Bolivia’s Transformation

[Judi Lynn]

Bolivia’s Transformation

The Victory of Evo Morales

by Binoy Kampmark / October 14th, 2014


It is a sometimes overly rich recipe, starched with violence and populism, but Latin American politics is something to behold. In the Americas, experiments have been run and tried with brutal consequences. Revolutions and counter-revolutions have been plotted and enacted. The good have tended to be a short time in office, while the coup d’état has had something of a long history.

Evo Morales’ victory in the Bolivian elections for a third term with just over 60 per cent of the vote is no minor achievement. Cement magnate Samuel Doria Medina received a paltry 25 per cent, something he blamed on the late entry of ex-president Jorge Quiroga, a move that potentially split the anti-Morales vote. Morales’ Movement Towards Socialism romped in, winning eight of the nine regions, including the affluent area of Santa Cruz. A remarkable achievement, given Morales’ own background as the son of peasant Altiplano farmers.

Victory for Morales in Santa Cruz also proved particularly sweet given its base for opposition to the MAS in 2008. Then, it was the aspiring Rubén Costas, co-founder of the right leaning Unidad Demócrata (UD), who attempted to fan the flames of secession. This, it was said, was also being facilitated by US money, be it through USAID or the National Endowment for Democracy. The latest victory has prompted Morales to quash claims that the country was one of half-moons “but a full moon”.

This victory is much more than a polling matter. The conflict between wealthy settlers and the indigenous populations has been the scar that never leaves, and a Morales victory did much to stare it down. (He, himself, is a native Aymara.) In 2009, he introduced a new constitution with a focus on indigenous rights and grants of greater autonomy. Then came the fiscal redistributions – income gathered from natural gas has been used in targeted programs. While the corruption stain lingers in its accusing tone, the country has not become the victim of dedicated kleptocrats. As long as the natural resource boom continues, Morales is on a purple patch. He knows, however, that such patches do turn colour in time. (This might be a literal statement, given the environmental costs of the Morales program.)

In the main, Morales has provided a copy book on the redistribution of natural wealth via the state pocket. Infrastructure projects connected with gymnasiums, schools and medical clinics have received funding through the Bolivia Cambia Evo Cumple program. Growth rates of 5.5 per cent this year, and 5 per cent for next, have been predicted by the IMF.

More:
http://dissidentvoice.org/2014/10/bolivias-transformation/

[Warpy]

1. The Rise of the Cholitas

Bolivia's "cholitas" are riding the crest of a resurgence that has seen them transform from being "maids of the middle classes" who were routinely stereotyped and discriminated against, to having real clout in the economic, political and fashion worlds.

With their high bowler hats, puffed skirts and coquettish demeanour, they may look like they have stepped out of an early 20th century television costume drama, but cholas - or as they are affectionately known, cholitas - are very much a driving force in modern Bolivia.

Until recent decades, these indigenous Aymara and Quechua women - who can be easily identified by their distinctive, elegant outfits - could be refused entry to certain restaurants, taxis and even some public buses.

For generations, they were not permitted to walk freely in the capital La Paz's central square, Plaza Murillo - home to the presidential palace - nor in wealthy suburbs like the city's Zona Sur. Predominantly rural peasants who had migrated to the cities, they were seen as a lower strata who stayed in the home, or worked as servants or hawkers.

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26172313

Morales has done this. If his successor is even half as good, Bolivia will continue to prosper.