Bolivia: We Must Support a Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth

Pablo Solón and Comrac Cullinan

For Bolivia, December marked an important and historic step forward in climate change politics. We are of course not referring to Brokenhagen, where we saw the worst of intransigent, undemocratic and cynical tactics from the world's largest emitters of carbon dioxide. The interesting action happened in a completely unreported event in New York when on 22 December, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution which put the issue of Mother Earth rights as an item on the UN agenda.

This might sound rather esoteric, when you consider that in Copenhagen, it was the failure of rich nations to set ambitious and binding specific targets that led to the conference's rightly discredited conclusion. For Bolivia, which is already facing unprecedented droughts, disappearing glaciers and water shortages, the difference between a target of 2 degrees or 1 degree is a matter of life and death for many. But we also believe that even if we had succeeded in achieving consensus on these important issues, we would still have left with a flawed agreement.

This is because the UN climate change framework does not deal with the root causes of climate change and the wider problem of environmental exploitation. Climate change is like a fever that is symptomatic of an underlying disease which must be cured before the fever will dissipate. The underlying cause is the belief that humans are separate from, and superior to, nature and that more is better. These beliefs have fueled the misconceived and doomed attempts of industrialized, consumer-based societies to achieve lasting human well being by exploiting and damaging Earth.

Bolivia's proposal for Rights for Mother Earth is therefore about tackling these fundamental underlying issues. For centuries indigenous communities have warned that if human communities are to remain part of the Earth community they must behave as respectful members. We call our planet Pachamama, Mother Earth, because we know we cannot live without her. This understanding is supported not only by ancient spiritual traditions but also by contemporary science which continues to reveals the complex interdependence of life on earth. These perspectives are coming together in what is known as "Earth jurisprudence."

Stabilizing the climate at levels that allow human life to flourish will require human societies to meet our needs in a way that contributes to, rather than degrades, the health of the ecological communities which sustain us. This will require balancing human rights against the rights of all the other members of our planet.

And this stated position isn't just more hot air in the atmosphere. Bolivia, Ecuador and other Latin American countries already have begun the process of defining such a development path. We use terms like "living well" to describe a way of life that seeks not to live "better" and at the cost of others and nature, but in harmony with all. The struggles of indigenous people and social movements in Latin America have enabled this perspective to be enshrined in the Bolivian and Ecuadorian constitutions.

On 22 April 2009 President Evo Morales Ayma of Bolivia called on the General Assembly of the United Nations to develop a Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth. His proposal has received backing from nine countries of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA). The recent UN General Assembly resolution approved in December now calls on all countries and the Secretary General to share their experiences and perspectives on how to create "harmony with nature." In Bolivia, we hope to take this proposal forward in a People's Assembly on climate change that we are organizing on Mother Earth Day, 22 April 2010.

So what would rights for nature look like? One of the most important implications is that it would enable legal systems to maintain vital ecological balances by balancing human rights against the rights of other members of the Earth community. Presently many environmentally harmful human activities (including those that cause climate change) are completely lawful. Most legal systems define everything, that is not a human being or a corporation, as property. Just as slave laws, which turned humans into property, entrenched an exploitative relationship between the two, our legal systems have entrenched an exploitative and inherently damaging relationship between ourselves and Earth. Even most environmental laws do little more than regulate the rate at which environmental destruction may take place.

If legal systems recognized the rights of other-than-human beings (e.g. mountains, rivers, forests and animals), courts and tribunals could deal with the fundamental issues of environmental contamination rather than being bogged down in the technical details of permitted pollutants and emissions. For example, a rights-based approach could evaluate whether the rights of humans to clear tropical forests for beef ranching should trump the right of species in those forests to continue to exist. Instead of devising ever more complex schemes to authorize environmental damage and to trade in the right to pollute, we would focus on how best to maintain the quality of the relationship between ourselves and Earth.

In 1948, when the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was proclaimed, it was a declaration of hope into a post-war world. It had no legal basis as a document. Sixty years on the declaration has been incorporated into the laws of many countries and been the basis for the International Criminal Court. Facing a crisis far worse than any world war, might it not be time for humanity to launch a new declaration, one that defends our planet and its biodiversity from ever-continuing extinction?

Pablo Solón is the Bolivian ambassador to the United Nations. Cormac Cullinan practices as an environmental lawyer and is the author of Wild Law: A Manifesto for Earth Justice.

BOLIVIA: Native People Take First Steps Towards Self-Government

Franz Chávez

LA PAZ, Dec 22 (IPS) - Indigenous people, who make up more than 60 percent of the population in Bolivia, South America's poorest country, are taking their first steps towards self-government under their own cultural traditions that date back to pre-colonial times.

Alongside the Dec. 6 presidential and legislative elections, 12 of Bolivia's 327 municipalities voted in favour of indigenous self-government, which will give them control over the natural resources on their land and a greater say in how to use funds transferred from the central state, as well as redefining how government funds are disbursed.

In addition, legal disputes and crimes in those municipalities will be tried in traditional local courts, and elections will be organised and community leaders appointed according to native customs, which are based on a tradition of consensus-building.

But because the concept of indigenous autonomy is brand new, the details on how it will function must still be legislated by Congress after it reconvenes in 2010.

In the elections, leftist Evo Morales, the country's first-ever indigenous president, was reelected in a landslide victory with 63 percent of the vote, and his Movement to Socialism (MAS) party won a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress, which will allow it to move forward with important legislation such as the question of the indigenous right to self-rule.

Although most native people in Bolivia belong to the large Aymara and Quechua communities and live in the western highlands, there are a total of 36 different indigenous groups.

The new constitution that went into effect in February after winning the support of 61 percent of voters in a referendum recognises that Bolivia is a "multi-national" state made up of peoples who have a right to autonomy and the right to preserve their culture.

Since first taking office in January 2006, Morales has accelerated and expanded the country's land reform efforts, granting formal collective land titles to indigenous communities, known as Tierras Comunitarias de Origen or TCOs, a process that also involves recognition of native communities and their collective legal rights.

Provincial autonomy too

Simultaneously with the elections, the departments (provinces) of Chuquisaca, La Paz, Cochabamba, Oruro and Potosí voted for provincial autonomy.

