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May 05, 2008
Autonomy Vote Threatens to Pull Bolivia Apart
In Bolivia, President Evo Morales has rejected an autonomy vote by the
country's richest region of Santa Cruz, calling the poll "illegal and
unconstitutional.
Cruz more control over land distribution and rich oil and gas reserves.
Guest:
Jim Shultz, executive director of the Democracy Center in Cochabamba,
Bolivia. He writes a blog on Bolivia that can be found at
Democracyctr.
Transcript
* Report: U.S. Funding Opposition Groups in Bolivia (2/11/2008) * Four
of Bolivia's Wealthiest Regions Declare Autonomy in Protest of New
Constitution (12/17/2007)
AMY GOODMAN: In Bolivia, President Evo Morales has rejected an autonomy
vote by the country's richest region of Santa Cruz. He called the poll
"illegal and unconstitutional.
giving Santa Cruz more control over land distribution and rich oil and
gas reserves.
An official partial count of the vote showed 82 percent of the voters
backed the autonomy plans. The result had been widely expected, as
backers of Morales vowed to boycott the referendum.
Thousands turned out in the streets of Santa Cruz Monday to celebrate
the results and the region's governor, Ruben Costas, called the result
"the most important act of our republican history." But in a national
address after voting had finished, President Morales said he would
ignore the results. He stressed the high levels of abstention and
called for opposition state governors to engage in dialogue with the
central government.
The Santa Cruz region sits atop natural gas fields that are vital to
Bolivia's economy. It also has the country's biggest farming
properties, concentrated in the hands of just a few families, several
of which helped organize the referendum.
Next month, three other opposition-run provinces in Bolivia's eastern
lowlands hold their own autonomy referendums.
We now go to Bolivia to speak with Jim Shultz. He is the executive
director of the Democracy Center in Cochabamba, joining us on the
phone. Welcome to Democracy Now!, Jim.
JIM SHULTZ: Good morning, Amy. How are you?
AMY GOODMAN: Good. Can you talk about the significance of this vote in
oil-rich Santa Cruz, the wealthiest region of Bolivia?
JIM SHULTZ: Well, Amy, I think your listeners have a pretty
sophisticated understanding of what's been going on in Bolivia for the
last few years, and this vote is part of the package of this period of
social and political transformation in the country. Santa Cruz is a
bastion of anti-Evo sentiment, and it has been for quite some time. And
so, this is the latest move led by an elite in Santa Cruz to try to
separate itself from what the national government under Morales has
been trying to do.
What it means in practical terms is very difficult to say. Really, it's
a stalemate. I think in terms of the two big issues, land reform and
gas and oil, I think it means this. On land reform, I think it means
that whatever efforts the government has under way in Santa Cruz are
completely stalled. I don't see how the Morales government can do
anything in terms of land reform in Santa Cruz without sending in the
army, and the Morales government is not going to do that. In terms of
gas and oil, I think the stalemate works in the other direction, that
the big buyers of Bolivian gas and oil are Brazil and Argentina. Those
are both left-leaning governments that are sympathetic to Morales.
They're not going to cut side deals with the regional government in
Santa Cruz. And so, the monies will continue to flow through the
central government, and if Santa Cruz and other regions in that part of
the country are going to get a higher cut, it's going to have to be
through a negotiation with Morales and the people in La Paz.
AMY GOODMAN: Who is behind the people of Santa Cruz?
JIM SHULTZ: Well, Santa Cruz is a region of the country that's-you
know, it's much whiter, it's much less indigenous, it's more affluent,
and there is this network of wealthy landowners that really drive the
politics of the region. A number of them come from the families of
Croatian immigrants that came here during the period and afterwards of
World War II, and there is a real power base. And so, you have a very
small number of families. You know, it looks like Central America. It
looks like Salvador, where you have a very small number of families
controlling a vast tract of land. And they really were the driving
force.
Now, they have succeeded in building a much more popular base against
Morales and in favor of economy than just the elite. I was in Santa
Cruz a couple of months ago during one of the general strikes, and from
both a taxi driver and a woman who sold gum in the street, I heard the
same basic line that you hear from the elite in Santa Cruz, which is,
you know, we work hard, and we don't want our money sent to a cause in
the national government, and we want autonomy. So they've succeeded in
building not just the base of the elite, but a base that extends into,
you know, certainly the middle class and, I think, segments of
low-income people in the Santa Cruz region, as well.
AMY GOODMAN: And Jim, finally, the role of the United States, is it
playing any in Bolivia right now?
JIM SHULTZ: Well, whatever the United States is doing to monkey with
this, it's doing behind the scenes. And I-you know, I wouldn't put it
past the US embassy here to have been giving certainly tacit support
for some of this. But this is homegrown. You know, this is really-these
are the people who institutionally, these are the people who
economically and politically and socially don't like Evo, don't like
what he stands for, don't like the idea of indigenous power being built
in the country. And what they have done-and this is key-they have
managed to turn regional interest into the engine that can stop what
Morales and the MAS party are trying to do. And that's homegrown. I
think it's a mistake to declare that it's something that the United
States created.
AMY GOODMAN: Jim Shultz, I want to thank you very much for being with
us, executive director of the Democracy Center in Cochabamba, Bolivia.
He blogs at democracyctr.
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