Voting yes

THE people of Bolivia overwhelmingly approved a new constitution in a referendum held in the last week of January. The new constitution, which is the result of more than a year of spadework by the ruling party, the Movement to Advance Socialism (MAS) will empower the countrys indigenous population, which has suffered centuries of oppression.

The Amerindians, who constitute two-thirds of the countrys population, were marginalised by a tiny white and mestizo (mixed race) elite from the days of Spanish colonial rule.

The constitutional changes, approved by more than 60 per cent of the electorate, will give the 36 indigenous groups complete control over the areas they inhabit and allow them to dispense justice in their traditional ways and use their own languages. Seats will be reserved for these groups in parliament. Judges will be elected to the courts and not appointed.

The new constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and guarantees freedom of religion. The Catholic Church and evangelical groups in Bolivia had conducted a virulent campaign against President Evo Morales in the run-up to the January referendum. Morales move to legitimise gay rights and give constitutional sanction for women to resort to abortion, if required, had infuriated conservative groups.

The constitution also elevated the Andean earth deity Pachamama to the same status as the Christian God. Morales said that though he is a Christian, he believes in Pachamama. So far, Christianity was the only state religion in Bolivia. The Church had aligned itself with American-backed right-wing political parties, entrenched in the five eastern States, in an attempt to scuttle the new constitution. However, the constitution was approved in two of these States, Panjo and Tarija, where the indigenous people refused to be cowed down by separatist local governments and their private militias.

The new constitution will also allow the President to contest for another term in office. The old constitution allowed Presidents to serve only for one term (five years). In October 2008, Bolivia had a referendum on the presidency of Morales. The people reiterated their confidence in him despite determined efforts by the right-wing Governors of the mineral-rich eastern States to undermine his presidency and stall his radical economic and agrarian reforms.

The new constitution has a provision to limit individual land ownership to less than 12,000 acres (one acre is 0.4 hectare). Huge swathes of forest land and land belonging to the indigenous people were grabbed by rich businessmen during the years of military rule. Just 100 families own more than 75 million acres of land. Under the agrarian reform programme initiated by Morales, the government will have the right to expropriate land by paying a fair compensation and redistribute it to the needy. That the new constitution intends to reverse past injustices is clear from the first paragraph of its preamble.

The preamble dwells on the adverse impact of racism that Bolivians have had to experience since the disastrous colonial times. Morales, speaking to his supporters after the constitution was approved, said that the event signalled the end of the colonial state and the beginning of true equality.

Bolivians have hailed the new constitution as a refounding of the country after centuries of injustice. Morales said that the new constitution would give the marginalised people easy access to basic services, health care and education. In Latin America, Morales is being compared to Nelson Mandela for empowering the countrys long-suffering indigenous majority.

The new constitution has further expanded the role of the government in the management of the countrys economy and natural resources. The efforts of social movements and others have not been in vain, especially the struggle of the indigenous communities, who are now recognised as people, Morales declared. Bolivia has followed in the footsteps of Venezuela and Ecuador, where the voters approved new constitutions that have strengthened the role of the state and accelerated the momentum towards egalitarianism.

Before holding the latest referendum, the Bolivian government had expelled the United States Ambassador for interfering in the internal affairs of the country. The George W. Bush presidency was openly hostile to Morales and his close ally, Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan President. Both of them are admirers of Fidel Castro and the Cuban revolution and have not flinched from resisting the U.S. hegemonic policies. Bolivia and Venezuela are the only countries that snapped diplomatic links with Israel after the bloodletting in Gaza.

The new American President, Barack Obama, is all set to continue the Bush administrations policies on Latin America, especially in relation to Venezuela and Bolivia.

In an interview before he was sworn in as President, Obama described Chavez as a destabilising force in the region. The new U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, has threatened tough and direct diplomacy in the region in response to the fear-mongering propagated by Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales.

Morales alleged that the U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia Phillip Goldberg was expelled late last year for conspiring against democracy. Goldberg was in contact with the Governors of the east, who were trying to unseat Morales in the October 2008 referendum.

With the help of local militias, the separatist Governors had become a law unto themselves. Morales, until recently, was not allowed to address meetings in the eastern provinces. But the massacre of indigenous people in Pando by landlord-controlled militias in September 2008 had a dramatic impact on public opinion. It galvanised indigenous voters in the eastern states. The western highlands are dominated by the indigenous people, while whites and mestizos are found mainly in the resource-rich tropical low lands.

The nationalisation of Bolivias hydrocarbon and telecom sectors in 2008 was not welcomed in the U.S.. The Bush administration responded by announcing, in October 2008, that Bolivia was no longer eligible to export textiles and other manufactured items duty free to the U.S., as it was entitled to under the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act of the U.S.

The Bolivian economy, already reeling because of the fall in international gas and steel prices, is set to lose 20,000 jobs. Obama has the power to reverse the decision taken by his predecessor but is unlikely to, if recent statements by his top officials are any indication.

The U.S. is also putting pressure on Bolivia on drug control issues. Bolivia is the third largest producer of cocaine after Colombia and Peru. Morales started his political career as a cocalero (coca farmers) leader. The coca growers union is the backbone of the MAS, which started as a platform for indigenous peasant movements. It later forged links with other working class movements and emerged as an alternative to the established political parties.

Coca leaves are widely used by indigenous people in Bolivia to stave off hunger and altitude sickness. Morales has said that coca is the backbone of the Quechua-Aymara culture. Quechua and Aymara are the biggest indigenous groups.

The government has been insisting that it is doing its best to crack down on cocaine production, while allowing the cultivation of coca plants for legitimate purposes.

United Nations figures show that cocaine production has grown only by 5 per cent from 2006 to 2007 in Bolivia. In the same period, cocaine production jumped by 27 per cent in Colombia, a staunch ally of the U.S. Washington wants to use the war against drugs in the same way it uses the so-called war against terror to destabilise governments it does not like.