More good links to check out...

Here are two good articles fromt the Democracy Center - an NGO working out of Cochabamba...
http://www.democracyctr.org/blog/

Friday, September 12, 2008

Violence in Bolivia
This week violent confrontations in Bolivia have leapt from one eastern department to another, like sparks in a wild fire, or a demonic plan.On Tuesday it was Santa Cruz, where the Unión Juvenil Cruceñista converted itself into a mob, buring and looting government offices and the offices of the phone company Entel. Wednesday the violence spread to Tarija, when a mob of so-called "civicos" invaded the Mercado Campesino to destroy the offices of a local indiginous organization (CIDOB), leaving at least 80 people wounded.Today the sparks of Bolivan-on-Bolivian violence blew up into fire once more in the department of Pando. A concentration of campesinos were headed to the city of Cobija to debate how they should respond to violent events in the country's east. They were met about 20 miles out of town by functionaries of the Governor who used heavy equipment to dig a hole in the road and block their entry. Soon after the standoff turned into a flurry of bullets leaving 7 campesinos and one of the Governor's people dead.Where all this is headed next is guesswork.Booted AmbassadorsFollowing the violence in Santa Cruz Tuesday, President Morales put in a call to Bolivia's Foreign Minister who was in a meeting with U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia, Phillip Goldberg. He called, according to press reports, to pass along the message that Bolivia was invoking its right to send Goldberg back to the U.S., an announcement he made on televsion shortly afterwards. Morales blamed Goldberg and the U.S. for inciting the Santa Cruz violence, citing the Ambassador's recent visit to two of the opposition governors.This afternoon the U.S. moved into "an eye for an eye" mode and dismissed Bolivia's U.S. Ambassador, Gustavo Guzman from Washington as well. "In response to the unwarranted action and in accordance with the Vienna Convention, we have officially informed the government of Bolivia of our decision to declare Ambassador Gustavo Guzman persona non grata,'' Bloomberg News quotes a State Department Spokeswoman.Hours later Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez jumped into the send-the-diplomats- packing competition, calling on the U.S. Ambassador in Caracas to leave as well. "Go to hell, shit yankees, we are a dignified people, go to hell 100 times," Chavez shouted at a political rally, according to a Reuters report. He also invited the Bush Administration to do the same to Venezuela's ambassador in Washington.So far that means four ambassadors packing suitcases tonight, a flurry of last minute tickets going north and south on American Airlines, and that much less diplomacy at a time when diplomacy would be a useful thing.The Case for Foreign Diplomatic InterventionAmidst all the trilateral ousting of diplomats, the more sobering question still remains: Who will mediate in a Bolivian conflict that is bad and getting worse?There are some essential facts we can agree on, I think:First, it is quite unclear how this new round of violence will come to a peaceful end. The mobs of the eastern provinces are escalating their handiwork in blood and fire, not curtailing it. Key leaders in the burning departments are inciting more of the same, not calling for cooler heads. President Morales is not backing down on his resistance to the eastern leaders' demands nor can he send in the army to force his adversaries to back down. Television images of one set of Bolivian youths (the "civico" mobs) beating the crap out of other Bolivian youths (the Army's young conscripts) is a pale preview if Evo militarizes. Absent some form of mediation between the warring factions, Bolivia is headed toward an abyss.Second, there is no one, no one, in Bolivia who can mediate. The Catholic Church lost that broad trust long ago. The Defensor del Pueblo isn't viewed as neutral and doesn't have the weight. There is no actor in politics, academia, or any other sector in Bolivia who has the clout.Mediation is critical right now and it can only come from outside the country. And as a practical matter that mediation needs to come in a diplomatic form and it needs to come from the two Bolivian neighbors most affected most directly affected by the crisis – Brazil and Argentina. Each depends heavily on Bolivian gas exports and it is how the revenue from those exports is shared that is the center (at the moment) of the violence.The two governments ought to act now to do the following. First, they should jointly call on all sides in Bolivia to cease the violence and honor a month-long cooling off period. They should then anoint a creative bilateral team of people that can garner wide respect in Bolivia – from human rights leaders to business people – to come and consult with both sides and suggest potential compromises.There are some who will call this proposal naïve, noting that Bolivia's conflicts are not so easily solved. There are others who won't be able to get past loyalties to one side or the other – "Evo and the people should not back down to racist pressures," or, "The people of the east are trying to block the advent of Evo-authoritarianism."But if you are walking down the street and stumble upon two people fighting each other with knives, you can sit around and debate who started it, or put that debate off until after you have separated them and stopped them from killing each other.With nearly a dozen people dead, socres wounded, and more violence on the way, the most important task at the moment is to break up the fight. And diplomatic intervention from Bolivia's calmer neighbors is just about the last shot Bolivia has.
posted by The Democracy Center at 12:19 AM 11 comments links to this post

