BIF News Briefing: TIPNIS protest, judicial elections, Coca cultivation, Potosi civic group

Posted on | november 5, 2011 | No Comments

After more than two months of intense political protest, President Morales was made to back down over plans to build a road through the Isibore Securé national park and indigenous reserve, known as TIPNIS (see BIF Bulletin No. 20 and BIF Special Briefing from October). The crisis was resolved after Morales enacted a law that makes it illegal for any roads to be constructed in the TIPNIS area, which has been designated as ‘untouchable’ under the terms of the new legislation.

Protesters against the proposed road were warmly welcomed by local inhabitants in La Paz after reaching the capital in mid-October, having departed from Trinidad (Beni) on August 15th. The march had been marked by controversy, especially following televised images of police brutality against protesters, which increased public support for the demonstrators.

Following a series of meetings with the president, agreement was also reached on the majority of the other key demands being made by protest leaders. The negotiations should lead to a number of new government bills, including legislation on national parks and protected areas, and a law on prior consultation. Although President Morales has negotiated an apparent end to the TIPNIS crisis, he now has to contend with coca growers and peasant farmer settlers in the Beni and Cochabamba departments who are opposed the reversal of government policy.

As political tensions mounted prior to the resolution of the TIPNIS situation, over 100,000 pro-government supporters, members of social organisations and state employees marched to Plaza Villaroel in La Paz to hear President Morales propose a major summit in December to discuss ‘a new agenda’ for Bolivia.

2. First judicial elections

Bolivia’s first elections to create a more inclusive and participatory judiciary took place on October 16th, as scheduled, despite fears of postponement owing to the TIPNIS indigenous march towards La Paz. Exit polls conducted by IPSOS showed that 45% of voters spoiled their ballots, while another 16% were left blank, leaving 39% of valid votes. Opposition parties, including Movimiento Sin Miedo (MSM) and Unidad Nacional (UN), had campaigned strongly to encourage people to void their ballots in protest against a perceived government bias in the selection process for candidates (see previous BIF News Briefing).

In the event, the number of valid votes was on a par with the voided ones. The government denied that the high number of blank votes should be considered a defeat for the MAS administration and both the president and Minister for Communication, Ivan Canelas, suggested that a lack of information for voters was a significant reason for the high number of spoiled ballots. However, Ombudsman Rolando Villena urged the government to reflect on the results, which he said sent a clear message to the MAS.

The observation mission of the Organisation of American States made a number of recommendations for future elections, including the need to find a balance between providing sufficient information on candidates without the process becoming politicized.

Despite the challenges in organizing Bolivia’s first judicial elections, the president of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), Wilfredo Ovando, said that the process had highlighted the ‘democratic spirit’ in the country. Absenteeism was only 20% of the total number of voters. Some citizens had to repeat the voting process after procedural irregularities were discovered at a handful of electoral stations in Santa Cruz, and the TSE has indicated that the official results of the elections would be announced in early November. Indications are that at least half of the newly elected judges and magistrates will be women and several are of indigenous origin. The person who received the highest number of votes of all those on the ballot is an Aymara woman, Cristina Mamani Aguilar.

3. Coca cultivation stable in Bolivia, says UN report

According to a study by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Bolivia, coca production in the country is stable. An increase from 30,900 hectares to 31,000 (0.3%) between 2009 and 2010 is considered by the report’s authors to be ‘statistically insignificant’. By law, the Bolivian government permits 12,000 hectares of coca to be cultivated for traditional use, meaning there are still around 19,000 hectares of illegal production. The UN report recognizes the efforts made by the Bolivian government to reduce the growth of coca cultivation, and highlights policies implemented to tackle drug trafficking, which have shown ‘positive results’ in the Yungas region.

In its own annual report on Bolivia, the US government has also recognized efforts made by the Bolivian state to tackle the drugs trade, but said it has ‘demonstrably failed’ to meet its obligations to international agreements on counter-narcotics. Accordingly, Bolivia has been ‘decertified’ by the Obama administration, meaning it remains on a list of blacklisted countries for the fourth year running. The US report said that denying entry to the Drugs Enforcement Agency was hampering efforts to tackle drug trafficking. The report was criticized by the MAS government in Bolivia, which reminded the USA of its own responsibilities in fighting the drugs trade.

In a related development, a court in Miami sentenced retired general René Sanabria to fourteen years in jail for conspiring to traffic drugs into the United States. Sanabria, the former commander of FECLN, the special anti-narcotics unit in Bolivia, had been detained in Panama in February 2011 on charges of smuggling 144 kilos of cocaine into the USA. According to the minister for communication, Iván Canelas, Sanabria will also be tried in Bolivian courts (see BIF Bulletin No. 18).

4. Morales reaches agreement with Potosi civic group

Progress has been made in the political battle between the Potosí civic committee (COMCIPO) and the government (see previous BIF News Briefing and BIF Bulletin No. 16). The civic organization has been demanding action on a number of regional development projects and threatened to march to La Paz. However, in the aftermath of a four-hour meeting with President Morales in La Paz, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed, in which the government has promised to attend to COMCIPO’s demands. Morales also said he would visit the town of Coroma, which is locked in a boundary dispute with neighbouring Quillacas (Oruro department). Oruro has also held a 48 hour stoppage over the issue.

Despite signing the Memorandum with the government, Celestino Condori, the leader of COMCIPO, insisted that the departmental state of emergency in Potosí would continue until the government takes real action on its outstanding demands.

AUTHOR: Bolivia Information Forum
URL: http://www.boliviainfoforum.org.uk/
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