indigenous Confed= eration of Eastern Bolivia, groups like the Pacahuara, who number just 30= , or the Yuki, made up of less than 200 people, were being choked to deat= h by pressure from powerful economic interests keen on amassing more and = more land. The march gave birth to one of the central demands of the indigenous stru= ggle in Bolivia: the redistribution of land, the ownership of which is he= avily concentrated, to allow landless campesinos (peasant farmers) to con= tribute to production and the economy. Since then, the call for a constituent assembly to redraft the constituti= on has been one of the pillars of the social protests that have shaken Bo= livia, South America's poorest country, and brought down two presidents i= n less than two years. In October 2003, month-long protests by the residents of El Alto, a spraw= ling working-class city next to La Paz, ended up toppling the government = of Gonzalo S=E1nchez de Lozada (1993-1997 and 2002-2003). The demonstrati= ons, which were opposing a plan for exporting natural gas, were violently= quashed by the police, and 67 demonstrators were killed. And in June 2005, S=E1nchez de Lozada's successor, Carlos Mesa, was force= d to step down by protests demanding the nationalisation of the country's= natural gas industry and a new constitution. The demands by Bolivia's indigenous people that the country be =94refound= ed=94 on the principles of national control of natural gas and other reso= urces and access to land and other opportunities for the poor were the dr= iving force behind the growth of Morales=B4 Movement Towards Socialism (M= AS) party. But while activists are pleased that a constituent assembly will be set u= p to rewrite the constitution, some complain that the candidates of socia= l organisations will only be able to run in the Jul. 2 elections if they = have the backing of a political party, citizens group or indigenous assoc= iation that has been recognised by the national electoral authority. With so little time left before the Jul. 2 constituent assembly elections= , many social organisations will be unable to gather the necessary number= of signatures - equivalent to two percent of registered voters - needed = to gain recognition from the National Electoral Court. That means some 40 social organisations will be either left out of the pr= ocess or forced to negotiate with political parties, in order to be inclu= ded on their lists, Carlos Mariaca, with the Bolivian Confederation of Di= sabled Persons, told IPS. Under these conditions, initiatives for the =94construction of a new Boli= via=94 could be politicised, while civil society participation would be l= imited, said the activist. He added, however, that he accepted the risk. Lawyer Jos=E9 Luis Guti=E9rrez Sard=E1n, representing the =94Pre-Constitu= ent Assembly and Pre-Autonomy Referendum National Council=94, was among t= hose who pushed for the participation of all trade unions and social and = indigenous organisations.=20 But negotiations between the ruling MAS, opposition parties and the civic= leaders of the province of Santa Cruz decided on the route that was adop= ted by the election authority, he explained to IPS. The =94Pre-Constituent Assembly and Pre-Autonomy Referendum National Coun= cil=94, which was created in November 2005, is made up of 23 representati= ves of different social sectors, indigenous groups and academia. Its task= is to summarise the demands set forth by the groups that pushed for a co= nstituent assembly and a referendum on provincial autonomy, and to provid= e inputs for the constituent assembly agenda. Nancy Tufi=F1o, who heads up the community justice programme at the publi= c University Mayor de San Andr=E9s, told IPS that the conditions agreed f= or the election of the members of the constituent assembly will limit the= participation of campesino organisations and women's groups fighting for= equal rights. =94People from rural areas want to express their concerns in the constitu= ent assembly with their own voice,=94 she said. Women's and campesino groups are now meeting to outline their demands, wh= ich focus on governance, participation and gender equality, Cintia Irraz=E1= bal, the community justice programme's academic secretary, commented to I= PS. ***** + Constituent Assembly - in Spanish (http://www.constituyente.bo/nuevosit= io/portada.php) (END/IPS/LA IP HD PR DV CS IN WO/TRASP-SW/FCH/DCL/06) =20 =3D 03312236 ORP012 NNNN