Communitarian Socialism in Bolivia

[Judi Lynn]

Communitarian Socialism in Bolivia
By Roger Burbach

When Bolivia's president, Evo Morales, was sworn in to a second term in January, he proclaimed Bolivia a plurinational state that would construct "communitarian socialism." In an accompanying address, Vice President Álvaro Garcia Linare, envisioned a "socialist horizon" for Bolivia, characterized by "well-being, making the wealth communal, drawing on our heritage . . ." The process "will not be easy, it could take decades, even centuries, but it is clear that the social movements cannot achieve true power without implanting a socialist and communitarian horizon."<1>

During the past decade Latin America has become a scene of hope and expectations as its leaders and social movements have raised the banner of 21st century socialism in a world ravished by imperial adventures and economic disasters. Proponents of the new socialism assert that it will break with the state-centered socialism of the last century, and will be driven by grassroots social movements that construct an alternative order from the bottom up. There is also widespread concurrence that the process will take a unique path in each country, that there is no singular model or grand strategy to pursue.

The new socialism has been characterized by a much slower and transitory process than the revolutionary socialism of the past century, which was based on the overthrow of the old regime, with a vanguard party seizing control of the state and moving quickly to transform the economy. A different scenario is occurring in Latin America where new governments take control politically, with the previous economic system largely intact. In Venezuela, Bolivia, and Ecuador, where the socialist discourse is the most advanced, constituent assemblies were convened to draft new constitutions that restructured the political system and established broad social rights. The process and pace of transforming their economies has become the task of the political and social forces acting through the new legislative assemblies and the "refounded states."

In Bolivia, the struggle for a constitutional assembly and a new constitution was particularly strife-ridden with the oligarchy, centered in the resource-rich lowland departments, engaging in an outright rebellion with the tactical backing of the US embassy. Little was heard of socialism in this period, in spite of the name of Morales' political party, Movement Towards Socialism (MAS).

Now, with the consolidation of the new political system and the plurinational state, socialism has been placed on the agenda. In a number of public addresses and interviews, Vice President Garcia Linare and Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca have articulated what they envision as the Bolivian road to socialism.

The vice-president--a member of an armed guerilla movement in the early 1990's who was captured and imprisoned for four years--now asserts that "in Bolivia we are working and betting on the democratic path to socialism. It is possible …because socialism is fundamentally a radical democracy." He goes on to add: "The constitution provides the architecture for a state constructed by society and it defines a long path in which we participate in a process of constructing a new society, pacifically and democratically."<2>

More:
http://www.zcommunications.org/communitarian-socialism-in-bolivia-by-roger-burbach

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Reuters Pictures 17 months ago
Bolivia's President Evo Morales (C), Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera (L) and Foreign
Minister David Choquehuanca (R) arrive for a meeting with Chile's President Michelle Bachelet
in Cochabamba October 17, 2008. Bachelet is in Bolivia to attend the Union of Latin American
Nations (UNASUR) meeting.

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