Bolivia’s New Prez Settles In–and My Brother Reports from La Paz
Calm may have returned to La Paz, but new president Carlos Mesa knows his job is fraught with danger.
The BBC forecasts: “Bolivia’s hastily-appointed new president, Carlos Mesa, has told his cabinet that any mistakes they make could consign the country to the abyss.”
Mesa swore in a new cabinet of political unknowns yesterday. And the New York Times says the protesters’ “ideology of fury” could easily be used to topple the new president should the peasants become further alienated.
In the world of Weblogs, The astoundingly insightful and comprehensive Lincoln Plawg offers a lengthy article about what may lie ahead for Bolivia.
Meanwhile, Al Giordano’s frothy self-congratulation reaches fever pitch (his NarcoNews publication has closed, and he keeps posting fan mail decrying the site’s demise). Nevertheless, in his latest update, he reports that Mesa is considering a measure that would allow Bolivian families to cultivate a 40 by 40 meter plot of coca legally. The US goverment, obviously, is opposed to the idea.
Incidentally, Al G. also argues that Luci Gutierrez, the president here in Ecuador, will be the next to fall:
I say Ecuador because traitors tend to get dealt with more rapidly than people who you always knew were against you. And the Ecuador social and indigenous movements are super-organized - they got Gutérrez elected in the first place - and they’re justifiably angry. And they toppled the last government. And the country is majority indigenous.
We shall see.
Elsewhere, Body and Soul has some thoughts on Bolivia’s future. As does AnarchoGeek: “The battle is won, the struggle continues.”
And Miguel Centellas continues his quality blogging from La Paz; he, too, questions Mesa’s ability to lead:
I’m worried about Mesa’s attempt to govern as an “outsider”, w/ a clear “anti-politics” attitude, and intending to govern w/o the support of any political parties. Previous Latin American leaders who’ve taken this route as presidents include Peru’s Fujimori and Venezuela’s Chávez. Neither are shining examples of democratic governance.
Finally, the best analysis of the day: an entertaining, informative dispatch from my brother Mechum, who recently arrived back in La Paz after an accidental exile in Sucre and Santa Cruz. He writes:
Got back Saturday afternoon on a Bolivian C-130 with a group of US embassy staff. The flight was cool for about 15 minutes; it was neat to check out the inside of the plane, but once the novelty wore off I was sitting in an uncomfortable seat with earplugs in (so not able to talk) and with nothing to read. I did catch a nap though, amazingly enough. Best of all it was free so I saved about 60-70 bucks.
When we arrived in La Paz, we had the most sore-thumb ride down to the embassy. A total of seven brand-new and shiny-white Ford Expeditions and full-size Chevy vans. I felt like such an imperialist, cruising through places where the roadblocks had very obviously been breeched just the day before, where tires had been burning and people laying dead.
Some interesting new information about the whole thing, though. The word is that the protesters who had come from other cities had actually been bussed in and were paid 100Bs a day ($12) in addition to food,drink, and coca leaves for their services.
That’s a ton of money where many normally make around $2 a day.
Not on the payroll, though, were many who lived in areas of town where the local government had pledged to support the demonstrations; my friend’s maid, for example. She said the the mayor of her district told everyone that if they didn’t march that their house would be broken into.
This puts a different slant on everything. Coupled with Evo Morales’ trip last month to Libya and his evasive answers about his relationships with the likes of Chavez, Castro, Ghaddafi, and Sadat, I see less populist uprising and more delibirately
orchestrated sociopolitical mayhem engineered by people with (I would say shady) international connections and deep pockets. Democracy has not yet taken root in Bolivia if elected leaders are forced to step down by the actions of their political opponents.
On President Mesa, he seems to be saying the right things. The vice-presidency was his first political office after a career as a journalist, which makes many skeptical but may be to his advantage after all. He seems to be trying to address the real problems of the country, but most people I’ve talked to think it is just a matter of time (maybe a few months) until the problems start back up. If one is to believe that all of what has just occured was the result of plots by Goni’s opponents, then it is relatively certain that no matter what Mesa does he will eventually face the same end as Goni. Mesa has the right to fulfill the rest of the presidential term, which ends in 2007, but he will probably call for new elections long before then (or face a resurgence of the wrath of
Evo).
On the gas issue, interesting to note is that Santa Cruz and Tarija, where the country’s hydrocarbons live, say they will secede if the gas isn’t exported. Same if Morales was to come to power. The Crucenas feel (with a certain amount of evidence to back it up) that they make all the money for Bolivia and send it up to La Paz where it is squandered. In fact, last Friday a group of protesters marching to Santa Cruz’s
main plaza were met by members of Camba Nation (the term for lowlanders is camba) who didn’t want anything to do with the demostrations that had seized the rest
of the country. Interesting.
Anyway, La Paz is back to normal and everyone is just going about their business as usual as can only be done in a place that has seen far too many upheavals of this sort…