The Morales Victory and Bolivian Social Movements
by Alexander Dwinell
[full text at]
[excerpt]
News from Bolivia indicates that Evo Morales of the MAS party (Movimiento Al Socialismo; Movement Toward Socialism) has been elected that country's new president. This election is, among many other things, a further referendum on and rejection of the neoliberal policies that have dominated and impoverished Bolivia.
There is already much debate within the strong Bolivian social movements over how Evo Morales and the MAS will respond to this mandate. Oscar Olivera, who with the Coordinadora in 2000 led a successful opposition to water privatization in Cochabamba and has advanced the call for a Constituent Assembly, is but one of many who raise such questions. As Olivera reportedly told The Guardian (UK), "There's been a loss of confidence in him [Morales]. I'll vote for him, but it's a critical support."
A December 2005 interview in Green Left Weekly makes Olivera's position clearer: "No matter which way you look at it, the elections are not the solution for meeting the demands of the population. However, elections are a space that has presented itself and which we, as autonomous social movements, are taking up in order to accumulate forces to pass over this bridge, towards these two grand demands [nationalization of hydrocarbons and the Constituent Assembly]. Obviously, it interests us, within the rules of this game established by the bourgeoisie, for Evo Morales to enter into government. This would make it less difficult to transition towards the two objectives that the people have put forward."
There is already much debate within the strong Bolivian social movements over how Evo Morales and the MAS will respond to this mandate. Oscar Olivera, who with the Coordinadora in 2000 led a successful opposition to water privatization in Cochabamba and has advanced the call for a Constituent Assembly, is but one of many who raise such questions. As Olivera reportedly told The Guardian (UK), "There's been a loss of confidence in him [Morales]. I'll vote for him, but it's a critical support."
A December 2005 interview in Green Left Weekly makes Olivera's position clearer: "No matter which way you look at it, the elections are not the solution for meeting the demands of the population. However, elections are a space that has presented itself and which we, as autonomous social movements, are taking up in order to accumulate forces to pass over this bridge, towards these two grand demands [nationalization of hydrocarbons and the Constituent Assembly]. Obviously, it interests us, within the rules of this game established by the bourgeoisie, for Evo Morales to enter into government. This would make it less difficult to transition towards the two objectives that the people have put forward."