Similar autonomy referendums had already been held in 2008 in the departments of Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando and Tarija, the so-called "eastern crescent", which account for most of the country's natural gas production, industry, agribusiness and GDP and have a lighter-skinned population of mainly mixed-race and European descent.

The referendums by the "eastern crescent" departments were a challenge to the Morales administration by their right-wing governors, and were criticised as an attempt at secession.

The aim was decentralisation and greater control over the revenues from the natural gas and other resources in their departments by means of the creation of provincial assemblies and local tax collection mechanisms.

Bolivia’s natural gas reserves, the second-largest in South America after Venezuela’s, bring in 1.2 billion dollars a year in taxes and royalties, and are the country’s main source of foreign exchange.

The chief support base of Morales and his party are the country’s indigenous majority, based in Bolivia’s impoverished western highlands.

Now that the five remaining departments voted for autonomy, all nine will have the same legal status.

A recent seminar organised by the Centre for Studies of Labour and Agrarian Development (CEDLA) examined the increasing political organisation of the indigenous movement in Bolivia and other countries in Latin America.

Indigenous people in Bolivia have been historically downtrodden and marginalised, only gaining full suffrage rights in 1952. Even today, some Indians continue to work as serfs on large estates owned by the European or mixed-race elite.

But since the 1980s they have become increasingly organised. And the 2001 census, which found that 62 percent of the population identified themselves as members of one of the country's 36 indigenous groups, strengthened this process.

Autonomy in the highlands

In Tinguipaya, a municipality covering 80,000 hectares in the southwestern highlands department of Potosí, the president of the traditional local council, Paulino Menacho, told IPS with enthusiasm that he hopes the town will soon have indigenous self-government under a chief with the traditional title of "curaka" - which dates back to the times of the Inca - a position that would replace the current office of mayor.

According to local tradition, the office of curaka would rotate from family to family under the "muyu" system.

But Menacho is worried about the shortage of farmland for the 16,000 people under his authority, who may be assigned plots of up to just 200 square metres in the land reform process - insufficient to sustain the region through agriculture, since not all of the land is apt for farming or livestock-raising in this highlands region.

The members of the eight "ayllus" or clans in the area want a redistribution of the 1.7 million dollars a year in funds that come from the central government, saying they now only actually receive half of the total and are not sure what happens to the other half.

They would also like to create local taxes and leasing charges - on "fair terms" - for companies exploiting minerals, limestone, water and other natural resources in the area.

The remote northern jungles and plains

Hundreds of kilometres away, in the rainforest and cattle ranches of the northern department of Beni, the secretary general of the Moxeño Ethnic Peoples of Beni (CPEMB), Francisco Maza, says the time for self-government has arrived.

For the small indigenous communities in the remote department, the struggle began in 1990 when hundreds of them marched 640 km from Trinidad, the provincial capital, to La Paz, demanding respect for their right to land, as they faced intense pressure from landowners, ranchers and loggers constantly encroaching on their ancestral territory.

"We are asking for autonomy not only over our territory, but in earning a share of revenues from the exploitation of lumber and other resources in the region," Maza told IPS.

The challenge of creating specific legislation on indigenous self-government is made more complex by the diversity of local customs in the country's different indigenous groups, especially among the 29 smaller native communities in the eastern lowlands, which each have their own forms of government.

Much of the land of the Moxeño Indians is rich in biodiversity, natural gas, and a wide variety of timber species. The hope of the indigenous groups is to begin to share in the wealth currently reaped by private landowners and companies.

CEDLA researcher for public policies Juan Luis Espada told IPS that the central government will have to increase funds to autonomous indigenous governments, because few of them will obtain additional royalties for natural gas exploitation, for example.

He also said the autonomous local governments would face a learning curve in terms of administration, the creation of new local and regional taxes, and the division of functions and authority.

"Many political and social challenges lie ahead in the search for a model of self-government that will respond to the long-standing demands of native groups who require continued attention from the government and who want to participate in the administration of the state apparatus," said Espada.

Bolivia Organizes Summit to Solve Climate Change Issues

CHUQUISACA, Bolivia, December 20 — Bolivian President Evo Morales announced today that a world conference of social movements is to take place in Bolivia, as a response to the failure of the 15th Summit on Climate Change, recently held in Copenhagen.

"The problems of climate change are directly linked to the irrational development of industry," said the president at the celebrations for the 49th anniversary of the foundation of the Culpina municipality, in the region of Chuquisaca.

Morales said that he has requested technical and scientific arguments to support a large-scale international mobilization to defend the environment, especially water.

The meeting will take place on April 22, which is the International Day of Mother Earth.

"It will be a great meeting where we’ll be able to come up with solutions for the problem of climate change," the leader said.

He regretted that the summit held in Copenhagen had concluded without reaching any important agreement. However, he noted that the event was an opportunity to break the hegemony of industrialized countries attending the gathering.

"If we don’t make important decisions now, our children and the generations to come will be faced with serious problems," warned the president.

He pointed out that the Bolivian world conference of social movements will be aimed at finding options for guaranteeing food for the peoples, in view of the famine that is affecting different parts of the world.

Republished from Granma

Evo Morales promises U.S. 'second Vietnam' in case of aggression

HAVANA, December 15 (RIA Novosti) - Evo Morales, the president of Bolivia, has promised Washington 'second Vietnam' in case of the United States' military aggression in Latin America.

Speaking at the summit of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of our America (ALBA) in Havana, Morales denounced U.S. plans to dispatch its troops at military bases in Colombia and said that in case the U.S. threaten to attack "Latin America will rise and turn for the U.S. into second Vietnam."

The 10-year deal signed between the United States and Colombia on October 30 during a brief closed-door ceremony in Bogota envisions the deployment of some 800 U.S. military personnel and 600 civilian contractors at seven military bases in Colombia.

"Latin America will react to any kind of aggression," Morales said adding that a regional referendum must be held to determine how Latin American peoples treat the U.S. plans for military bases in the region.

Last week, Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez called on his country to prepare for a possible war over the deal, saying that a U.S. base is located just 20 minutes away from the capital of the country, Caracas.

ALBA was founded by former Cuban leader Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez in 2005 and now comprises nine members - Venezuela, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Dominica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Antigua and Barbuda.

Diplomatic relations between Bolivia and the United States have been strained since Morales took office in 2006. Last September, Morales expelled the U.S. ambassador, declaring him persona non grata for allegedly assisting separatists.

