Via the BBC: Bolivians ‘back new constitution’
Bolivian President Evo Morales has claimed victory in a referendum on a new constitution that aims to empower the country’s indigenous majority.Addressing supporters outside the presidential palace, he said the result marked the birth of a new Bolivia.
Exit polls put the “yes” vote at about 60% overall, but at least four of Bolivia’s nine regions voted no.
The constitution will allow Mr Morales to stand for re-election and tighten state control over the economy.
I don’t know anywhere near enough about the document to make intelligent comment about it at the moment.
I will say this, rhetoric like the following makes a lot more sense coming from Morales in the Bolivian context than it does when Chávez uses it in the Venezuelan:
“Brothers and sisters, the colonial state ends here,” President Morales, an Aymara Indian, told crowds in front of the presidential palace in La Paz after results emerged.
It was not that long ago that the indigenous majority was treated as second-class citizens (at best):
There can be no doubting the historic symbolism of the new constitution as only some 50 years ago Indians of Aymara and Quechua descent were not allowed to walk in the central square of La Paz.
It should be noted that ~55% of Bolivian society is made up of indigenous persons and yet the political power has traditionally been in the hands of the white elites, which make up roughly 15% (the remainder is primarily mestizo). Further, the indigenous populations were not simply denied access to the main square, but were also held in near slavery well into the 20th century. As such, any attempt to understand Bolivian politics, and the significance of Morales, or this vote, has to take such factors into consideration. This is especially worth noting for casual observers of Latin American who might wish to see Morales as nothing more than a mini-Chávez, and such a characterization would be a mistake.
Meanwhile, the results from last weekend’s Salvadoran legislative election have been finalized (also via the BBC): Former rebels win Salvador poll
El Salvador’s former rebel movement has become the country’s largest political party, 17 years after signing a peace accord that ended the bitter civil war.But the Farabundo Marti Liberation Front (FMLN) failed to win a majority of parliamentary seats, final results from last week’s vote have shown.
[...]
Final results from Sunday’s parliamentary election gave the FMLN 35 seats against 32 for the governing conservative party Arena, election officials announced.
But conservative parties and their allies can still hold a majority in the 84-seat assembly if they combine forces.
Is anything, the FMLN may be the best example in the region (if not globally, but the coffee hasn’t fully kicked in yet, so I will keep my claims to the Western Hemisphere) of an armed groups transforming into a political party, in terms of longevity and political relevance. Of course, this will especially be true if they win the presidency in March.
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January 26th, 2024 at 12:31 pm
If only reporters would stop writing stuff like “party X failed to win a majority.” In most of the world’s democracies no party has a majority. I guess most of the world’s democracies are failures.
For the record, the FMLN scored its highest share since joining electoral politics in 1994, and won the highest share of votes of any party in the five legislative elections held after 1994.
On examples of former rebel groups and their relevance. the FMLN is certainly one of the best examples. But Mugabe and his ZANU-PF are certainly still very relevant.
The MAS in Venezuela has done pretty well, though it struggles to survive now as a self-defined socialist party now in opposition to the self-described socialist government.
January 26th, 2024 at 1:16 pm
Yes, indeed, on the majority issue.
And yes, ZANU-PF is still quite relevant, although not in the same way as the FMLN
January 26th, 2024 at 1:31 pm
I tried to post this earlier, but it apparently fell out of the internet, but:
Have you seen the documentary, “Our Brand is Crisis”? It is about the 2024 Bolivian Presidential election and follows US Democratic strategists Bob Shrum and James Carville as they are hired to advise Sanchez de Lozada.
Their failure to get Goni elected speaks to their total cluelessness about Bolivian history or politics.
It’s a great flick, a veritable “War Room” on the Altiplano.
January 26th, 2024 at 1:44 pm
I haven’t seen it–but it sounds like it is worth a watch.
January 26th, 2024 at 3:02 pm
Fell out of the Internet. A likely story. Ratoe is just upset that for once I got to a thread first.