Sometimes the crazyness is too much
09.19.2003Today began nation-wide protests against the government's decision to export gas/oil through Chile. Supposedly, this also meant a public transportation strike. But as of yet, taxis and those notorious minibuses still zip through the city center at breakneck speed. I also hear that everything's normal in Santa Cruz and the easter parts of the country. Only the highways between La Paz and Cochabamba seem blocked.
The protest is led by Evo Morales, the leader of the Chapare coca grower's syndicate. Of course, coca leaf is a traditional staple (you can chew it or make tea from it). Still, it's rarely noted that coca is not indigenous to the Chapare region, where it's grown exclusively for the drug trade. Of course, Evo's supporters also are routinely accused by other campesinos (farmers/peasants) of extreme pressure (including burning their homesteads or crops) if they refuse to grow coca. No one doubts Evo's involvement in the drug trade.
Unfortunately, Evo is somewhat popular and also leads a political party which currently heads the opposition. Although lacking any ideological content, Evo's the darling of European & American anti-globalization movements. Never mind the irony that anti-globalization movements fly Evo to all-expenses-paid conferences around the globe. I suppose the globalization and international integration of ideas, capital, communications, techonology, organization, etc. are bad when done by corporations, but good when done by leftist NGOs. Ah, principles!
So. What's the objection to the government's gas/oil policy? Nationalism. The sale is going through Chile, Bolivia's historical mortal enemy. And why? Because in the late 1800s, Bolivia lost a war over (disputed) territories that now comprise the northern tenth of Chile. That's it. Never mind that Bolivia would profit more from the sale of gas/oil through Chile (for export to the US & Mexico, principally) than through a longer route through less economically stable Peru.
Sure, there are a few other argumets. Evo demands a 50% tax on the export, rather than the (already high) 18%. He also suggests that Bolivia's gas/oil is ours and should never be sold. Huh? Bolivia's a poor country that recently discovered enourmous gas/oil deposits, more than enough for domestic production (we've not imported gas/oil for decades). What are we supposed to do w/ our resources? Just sit on them and be poor but proud that we didn't sell the damned yanquis anything?
The solution Evo proposes? We export our oil through Chile, and in exchange Chile gives us back access to the sea. And you know what's just too insane for me to believe? Today's paper reports that some Chilean politicians are ready to discuss the possibility. Is the whole world insane?
Oh, another example of the crazyness that is Bolivian politics. For the past week, citizens of El Alto protested against a new municipal tax called Maya y Paya. The irony? The new measure wasn't a tax at all, but rather a restructuring of the paperwork/fees for registering new real estate (it affected only those buyin new houses or land and it would've reduced the fees & paperwork from the current ordinance) and it was tabled a week previous. So why did citizens protest and block roads and boycott work for a municipal code that didn't affect them and wasn't going to be adopted anyhow? Because their syndicate leaders told them to.
These are the sad facts of democratic politics in a country w/ high illiteracy and strong clientelism.
Posted by Miguel at 10:35 AM
Comments
Is this adding fuel or fire to your thoery? It's sad to hear that protests are still an everyday event in La Paz. One day it's gas, the next Phone, the next milk ...
Please keep writing, I'm glad to be back in Bolivian Current Politics/Events
Posted by: Andres at September 19, 2003 01:16 PM
Miguel,
What was the conflict where Bolivia lost the territory to Chile?
Also, with this Morales character and the drug-running--do you see any danger of the current Bolivian situation progressing to the point of Columbia? And what effect are Columbia's problems and the US efforts in Columbia having on Bolivia?
Posted by: Patrick at September 19, 2003 01:34 PM
Well, my hypothesis about why (most) political parties act as they do could still stand, or it could stand for the pre-2002 period. That's yet to be determined. My hypothesis could also, of course, be wrong.
As to the war w/ Chile. That was in 1879, and it's over a spot of territory that, in all honesty, wasn't very clearly defined prior to the war. Either way, the war was well over a century ago. I think it's time to let the matter drop.
As to the situation w/ Colombia (two Oīs, no U) and Bolivia as a parallel. I donīt think Bolivia will deteriorate to that level. Keep in mind that the situation w/ Colombia wasn't created only due to the drug situation. The history's longer: Colombia emerged from a 100-year civil war w/ a tenuous peace accord between the two major parties, the radical Marxist left kept fighting. The current drug crisis is merely a reality of the "Marxist" left using the drug trade as a means to fund its civil war against the democratic state.
Posted by: miguel at September 19, 2003 02:07 PM