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

The Face of Autonomy
Well, now we know what Santa Cruz leaders had in mind when they demanded to govern their region of Bolivia without national interference.Today, as part of a regional temper tantrum over their demand for a bigger slice of the nation's gas and oil revenue, champions of Santa Cruz autonomy have:Sacked and torched the local headquarters of Entel, the phone company. [The theft of all those Entel pre-pay phone cards was a particular contribution to democracy.]Invaded and taken over the local offices of the national authorities dealing with taxes and land issues.Engaged in a six-hour battle with soldiers.Stole some guns.This is just a part of today's fine handiwork by the Unión Juvenil Cruceñista, which is looking more and more like the Civic Committee's Brown Shirts every day.So much for the ever-shrinking opposition's argument that Morales' backers are the thugs and they are the honest law-abiding defenders of democracy. Lacking even a third of the national popular vote, Santa Cruz leaders have now apparently decided that it isn’t worth even pretending to have moral authority either.Their goal, we can assume, is either free cell calls using the stolen Entel cards, or more likely, to goad Evo into declaring a "State of Siege" and a sending in of the troops.We can hope that Evo and the people around him are not so foolish. Sending in troops to Santa Cruz won't quell violence; it will amplify it up to a level not seen since Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada played the send-in-troops card in October 2003. That planted more than sixty people in their graves and landed the President in suburban Maryland exile.A better message might be:"Well my fellow Bolivians in Santa Cruz, if you are dedicated to burning down your own city there isn't much I can do to stop you, but it is pretty lame thing to do."And then I'd get on the phone to someone who can mediate – the Church, the OAS, Lula, anyone – and suggest that they suggest a compromise of giving back to the regions half the gas revenues Evo is using for his new pensions program for the elderly. Bolivia is banking hundreds of millions in reserves, so it won’t be hard. And then I'd magnanimously accept the deal and see if the Civic Committee, Mayor and Governor might like to stop destroying their city for a while.But of course, I have a personal bias toward rational behavior to confess. I'd like the Santa Cruz airport to be open next week when I head home.Updates on Wednesday EveningHere's a few updates:Santa Cruz Governor Ruben Costas justified Tuesday's violence as the legitimate reaction of a "a tired people" and blamed "government terrorism" as the root cause behind yesterday's events. Well, and sometimes when I was 12 I told the teacher that the dog ate my homework. He also called the actions of Santa Cruz's rioting youth, "heroic." What do they get if they burn down a hotel? Sainthood?Santa Civic Commitee President Branco Marinkovic weighed in as well, declaring that the Unión Juvenil Cruceñista was merely attempting a "peaceful takeover" of the government installations yesterday. It was just those misguided police who got in the way of things that created the problem. The clubs and molotov cocktails and fires were apparently imaginary. After making his press statement Marinkovic put on wings and flew off to complete his rounds putting coins under the pillows of children who lost teeth around the world yesterday.The Morales government meanwhile resisted efforts to goad it into sending in the military and declaring a "state of emergency" in Santa Cruz, declaring instead that it would use all powers "legal and constitutional" at its disposal to bring and end to the conflict. Yeah, that'll work. At the same time supporters of the government in rural arras in the embattled region announced that they would begin to blockade roads in and out of the city to bring pressure on anti-Morales forces to end their attacks on the government. So do keep an eye out for truckloads of "peace-seeking" Santa Cruz youth headed out to the blockades.And now this...Evo has now publicly called for U.S. Ambassador Goldberg to leave Bolivia, charging the diplomat with having his hand in the uprisings in the cities in the east. "I ask the foreign minister to find the legal and diplomatic framework to return him urgently to his country. We do not want separatists, divisionists, people who conspire against the unity. We do not want people who work against democracy." On the one hand, Evo frequently overstates the role of the U.S. in Bolivia's political battles. Mr. Goldberg has always seemed more incompetent than conspiratorial. On the other hand, he has become like a party guest who is still looking for food to eat in the kitchen long after everyone normal has left and the hosts have announced they are going to bed. He should have left long ago.Stay tuned.