Vol. 73/No. 6      February 16, 2009

The referendum is the latest step by the Morales government and his Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) party to gain greater control of government institutions, and the approval of policies granting greater rights to the country’s majority indigenous population. Morales and the MAS have relied on the electoral process to advance these measures in the face of an opposition that has mobilized violently in the streets, threatening to paralyze the country with the goal of bringing down the government.

This is the second time Bolivians have voted in a national referendum since Morales was elected president in 2005. Last August he won 67 percent of the vote in a recall referendum on his presidency, called by Morales himself.

In addition to seeking to give greater control to the central government over natural resources and the distribution of the country’s wealth, the charter gives new rights to the country’s majority indigenous population, including recognition of pre-Columbian religions and promotion of indigenous languages. It could also result in larger representation of indigenous regions in Congress and in the justice system by calling for the election of judges, instead of having them appointed by Congress.

The new constitution also allows Morales to run for another five-year term in the December elections.

In a separate ballot question 80 percent of the voters approved a cap of 12,000 acres (5,000 hectares) on the size of future large landholdings instead of twice that area. Current landowners, however, will not be impacted.

Support for the constitutional referendum came largely from indigenous peasants and workers from the country’s highlands. Of the country’s nine provinces the referendum failed in the four wealthier low-lying eastern provinces controlled by the opposition.

In order to implement most of the reforms included in the new constitution, the Morales government says it will have to pass more than 100 laws. The president will have to do that in a legislative body where the opposition has an edge against him and has already shown its determination to block his proposals.

“No constitution can be implemented if it has not been approved in all of the departments,” said Carlos Dabdoub, a political leader in Santa Cruz, which has been a center of opposition to Morales.

Class polarization in Bolivia has been intensifying. Working people are seeking to defend government measures to exert more control over the country’s natural resources and improve living conditions. At the same time capitalists and landlords, who are threatened by the demand by workers and peasants for redistribution of farmland and natural gas revenues, are organizing to undermine these gains.

In order to win approval by Congress to hold the constitutional referendum, Morales made a number of concessions, including abandoning a more radical land reform proposal and his original plan to seek two extra terms in office. He also made other concessions on the autonomy of local governments and congressional voting procedures.

Meanwhile, thousands of peasants, workers, and youth mobilized in the months leading up to the approval of the vote by Congress and afterwards to win support for the “yes” vote. Many of these actions have come under attack by ultrarightist thugs organized by the provincial governments of Santa Cruz, Tarija, Beni, and Pando, which are controlled by the opposition.

Thousands are expected to gather at a February 7 celebration of the enactment of the new constitution organized by the Bolivian Workers Federation, the Central Peasant Union Confederation of Bolivia, and the National Coordinator for Change.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home