Bolivia: Why did Evo Morales win?

Atilio A. Boron, translated by Richard Fidler

December 8, 2009 -- Rebelión -- A week ago we were celebrating the triumph of Pepe Mujica in Uruguay. Today we have renewed, and more profound reasons, to celebrate the extraordinary electoral victory of Bolivia’s President Evo Morales [on December 6]. [See also Bolivian movement of social transformation continues to inspire the world.]

As the Bolivian political analyst Hugo Moldiz Mercado pointed out some time ago, the convincing verdict of the ballot boxes marks at least three extremely important milestones in the history of Bolivia: (a) Evo is the first president democratically re-elected in two successive terms; (b) he is also the first to improve his percentage of votes from his initial electoral victory: from 53.7% to the present 63.3%; and (c) he is the first to obtain an overwhelming majority in the Plurinational Legislative Assembly.

Moreover, although we do not yet have the definitive voting results, it is almost certain that Evo will obtain the two thirds in the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies that would allow him to appoint judicial authorities and apply the new constitution without opposition. All of this makes him, from the institutional standpoint, the most powerful president in Bolivia’s tumultuous history. And a president who is committed to the construction of a socialist future for his country.

Obviously, these facts will not prevent Washington from repeating its well-known criticisms about the “defective institutional quality” of Bolivian democracy, Evo’s “populism” and the necessity to improve the political functioning of the country in order to guarantee the popular will, as for example they are doing in Colombia. In that country alone, some 70 supporters of President Álvaro Uribe among the members of parliament are being investigated by the Supreme Court for their alleged links with the paramilitaries, and 30 of them have already been given jail sentences. Four million persons displaced by the armed conflict, a surge in drug trafficking and paramilitary activity under official protection and with Washington’s acquiescence, the systematic violation of human rights, submission of national sovereignty to the United States through a secretly negotiated treaty that conceded the installation of seven US military bases on Colombian territory, and the fraudulent manipulation of the process to re-elect President Uribe, are all features of a democracy of high “institutional quality” that are no cause for the least concern by the self-styled custodians of democracy in the United States.

The Bolivian leader’s performance is impressive. He obtained an overwhelming triumph in the convening of the Constituent Assembly, in July 2006, which would establish the institutional foundations of the future Plurinational State. He won another crushing victory in August 2008 (67%) in the recall referendum forced on him by the opposition-controlled Senate with the openly professed objective of overthrowing him. In January 2009, 62% of the voters approved the new Political Constitution of the State, and just a few hours ago he obtained a further plebiscitory ratification by almost two thirds of the electorate.

Behind the success

What lies behind this impressively successful electoral machine — indestructible notwithstanding the erosion of four years of administration, the obstacles imposed by the National Electoral Court, the hostility of the United States, numerous campaigns of destabilisation, attempted coups d’état, separatist threats and assassination plots?

This is a government that has fulfilled its election promises and accordingly has developed an active social policy that has won it the indelible gratitude of its people: the Bono Juancito Pinto [a family allowance] that is given to more than a million children; the Renta Dignidad, a universal [pension] program for all Bolivians over the age of 60 who lack another source of income; and the Bono Juana Azurduy, a payment to pregnant mothers. A government that has eradicated illiteracy, applying the Cuban “Yo Sí Puedo” methodology that has taught more than a million and a half people to read and write in about two years, with the result that on December 20, 2008, UNESCO (not Evo’s supporters) declared Bolivia a territory free of illiteracy. This is an extraordinary achievement for a country that has suffered an age-old history of oppression and exploitation, subjected to heartbreaking poverty by its ruling classes and their imperial friends despite the enormous wealth it retains in its depths, and which now, with Evo’s government, is being recovered and placed in the service of the people.

On the other hand, the internationalist solidarity of Cuba and Venezuela has also allowed the construction of numerous hospitals and medical centres, while thousands of people are recovering their vision thanks to Operation Milagro [Miracle]. Major advances are being registered in the area of agrarian reform — about a half-million hectares of land have been transferred to the hands of the farmers — and in the promised recovery of the basic oil and gas resources, which at the time provoked some nervousness among its neighbours, especially Brazil, [which was] more concerned with guaranteeing the profitability of Petrobras [Brazil’s oil company] than in cooperating with Evo’s political agenda.

Lastly, the careful handling of macroeconomics has enabled Bolivia, for the first time in its history, to count on significant reserves, an estimated US$10 billion dollars, and a tax bonanza that, combined with the collaboration of Venezuela under the ALBA agreements, has enabled Morales to carry out many infrastructural projects in the municipalities and to finance his ambitious social agenda.

Of course, many matters are still pending, and not everything that has been done is exempt from criticism. In a recent column, Pablo Stefanoni, editor of the Bolivian edition of Le Monde Diplomatique, warned of the unstable coexistence between “an eco-communitarian discourse in international forums and a developmentalist sermonizing without much nuance in the domestic context”. Although this tension exists, it must be acknowledged that Evo’s eco-communitarian vocation amply transcends the level of his arguments in international forums: his commitment to Mother Earth, the Pachamama, and the original peoples is sincere and effective and is a milestone in the history of Our America. Of course, the focus on natural resources extraction in his pattern of development is undeniable, but also inevitable given the brutally predatory characteristics that capitalist accumulation has assumed in Bolivia. It is completely unreal to think that overnight the people’s government could sustain an alternative model of development setting aside the exploitation of the country’s immense mineral and energy resources.

Bolivia does not have the latitude, at least for now, that Ireland or Finland had in their day. But it would be unfair to overlook the fact that the orientation of its economic model and its strong distributionist content clearly separates it from other experiences under way in the Southern Cone. Not to mention Evo’s declared intention to move ahead with the risky — and thus slow and conflictual — construction of a renewed socialism, something that has nothing to do with the nebulous “Andean-Amazonian capitalism” that some persist in presenting as an inexorable and implausible antechamber of socialism.

Radicalisation

All these achievements, combined with his absolute personal integrity and a Spartan-like day-to-day routine (that contrasts favourably with the exaggerated fortunes and high consumption patterns exhibited by other “progressive” leaders and politicians in the region) have made Evo a leader endowed with a formidable personal charisma that enables him to beat any rival who dares to challenge him in the electoral arena. But in addition, his constant concern to raise consciousness, mobilise and organise his social base — stepping outside the discredited bureaucratic apparatuses which, like those in Argentina, Brazil and Chile, do not mobilise or raise the consciousness of anyone — not only satisfies the inescapable need to construct a subjectivity that is appropriate to struggles for socialism but also, at the same time, constitutes a decisive asset when it comes to prevailing in the electoral arena.

