Bolivian Senate President Accuses Hugo Chavez of Interference

   

Bolivian Senate President Oscar Ortiz in Lima Earlier This Week

For anyone who has not been paying attention, recent events in Bolivia are very troubling. A political, social, and economic meltdown there is the storm that is coming and it already may be too late to stop it. At issue is the proposed new constitution for the country which was both written and voted upon in the Bolivian Constituent Assembly without the full participation of delegates opposed to President Evo Morales and his MAS (Movimiento al Socialismo) party, many of whom were prevented from taking their seats for the final votes in the assembly by mobs of MAS supporters, which guaranteed its passage. The document is now scheduled for a nationwide popular referendum on May 4. As a result of their exclusion from the process the opposition, which has coalesced around the Podemos Party, whose strength lies in the more prosperous agricultural and semi-industrialized eastern departments of Beni, Tarija, Pando, and especially Santa Cruz; has moved ahead with its own plans to schedule "autonomy" referendums. The plan now encompasses six departments, the four have been joined by Chuquisaca and Cochabamba. If the referendums pass, as they almost certainly will, their ultimate impact would separate the six departments from the authority of the new constitution, which still may not be approved according to some recent opinion polls. And a particularly dangerous item to note, the threats from Evo Morales's MAS Party to interject itself violently to stop the autonomy votes has been answered with the raising of a militia in the department of Santa Cruz.


MAS supporters violently prevent opposition delegates from voting on constitution

There are efforts underway to bring about a negotiated or mediated settlement. In one; the Catholic Church attempted to initiate a dialogue between the Prefects (Governors) of the departments scheduling autonomy referendums and the Morales government, but even though all sides met with church representatives, the level of mistrust of MAS by the six departments is so great that nothing was accomplished. Now a second effort is being attempted by the governments of Brasil, Argentina, Chile, and Colombia to offer their services as mediators. The six Bolivian departments, known by the name "Media Luna" for the crescent shape of their contiguous territory as it appears on a map, have said they will not accept Argentina and Brasil as mediators, because they consider their politics to be too closely-aligned with Evo Morales to trust their good offices. This effort continues however.

Earlier this week the President of the Bolivian Senate, Oscar Ortiz, traveled to Lima, Peru to meet with his Peruvian Senate counterpart where he issued a statement that accused Hugo Chavez of meddling in Bolivian affairs and undermining the integrity of the political process there. A translation of an article from the web site of the Santa Cruz newspaper El Deber on Ortiz's statement follows:

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Translation: Oscar Ortiz Denounces "Interference" of Venezuela

"All the government is practically under the control and under the direction of the Bolivarian Project of Mr. Hugo Chavez," Ortiz denounced in a press release, during a visit in Lima, where he spoke with the President of the Peruvian Congress, Luis Gonzales Posado, about the political crisis which his country is living through.

The President of the Senate, Oscar Ortiz, of the Social and Democratic Power (Podemos) opposition criticized what he described as the "interference of the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, overthrowing and affecting the stability of the Bolivian democratic system."

"All the government is practically under the control and under the direction of the Bolivarian Project of Mr. Hugo Chavez," Ortiz denounced in a press release, during a visit in Lima, where he spoke with the President of the Peruvian Congress, Luis Gonzales Posado, about the political crisis which his country is living through.

"Imagine military airplanes arriving that land without any control over the cargo they unload in the country, and our own President of the Republic distributes checks at the week's end to mayors looking to buy their political affections, and they are checks from the Venezuelan embassy in Bolivia that are signed by the Venezuelan ambassador," he specified.

Ortiz added that these resources which Morales delivers are not subject to any fiscal control, "which causes us immense worry."

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If you read Spanish, Bolivia Confidencial has a posting on this issue.