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BOLIVIA:
Presidential
Decree Fails to Calm Unrest
Franz
Chávez
LA PAZ, (IPS) - Bolivian
President Carlos Mesa's decision
to call a referendum on regional
autonomy and convene a
constituent assembly to rewrite
the constitution did nothing to
calm the social unrest that has
continued for nearly two weeks.
Mesa decreed an Oct. 16 date for
the referendum and the election
of delegates to a constituent
assembly, after Congress failed
to hold a session on these two
demands put forth by opposing
social sectors.
But he left it up to Congress to
draft the special laws needed to
set the terms of the referendum
and the election of delegates.
The president, noting that the
constitution gives the executive
branch the authority to call
referendums, said the decision
was aimed at ensuring national
unity and at putting an end to
the unrest.
Indigenous groups, small
farmers, miners and students
have virtually paralysed La Paz
over the past two weeks,
demanding that the constitution
be rewritten to give greater
participation to indigenous
people.
In response to their call for
the nationalisation of Bolivia's
natural gas reserves -- the
second-largest in South America
after Venezuela's -- Mesa
suggested that the question be
put to the constituent assembly.
Senator Hugo Carvajal of the
opposition Movement of the
Revolutionary Left said the
president's decree lacked
coherence, and lamented the lack
of an in-depth solution to the
country's pressing social and
economic problems.
In Bolivia, South America's
poorest country, 70 percent of
the population of 9.2 million
lives in poverty, including the
majority of the country's
indigenous people, who make up
at least 60 percent of the
population.
Lawmaker Evo Morales, the leader
of the country's coca farmers
and the head of the strongest
opposition party, Movement
Towards Socialism (MAS), said
Mesa had ''good intentions,''
but added that the president's
decree was aimed at demobilising
the peasant farmers who marched
on La Paz and have been blocking
roads and highways.
''This is a new 'show' put on by
the government, and the social
movements will decide what
actions to take,'' said Morales.
Trade unions and indigenous
associations have been demanding
a new constitution as part of a
series of reforms promised by
Mesa when he became president in
October 2003 after a month of
protests in La Paz and the
nearby slum city of El Alto
forced his predecessor Gonzalo
Sánchez de Lozada (2002-2003) to
resign and flee the country.
At the same time, ''civic
committees'' representing mainly
business and large landowners in
the wealthy eastern region,
where the country's natural gas
is concentrated, have been
demanding a referendum on
regional autonomy.
The civic committees are pushing
for stronger regional control
over, and greater benefits from,
the natural resources found in
the prosperous eastern part of
the country.
But the protesters in La Paz are
staunchly opposed to the
regional autonomy referendum.
The two opposing positions have
pitted legislators from
different regions against each
other, above and beyond their
party affiliation, and have
created a climate of uncertainty
amidst rumours of a coup d'état
announced by two colonels who
were immediately disciplined,
and a failed police riot incited
by former agents.
Community leader Abel Mamani
from El Alto told Mesa that the
protesters would continue
pressing for the nationalisation
of the country's natural gas,
which is currently exploited by
12 foreign oil companies,
including Brazil's Petrobras,
British Petroleum and France's
Total.
Oscar Ortiz, the president of
the influential agribusiness
chamber of the eastern region,
CAO, and Rubén Darío Cuellar,
the head of the Civic Committee
of Santa Cruz (the country's
richest province), downplayed
the importance of the
president's decree, saying the
call for a referendum or
elections for a constituent
assembly should have come from
the legislature.
''Congress will decide whether a
referendum can be called by
decree,'' said Cuellar, who
predicted even more intense
protests.
This week, CAO called for Mesa
to step down, while the
Confederation of Private
Business proposed that early
elections be held.
On Thursday evening, police
vehicles came to the rescue of
dozens of legislators who were
hemmed in by peasant farmers and
indigenous protesters near the
Murillo Plaza, where the
government and legislative
palaces are located.
Prior to the ''rescue''
operation, police used tear gas
and rubber batons in an attempt
to disperse the demonstrators.
The lawmakers were leaving the
legislature after declaring a
new recess until next Tuesday,
thus prolonging the decisions on
issues that are dividing this
Andean country.
For the past 10 days, the
streets of La Paz have been
blocked by 10,000 to 20,000
campesinos, teachers, health
workers, shopkeepers and
university students.
Groups of demonstrators came
down to La Paz from El Alto
every day to protest and
blockade traffic, clashing with
police who have cracked down on
the protests with tear gas and
water cannons.
El Alto is also in its second
week of labour strikes that have
affected all of the local
residents who depend on street
hawking for a living, and
prompted American Airlines to
suspend flights in and out of
the area due to a ''lack of
security''. Traffic to other
regions has also been cut off.
''The country is in the midst of
a grave, profound crisis,'' said
Mesa, who urged the Catholic
Church to mediate in talks
between the different sectors
mounting protests.
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