The forces of the suffering “centre-left” of the Southern Cone, which are looking to an unpromising political future in view of the growth of the right wing fuelled by their own resigned acceptance of possibilism, would be well advised to note the brilliant lesson offered by Evo’s triumph in the elections of last Sunday. A lesson which demonstrates that, faced with the danger of restored domination of the right, the only possible alternative is the radicalisation of the processes of transformation under way. Defeated on the electoral terrain, the right will redouble its offensive in the many scenarios of the class struggle. It would be suicidal to imagine that they will bow out without a battle in the face of an electoral setback. Let us hope that this lesson is learned.

A Spanish version of this article first appeared at Rebelión. A shorter version of this article was published in Página/12 on December 7, 2009.

Republished from Links

Following Evo Morales election victory, Bolivia seizes big ranch from president's opponent

Carlos Valdez, La Paz, Bolivia — The government has seized a 12,500-hectare (48-square-mile) ranch in Bolivia's eastern lowlands from a soybean magnate who is among the chief political rivals of just re-elected President Evo Morales.

The confiscation announced Thursday was the first by Morales' government as it seeks to wrest fallow farmland from big landholders and "restore" it to members of the South American country's long-suppressed Indian majority.

Wednesday's seizure, part of what the government calls an agrarian revolution, came three days after Morales' landslide re-election. Unofficial results said he got 63 percent of the votes Sunday, compared to 27 percent for his nearest challenger.

The Yasminka ranch taken from Branko Marinkovic will be given to the Guarayo Indians, the deputy land minister, Alejandro Almaraz, said at a news conference.

Almaraz led 20 police officers onto Yasminka to enforce a ruling Friday by the National Agrarian Tribunal affirming the government's claim that the land was fraudulently obtained from the Guarayo.

The Marinkovic family, which immigrated from Croatia in the 1950s, is fighting in court to keep a slightly bigger ranch, Laguna Corazon, from the same fate.

Marinkovic, whose family controls one of Bolivia's biggest soybean oil business, Industrias Oleaginosas, did not return phone calls seeking comment. His lawyer, Victor Hugo Peralta, said Marinkovic had not been notified of the the National Agrarian Tribunal ruling.

Until last year, the 42-year-old Marinkovic was head of the Santa Cruz Civic Committee. The group, based in the pro-capitalist eastern state capital of Santa Cruz, has been a center of resistance to Morales' effort to radically remake Bolivia by shifting mineral wealth and land to the poor.

The government also is moving to seize five ranches in the southeastern Chaco region under a March ruling by the National Institute of Agricultural Reform that the land be given to Guarani Indians. The court said Guarani members had been forced to work on the land as ranch hands, cooks and field workers without pay.

The owners of those ranches, totaling more than 36,000 hectares (139 square miles), are fighting the expropriation in court. They dispute the charges of forced servitude.

Associated Press Writer Frank Bajak in Bogota contributed to this report.

Interview with Bolivian Climate Change Ambassador

Robert S. Eshelman, The Nation

On day three of COP15, I spoke with Bolivian Climate Change Ambassador Pablo Erick Solón Romero Oroza about his delegation's position at COP15, how negotiations are proceeding, and why Bolivian president Evo Morales has called for a Universal Declaration of Rights for Mother Earth.

What are the demands of the Bolivian delegation at COP15?

We are asking, first, to discuss the main issue, which for us is Mother Earth. We think that is the key issue. Second, we are asking for a goal that will allow that will save all of humanity. We think the goal that they have put on the table is going to save probably only half of humanity because a two degree Celsius increase and a rise in carbon levels in the atmosphere to 450 parts per million means a 50% chance that there will be severe ecologic failure. Third, we want that climate debt be paid. It should be paid in terms of reduction of emissions, but real reductions, in terms of a transfer of technology, and in terms of finance – and that brings me to our fourth point. We see the numbers when it comes to finance are really too small. Ten billion dollars when you compare it to what they have spent in terms of military budgets or to save Wall Street they spent trillions of dollars. But to save the future of mankind, they are saying only $10 billion. The finally demand is that we really want really want to solve this problem. We don't want to make business out of this problem. We are very against the idea of building a carbon market that will really not solve the problem. We say lets save humanity, lets save the planet, and, please, please don't make profit out of this.

And what has been the reaction to these demands within the negotiations?

Are demands are included in the negotiations. But we are at a stage where all of our language that is in the negotiating texts has been bracketed, which means we are very far away from agreement on these issues. And the process is moving very slow. If you go into the drafting groups you will see that advances are being made in only a few areas. Negotiations are difficult but if you really want to delay agreements you will do this sort of thing.

What is the Bolivian delegation's strategy for pushing back against this resistance to your demands?

Our position is that in order to have success, we need to have a very important movement of civil society groups that puts a lot of pressure on the governments of the United States and Europe. If they don't see this pressure then of course the outcome will be very bad. But if there is pressure, the negotiations could change. So I am sure that a lot of negotiators and authorities can change their positions if the pressure comes from the people and not from the corporations. Because, here, what you see, is huge pressure from transnational companies who are thinking not of how to solve this problem but how to make a business of climate change.

President Morales has called for a Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth. Why do you think there's a need for such a document?

Why, because this problem is about balance – balance between mankind and nature. What we are seeing with climate change is that this balance has been broken. Why, because humans act as if they are the only ones who have rights and treat our Mother Earth like, in the past century, slaves were treated – as persons that don't have rights, as objects, instruments for exploitation. So if you want to have a balanced relation, humans must recognize that we are not the only one's that have rights, but also our Mother Earth. We and nature are part of one system and what happens in one part of the system effects the other part.

This way of thinking has been strengthened because of the capitalist system. For the capitalist system everything, nature – even other humans – is considered an object that you can use to obtain a profit. With this system everything can be made into merchandise. So what we are seeing is the consequence of this vision that you can change everything into merchandise, even nature, even your mother – Mother Earth.

