Evo will govern with a “National Political Coalition for Change”

Bolpress newsdesk, January 7, 2007

President Evo Morales announced the formation of a National Political Coalition for Change, a structure made up of representatives of the social movements, parliamentarians and constituent assembly delegates from MAS. Its principal function is to guarantee and accelerate the reforms of the denominated “Democratic and Cultural Revolution”.

Morales made this announcement at the end of the national meeting to evaluate the first 11 months of government carried out over the last three days in Cochabamba with the participation of political and social representatives linked to the principal party of government.

In an unusual presentation of reports by authorities from the executive and legislative powers, as well as constituent delegates and vice ministers, given to representatives from campesinos, indigenous peoples, teachers, workers and professionals, Morales also announced that by the following week a presidential delegation for the regions will come into existence, where coordination between prefects and mayors does not exist and where local authorities refuse to coordinate with the executive. There needs to be a bigger presence of the state in some zones, where the authorities have to “borrow vehicles from other institutions, sometimes even from NGOs”, because the prefectures don’t assist with resources.

In the Cochabamba meeting, the government admitted that it had committed errors in the 11 months of government: lack of coordination between the different institutions controlled by the party of government and a deficient relationship with the social movements. He also recognized his weaknesses: the constituent assembly continues to be blocked by a minority opposition and the benefits of the “cultural revolution” have still not reached the pockets of the people. “Although at the macroeconomic level we are going well, we still need to work on the microeconomic level”, said Morales.

The president also outlined the successes of his government: the basis has been laid for the process of change, the constituent assembly has been convened, hydrocarbons will be industrialized within the framework of the nationalization, the Law of Communitarian Lands, the austerity plan… “We don’t report to the International Monetary Fund nor the World Bank. We report to the Bolivian people” commented Evo.

Still in front of them, the priorities of the government and his “General Staff” are the modification of at least three important norms: the pension law in order to avoid the widening of the so-called sandwich generation; the Mining Code, and the education law Avelino Sinani. The announced “nationalization of mining” to revert areas given away to the state will begin with the modification of the Mining Code along with the increase in complementary taxes to benefit the public. Other tasks proposed are the extension of the school bonus Juancito Pinto to secondary students, the institutionalization of communitarian justice, the expansion of fixed and mobile telephone service and the modification of the public functionaries law.

MAS’ social sectors asked the government for economic reactivation and the creation of jobs, health access for all, to promote diplomacy between peoples, programs for sovereign alimentation, give incentives for the commercialization of ecological products, include traditional medicines in the health system, make more transparent the handing of money in the police.

The executive promised to develop an aggressive plan to strengthen the productive apparatus in 2007 centered on the industrialization of hydrocarbons and iron from Mutun and the “agrarian revolution”.

Translated from Bolpress