Bolivia under Evo Morales: The Pace and Depth of Social and Political Change

Bolivian Ambassador to Canada, Edgar Tórrez Mosqueira, Interviewed by Jeffery R. Webber

General elections were held in Bolivia on Sunday, December 6, 2009. A few weeks before these elections I had the opportunity to discuss the contours of Evo Morales' first term in office with the Bolivian Ambassador to Canada, Edgar Tórrez Mosqueira. The following interview provides a backdrop to the elections that were held yesterday, and highlights many key official government perspectives about the process of change currently underway in Bolivia.

JRW: I'm here in my office at the University of Regina, on November 12, 2009, with Edgar Tórrez Mosquiera, Bolivian ambassador to Canada.

I'm very pleased to have this opportunity to speak with you, an official representative of the Bolivian state, in the very important current conjuncture, immediately before the forthcoming December elections.

I have a series of questions for you. First, to start off, can you describe your personal political formation and political trajectory? Your historical relationship with the Movimiento al Socialismo (Movement Toward Socialism, MAS) party? And how you eventually became the Bolivian ambassador to Canada?

ETM: Thank you very much for the interview. My academic formation dates back to the 1970s. I began university in 1974, during the dictatorship of [Hugo] Banzer. The Banzer dictatorship lasted for seven years [1971-1978]. It was the longest dictatorship in the twentieth century [in Bolivia].

In this period I was a part of a Leftist formation, a frente amplio, or broad front, seeking to bring down the Banzer dictatorship. This was the initiation and beginning of my political career. During this entire process I was exiled twice, in 1975 and 1978.

I had been in the department of sociology. In that time the department was characterized by its foquista orientation, people of the far Left.¹ The struggle was to reopen the department of sociology, and we were up against the worst dictatorship that Bolivia had had in that epoch.

I was introduced in this way to the new generation of the Left, inside what we call the national Left. With an objective of linking together all of the social movements behind one fundamental objective: the inclusion of the poorest sectors in Bolivia. So, this is where the concept of linking together the intellectuals and the social movements of Bolivia was born.

The traditional parties were also present in that period, like the pro-Maoist, Communist Party-Marxist Leninist, the Communist Party of Bolivia, which came from what was the guerrilla group of Ernesto Che Guevara in 1966 and 1967. So there was this effervescence among the youth, with growing revolutionary consciousness and the idea that it was possible to fundamentally change the fascist model that was in place.

Above all, I believe my political formation is based on a militant and programmatic commitment to the recovery of the interests of the great majority of my country. In that sense, this explains my ties, within the MAS, to a group of intellectuals who interpret and design the proposals generated for Evo Morales.

Evo Morales represents the first indigenous president, not only of Latin America, but of the world. He is the most authentic representative of the most dispossessed sectors of Bolivia.

I believe the platform of the MAS represents the necessary cooperation, dialogue, and consensus that will allow for progress. In the conjunctures of the 1960s and 1970s, extreme positions were defeated. Now we want to intellectualize, we are trying to develop a new language, in order for Bolivia to advance.

We began a great ideological and political convergence between social movements, the middle classes, and intellectuals, to push for a major advance, and to take power. In the 2000s, because of the fact that for the first time in many years there was a massive effervescence of social movements, we could envision taking power. This began with the Water War of Cochabamba in 2000, and then Black October in 2003, and then we arrived at the elections of 2005 in which Evo Morales was elected with tremendous support, with 53.7 percent of the popular vote.

What happened following this conjuncture? Evo Morales won the elections, but the Right, or the oligarchy, had entrenched itself in four [of the nine] departments [states or provinces]. In these four departments [Tarija, Santa Cruz, Beni, and Pando] the traditional right-wing parties took up the banner of trying to bring down the first indigenous president. And it is because of this [these right-wing forces] that in this period of three years there were four elections. Attempts to call into question the legitimacy of the presidency of Evo Morales.

But, in the second election Morales was ratified with 68 percent.² This is unparalleled in Bolivian history. Normally, in Bolivian history, Presidents have received between 14 and 22 percent of the popular vote, and none of them have achieved the magnitude of votes which Evo Morales received.

What do these percentages -- the 53.7 percent and the 68 percent -- mean? It means that of the three million inhabitants who can vote 2.5 million are voting in favour of the project of the MAS which Morales has designed for the advance of the country.

This is the great contribution, to be able to advance within this conjuncture in Bolivia, after more than 25 years of neoliberal governments.

What is the premise of this [the MAS's] platform? The social inclusion of the large social sectors that were marginalized by previous governments. We have to strengthen and deepen the democratic conjuncture in which we find ourselves.

In the elections of December 6, 2009 we will have been in office for three years. How have we run the country? With transparency, fundamentally, defeating corruption. Everyday we have to overcome corruption implacably. This is what will correct the political system in which we are situated. One of the greatest virtues of Evo Morales is his transparency. He is incorruptible.

To have a program, a political platform, in which not only the indigenous sectors and social movements are included, but also all the sectors of the middle class, including sectors involved in industry. All of these sectors are committed and are fighting for the continuation of this process.

We know that this is a very difficult conjuncture, but a new national consciousness has generated this new political project, such that this is not a moment about Evo Morales, but rather a moment for the country as a whole to be able to move forward.

We understand that the external conditions are not the most favourable. The pact between the United States and Colombia, in a certain manner, is going to be an obstacle for this process of change.

But we also know that the strength of the Bolivian people is fundamental to being able to advance.

JRW: There has been a process of change throughout much of Latin America more or less since the end of the 1990s. This has expressed itself electorally via Hugo Chávez in Venezuela, Rafael Correa in Ecuador, and in many other countries as well. At the same time, it seems to me that there are contradictions and complexities at the heart of these various processes.

In this context, I have a question regarding the specific case of Bolivia.

On the one hand, Evo Morales speaks frequently in international forums from an anti-capitalist perspective. He denounces capitalism as a system based on the exploitation of people, and particularly the poor. And he also denounces capitalism as a system which destroys the ecological systems of the world.

On the other hand, though, we have Vice-President Álvaro García Linera speaking within Bolivia about the impossibility of socialism in the current context in that country and promoting rather what he calls "Andean-Amazonian Capitalism."

So, it seems to me that there is at least an apparent contradiction, discordance, between these messages. Can you explain this contradiction?

ETM: In the current conjuncture, we have to look at what is happening in Latin America. In Latin America the correlation of forces is in favour of the social movements.

Bolivia has a very special particularity. What we have to do first in the current conjuncture is to strengthen the inclusion of more than 4.5 million who have been marginalized, excluded from the management of the state.

In this sense, what Vice President Álvaro García Linera is doing is interpreting the reality of the Bolivian context. The Bolivian state has an historic debt to these sectors that have never benefited from health, education, or basic services. Therefore, in this first phase, first and foremost, we are emphasizing the inclusion of these social sectors that have never benefited from the way the state has been run. We have to overcome the social exclusion, marginality, illiteracy, malnutrition, [high levels of] mortality. These are fundamental stages if we are going to be able advance. If in this first phase we do not fulfill this historic role we will be running against the mandate of the indigenous peoples and the social movements.

Therefore, it's very premature to launch a call for twenty-first century socialism if we haven't fulfilled this first phase.

No dichotomy exists between the President and the Vice-President. What is more, there exists a harmony of focus, on the social. The intelligentsia within the Movement Towards Socialism believes that it is fundamental to complete these primordial, fundamental stages -- as Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca says, to live well, not to live better.

What does it mean to live well? We have to provide health and education to all those huge social sectors that have never had anything, to defeat illiteracy, malnutrition. These are things that you see every day in my country. This is something fundamental to understand.

Now, in those international forums, Evo Morales has spoken out against savage capitalism. What does savage capitalism mean? It means a capitalism in which profits are not distributed to the social sectors that need them. We understand that investment is fundamental to move forward, but we don't want bosses with this investment, but rather partners.

In the long history of Bolivia all of our natural resources have been pillaged, and none of the benefits stayed in our country. Our new proposal means that the big investors also have to share their wealth. This is the new model, the new focus that President Evo Morales is introducing.

There are no divisions within the leadership. It's only that we all recognize that each stage, each phase has to be fulfilled. And from there, we continue to move forward.

What is the differentiation between the Ecuadorian, Venezuelan processes, or the Cuban process in the 1960s [and what is happening in Bolivia]? The conjunctures are different, and so are the realities. There can be no homogeneity in revolutionary processes. Why? Because we have different kinds of interests, but our objectives are the same. But the roads for arriving at those objectives are different.

And so we feel that we have first to complete certain historical commitments. We are saying that for the last 250 years . . . [inaudible] the state never fulfilled them for the marginalized social sectors. So we have to attend to these qualitative jumps in order to arrive at the final objective, before moving beyond. We have to continue to advance without skipping stages, but rather completing them. Because we believe that in order to advance there needs to be a great national convergence.

There hasn't been a state presence in Bolivia, and therefore benefits of national development have gone to a small entrenched elite rather than to the national majority. The recovery of our natural resources is part of this policy, of redistributing the profits. Because we believe that these types of revenue are going to allow for development. They are going toward providing programs like Renta Dignidad, Bono Juancito Pinto for the children, and Bono Juana Azurduy for women.³

These are social conquests that we can't forget, and which can't be defeated when they're only halfway across the road. From our perspective we have the methods that will enable us to arrive at our goals which we have put forward within the platform of the Movement Towards Socialism.

JRW: It's essentially a sure thing that Evo Morales is going to win the elections in December, in part because the Right is massively divided at the moment. So, what will be the principal objectives of the next administration of Evo Morales, for the next five years?

ETM: The new political construction of the state -- which was approved in a referendum by a majority, and therefore is not an imposition in any way. The people voted for this new political constitution of the state. Through this new constitution we are designing a new country.

What do we want in these next five years? We have advanced, but we need to deepen. Part of this are the Millennium Development Goals. We have to eradicate, fundamentally, [the levels of] mortality. We have to provide education, health, basic services, water, lights, to those sectors who have never had them.

Parallel to this we have to develop the industrialization of our natural resources, for example in the area of hydroelectricity. We have great resources, similar to Canada -- not to the same extent, but we have them -- which will enable us to initiate mega-projects, such as generating hydroelectricity.

And we have natural gas. At the moment we export our gas to Argentina and Brazil in its raw form. We have to begin projects to separate the gas [into its different stages of production], which is going to generate new revenues.

We have the lithium project, which is also going to be controlled by the national state. And, obviously, we are designing a new proposal so that there will be investment also. There are also numerous large projects of linking highways.

This is what we have to offer the Bolivian people in these next five years -- it's consolidating the state; recovering our natural resources; industrializing and generating value added; creating jobs that mean that Bolivians will no longer have to migrate outside the country. These are fundamental projects for progress.

Outside of this we have the theme of autonomies. This is a very tricky issue, autonomy . . . [inaudible]. What Bolivia aims to do is to have autonomous departments, autonomous localities, and autonomous indigenous communities -- so that there is integrity between the three. That they share fairly, in order to generate a relationship between the three levels, together with the executive. Autonomies are going to allow us to advance, and to design a new country. It is not possible, under the banner of autonomy, for a few oligarchic groups to break away and benefit from the resources in their region. It is the state which has to plan the new design of autonomies of the country -- not the oligarchs. The oligarchs must be subject to the departmental governments, local governments, and indigenous peoples. It is impossible that they would design their own new autonomous country for the benefit of themselves. We don't believe in this.

This is the new country that we want to offer, with social inclusion, overcoming marginality. And we are not going to do this by decree, without an opposition. The opposition has to be constructive. It has to incorporate itself into this project so that, together, we can move forward. Bolivia has 10 million inhabitants, and of these 10 million 4.5 million are indigenous. . . . This is not simply a project for the indigenous peoples, but rather for everyone. This is the platform that we are offering.

JRW: The last question has to do with the international realm, and the impact of imperialism on the Bolivian process. We can see, with the coup in Honduras for example, that Barack Obama represents a continuation of American imperialism in the Western hemisphere. And with the Canadian state, as well, there is an imperialist vision vis-á-vis the Canadian state and Canadian capital and their operations in Latin America and the Caribbean. We can see this in the promotion of Canadian mining, the promotion of Canadian capital more generally in Latin America, the signing of free trade agreements between Canada and Colombia, Peru, and Mexico, all of which today have governments on the extreme Right. My question in this context is, therefore, what is your position, and what is the position of the Bolivian government, in the face of this imperialism, not only of the United States, but also of Canada?

ETM: This question is in some ways quite simple, and in other ways complex. We believe we have President Obama, and then we have the Pentagon. These are two very different things. Similar to Evo Morales, Obama represents the most marginalized sectors of the United States, African Americans. We still believe in him, and his capacity to change everything that is the political nomenclature of the United States. This is a personal opinion.

In the Canadian theme, and I believe it's a very simple theme, there is respect, bilateralism. There is cooperation with Canada. There is world view of a policy of mutual agreement and respect. And within this framework, we believe we can advance.

They [Canada and the US] are countries of the G8, very developed. We have a country which is underdeveloped, but with dignity. We believe in the paradigm of the self-determination of peoples. This means respect.

We are speaking in a symbolic way. But we believe, we are convinced, that we can go forward with our process of change within the framework of mutual respect.

In this new conjuncture, there are consultations at the highest level between the Bolivian and American governments to resume bilateral relations.⁴ But within the framework of mutual respect.

This is our diplomacy between peoples at the global level. You have to respect it such as it is. We are, poor, but dignified.

JRW: Many thanks for your time.

ETM: No, thank you. We are in a very special conjuncture in Bolivia. Evo Morales, Álvaro García Linera, David Choquehuanca, are moving from the same perspective, with the same objectives, with the same paradigms. And this is fundamental to moving forward. We are not constructing a country only for 6 million, but for all 10 million. We believe that in this moment we are defeating all those who suggested that Morales would govern for no longer than six months. We are demonstrating that when the moral and ethical commitment exists, it can succeed. This is a project not only of a few, but of a whole country, which is putting forth a process of change and major transformations. It's a participatory and democratic revolution, and, fundamentally, about social inclusion.

1 This is in reference to the foco theory of guerrilla struggle theorized by Ernesto Che Guevara and others based on their experience in the Cuban revolution.

2 This is in reference to a recall referendum held in August 2008 in which both Evo Morales and Vice-President Álvaro García Linera stood either to lose their jobs or re-establish their popular mandate.

3 These are different forms of cash transfers. Renta Dignidad, initiated in 2008, provides roughly $US 258 per month to elderly residents living in poverty. Bono Juancito Pinto, initiated in 2006, provides roughly US$29 annually to young children in order to encourage completion through the sixth grade. Bono Juana Azurduy, initiated in 2009, provides funds for uninsured mothers to encourage them to seek medical assistance during and after pregnancy. See Mark Weisbrot, Rebecca Ray, and Jake Johnson, Bolivia: The Economy During the Morales Administration, Washington, DC: Center for Economic and Policy Research, December 2009.

4 Bolivia expelled the US ambassador to Bolivia in September 2008.

---

Jeffery R. Webber teaches political science at the University of Regina, Canada. He has three forthcoming books: Red October: Left-Indigenous Struggles in Modern Bolivia; Rebellion to Reform in Bolivia: Indigenous Liberation, Class Struggle, and the Politics of Evo Morales; and an edited collection on the Latin American Left with Barry Carr.

First published at New Socialist

Bolivian Movement of Social Transformation Continues to Inspire the World

A team from the Toronto Bolivia Solidarity in Toronto, supported by Latin American Solidarity Network are making a video of their experiences during the election of Evo Morales. This video comes on the heels of their first video made during the Constitutional elections of last December 2008. http://grupoapoyo.org/basn/node/6529 Below is their latest-on-the scene report:

by Raul Burbano and Sara Korosi

Santa Cruz, Bolivia - Evo Morales and the MAS have scored another major blow to the right-wing opposition in Bolivia this Sunday, by winning the country's Presidential elections with 63% of the vote nationally. This secures Evo and the MAS another term in power, making him the most popular president in the history of Bolivia. Even if the opposition united they would only have 34% of the vote nationally. His closest rival, Manfred Ryes Villa obtained only 28% of the vote nationally and the next closest opponent, Samuel Doria Medina obtained only 6%.

Although his victory did not come as a surprise to many in Bolivia, the depth of his victory nationally is very impressive. Evo and the MAS managed to win a two-third-majority in the bicamral Plurinational Legislative Assembly of Bolivia that will take power in January 2010. In addition, the MAS won a majority in the senate with 25 senate seats allowing the MAS to accelerate their reforms. The MAS won 5 of the 7 seats designated for Indigenous and campesinos. These seats were created by the new constitution and are specially set aside for the Indigenous people in the Legislative Assembly, who have traditionally been marginalized from the political process.

For the first time Bolivians living abroad in Brazil, Argentina, U.S and Spain were allowed to vote in the elections. Here again we saw a majority support for Evo with a combined 69% of Bolivians abroad voting in favour of the MAS.

In Santa Cruz, the heart of Evo opposition, the MAS managed to win 43% of the vote while his main rival, Manfred Ryes Ville won 50% of the vote. Interestingly, even in the eastern lowlands, the MAS has gained support for their radical changes. The MAS won a majority in 6 of the 9 provinces, including and most surprisingly, in Tarija, which was previously one of the seats of opposition.

Another major victory for Evo and the MAS is that all 12 indigenous communities voting overwhelmingly yes for autonomy.

From the Presidential palace, Evo made clear that this victory was not only a victory for Bolivians but also a victory for presidents, governments and communities that are anti imperialist. In addition he made a call for unity to those in opposition to join him in the process of change.

Our Toronto Bolivia Solidarity delegation stood in the rain here in Santa Cruz, surrounded by MAS supporters celebrating their victory. One of the many students celebrating turned to us and explained why he had gone from being a member of the right wing, Juventude Cruzenista to being a MAS supporter. "I used to be a member of the jueventude cruzenista but after all the violence and destruction of the public institutions, I realized we were being used by the local authorities. Today myself and many of the youth that are here tonight support Evo Morales and the MAS."

It is clear that the future of Santa Cruz will no longer be determined by a small minority. Across the horizon we see that the process of decolonization has grown stronger across the country. Beyond the borders of Bolivia, this movement of social transformation continues to inspire the world.

With Victory, Morales and Social Movements Confront New Challenges in Bolivia

Tanya Kerssen

Bolivian president Evo Morales and his political party, the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS), won a resounding victory in the presidential elections this past Sunday, December 6.

The nearest challengers, Manfred Reyes Villa and his running mate Leopoldo Fernandez — whose current address is a La Paz prison, where he stands accused of ordering the murder of pro-government peasants — represent an old political and economic order that has used sedition and violence in an effort to obstruct and destabilize the Morales government.

The old order and the new are locked in a struggle for the future of Bolivia. "The social movements are critical for presidents to be able to create a new alternative," declared Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca in the tropical city of Cochabamba in October at a summit of leftist Latin American presidents, including Venezuela's Hugo Chávez and Ecuador's Rafael Correa.

At the parallel Social Movements Summit comprised of 700 delegates from 40 countries, Isaac Ávalos, leader of the Bolivian Peasants Federation promised to help "bury the opposition" in the election.

The dialogue between these parallel summits is emblematic of the close association between social movements and the new left governments of Latin America. In Bolivia, a broad-based coalition of movements — with peasants, workers and indigenous groups at the forefront — was instrumental in defining Morales' platform even before he was first elected to the presidency in 2005.

With the support of the social movements, the administration succeeded in meeting three key goals in its first term: government control over the nation's oil and gas resources, the creation of a new constitution to re-found the Bolivian state, and the advance of agrarian reform.

The right-wing opposition, rooted in its control of large landed estates and petro-carbon resources in the eastern lowlands, constitutes the main challenge to transforming property relations and creating a more equitable, democratic society in Bolivia.

The deepening of "21st Century Socialism" during Morales' next five years in office will depend on the sustained strength of the social movements, the government's continued responsiveness to their evolving agenda, and the ability of both to overcome the opposition of the entrenched elites while maintaining democratic legitimacy.

A report by the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) shows that despite the global recession and destabilizing threats from the right, the government was able to minimize the impact of the economic crisis and increase foreign exchange reserves.

Morales has also expanded social services for the poorest Bolivians through the creation of health and literacy programs and financial support for the elderly, school-aged children and pregnant women. These achievements were made possible by the government takeover of the oil and natural gas industries, which increased government revenue by an impressive 20% of GDP since 2004.

The deepening of government involvement in the economy — one of Morales' key campaign planks — is a remarkable achievement, and one that was unthinkable just a few years ago.

It was, of course, built on the blood and sweat of the social movements, which called for an end to the privatization of public corporations, land and natural resources; the restoration of social protections and government regulation of private capital; and the reassertion of state sovereignty vis-à-vis the United States and the dominant international financial institutions.

In a long turbulent process, the administration succeeded in creating a new constitution — approved in a popular referendum in February 2009 — that seeks to re-found the nation to be more reflective of, and accountable to the country's indigenous majority. The constitution provides indigenous peoples with greater territorial autonomy and recognizes Bolivia's 36 indigenous languages as "official."

The new charter also grants the state greater control over natural resources, establishes access to water as a human right and requires the government to protect biodiversity.

In a country with one of the most unequal land tenure systems in Latin America, deepening the land reform program is a central challenge facing this administration. Since large landholdings are the basis for elite power, land reform is an overtly, sometimes violently, contested issue.

Under the changes introduced to the land reform law in 2006 and approved by congress, land must fulfill a "social and economic function" — regardless of property tax payment — in order to avoid expropriation and re-distribution to poor peasant families.

The land reform process, which according to government figures has titled 26 million hectares and distributed 958,454 hectares since 2006, was further bolstered by a measure approved by voters in 2009 limiting private landholdings to 5,000 hectares (about 12,400 acres) rather than the 10,000 hectares demanded by the landed elite.

As a result of pressure from conservative landowners in the process of drafting the new constitution, however, these reforms will not be retroactive to include currently owned properties. This compromise greatly defuses the radical potential of the legislation.

In another capitulation to the right, language that prohibited the use and production of genetically modified organisms was removed in the final text, a large blow to the peasant movements and environmental NGOs that fought for its inclusion.

The more radical leaders of the social movements are advocating new decrees and legislation to overcome these limitations and deepen the agrarian reform.

Changes in the international context are promising for the Morales government's ability to implement its agenda. The rise of South-South cooperation provides opportunities for greater independence from and negotiating power with the North, especially the United States.

ALBA, the Venezuelan-led Bolivarian Alternative for the People, is an important iteration of this phenomenon.

Relations with the United States remain estranged ever since the expulsion of the U.S. ambassador in September 2008 for meddling in Bolivian affairs. Though Bolivia has long been dependent on U.S. foreign aid, ALBA's support - and particularly support coming directly from Venezuela - has allowed it to escape Washington's political and economic stranglehold.

Venezuela also helped Bolivia cushion the blow of its suspension from the U.S. Andean Trade Preference agreement, a suspension initiated by President Bush in 2008 and extended by President Obama last June.

Negotiations for the normalization of relations took place at the State Department in Washington last month, but with no final resolution. Morales has expressed his disappointment with the policies of the Obama administration, particularly its decision to establish seven military bases in nearby Colombia. He declared that Latin America is no longer "in the time of kings" and that "we cannot be in the time of American military bases."

One of the poorest countries in Latin America, Bolivia under Evo Morales is in a strong position to transform its economy and to break the historic hegemony of the United States. The strength and character of this transformation will largely hinge on continued dialogue between the government and the social movements that have been at the vanguard of progressive change.

Tanya Kerssen is a master's candidate in Latin American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and a contributor to the Center for the Study of the Americas.

Resounding Victory for Evo

Granma, December 7

LA PAZ, December 6 — "Today Bolivia has once again shown its democracy, and that change is possible," declared the president elect, Evo Morales, from the Movement to Socialism Party (MAS). He was confirmed in that position with resounding popular support, gaining more than 63% of the votes.

In his address, from the seat of government in the Plaza Muillo in front of thousands of emotional supporters, Morales emphasised that the Bolivian triumph basically constitutes an acknowledgement of the anti-imperialist governments and nations, and was grateful for this opportunity to continue working for equality and the unity of Bolivia.

The leader, who will be as president for the period 2010-2015 on January 22, together with his vice-president, Álvaro García Linera, promised to accelerate the social changes that are taking place in the country, with a possible majority in the upper house of 25 of the 36 senators, according to exit polls.

There was a massive turnout for the elections, with a reported 140,000 votes from abroad. This was the first election under the new constitution promoted by Evo, which declared Bolivia a pluri-national state.

Morales also called on the opposition to work together for Bolivia, in a government that "Comes from the people, for the people."