PRESIDENT MORALES WELCOMES RECALL REFERENDUM

"Let the people say if they are for the changes or not."

La Paz, 08 may (ABI) .- On Thursday night, President Evo Morales Ayma welcomed the passing of the Popular Mandate Recall Law by the National Senate, through which – he stated – the people will once again have the right to decide whether to continue the process of change and justice undertaken by his administration, or to return to the past.

"To our great satisfaction, we've received the approval of the National Senate for the Referendum on the Recall of the President, Vice-President and Prefects of the nine Departments," Morales said at the beginning of his message to Bolivians.

Morales, accompanied by his full cabinet, pointed out that the referendum would deepen democracy and that the people will decide, with their vote, if his government is complying with what the country wants.

On December 5, 2007, President Morales proposed to all nine prefects of the country to join him in submitting their mandates to a Recall referendum.

In the press conference, the President stated that the decision was taken in order to give the people the final word on whether they agree with the process of change or prefer the neoliberal system.

"I want to propose to Prefects both conservative and not conservative, to the nine Prefects of the country, let us together submit to a recall referendum, and let the people say if they are for the changes or not," Morales stated.

Morales said that the Recall Referendum has to do with preserving the unity and integrity of the country, a respect for legality, for the rule of law and above all respect for the National Congress.

He explained that the law was put forward so that democracy could be deepened in Bolivia, and so that the future of the country would be decided through the ballot box, within the framework of the Constitution and national laws.

In stark contrast to this position, politicians, and civic and business leaders of Santa Cruz carried out an illegal consultation on May 4 on autonomous statutes for their Department that ignored the validity of the country's Constitution.

Three other regions, Beni, Pando and Tarija, are now preparing their own regional consultations, with the same anti-Constitutional and illegal form as the leaders of Santa Cruz.

Morales thanked the people for their support, and for having elected him President of the Republic with a mandate to make profound changes in democracy. He explained that in two years and four months of government, despite some problems and mistakes, he feels that has served the country. Therefore he said that if the people, through the ballot box, decide he should continue as Head of State, he is ready to continue serving the majority.

President Morales also demanded the National Congress approve the Law Against Corruption and other bills which are currently "sleeping in the Senate."

"I am very happy, very satisfied. Something I wanted to happen will finally take place. We turn it over to the Bolivian people now," concluded the President.

LCR / Dgav ABI

Referendum Stresses Bolivia's Deep Rifts

Americas News

By DPA
May 5, 2008, 19:03 GMT

Buenos Aires/La Paz - The outcome of a maverick referendum in the Bolivian region of Santa Cruz has reinforced heavily polarized positions in the poorest country in South America.

According to preliminary official results made public Monday, 84.2 per cent of the voters in the natural-gas-rich province favoured an increased autonomy for Santa Cruz. Some 64.2 per cent of those entitled to vote actually cast their ballots in Sunday's referendum.

Bolivia lies close to very deep economic, social and ethnic precipices, with very unequal distribution of resources. Its indigenous majority continues to live mostly in poverty following centuries of discrimination by the descendents of European settlers who ruled the country until just recently.

Leftist Bolivian President Evo Morales - a former coca grower leader and the country's first-ever president of indigenous descent - has repeatedly clashed with local elites since he was elected in late 2005, in his declared efforts to improve the lot of the majority.

Indeed, in order to make the changes he thinks are necessary, Morales needs power and money. And - with his push for a new constitution for the Andean country - he has hardly been subtle in his charge to obtain as much as possible at the expense of elites who are not his natural constituency.

In Santa Cruz the poverty rate lies at around 40 per cent, while in western Bolivia it is as high as 80 per cent. Santa Cruz is the richest province in the country, with a GDP per capita that is about three times greater than that in Bolivia's poor western highlands.

Another three provinces in the eastern lowlands are preparing to hold similar referendums in June - Tarija, Beni and Pando.

A different distribution of wealth along the lines proposed by Morales would inevitably worsen the lot of many in Santa Cruz, particularly the wealthiest, and they have bitterly resisted Morales' policies. The search for more autonomy is an effort to isolate themselves as far as possible from the grip of the central government.

Late Sunday, as the Bolivian president proclaimed the 'complete failure' of the election, thousands of pro-autonomy voters celebrated well into the night in the regional capital, Santa Cruz, their triumph over what they called 'Marxism.'

However, the referendum is technically not binding for Morales, since according to the country's laws, the central electoral authority is the only one which can approve referendums and monitor their results, even at the local level.

The international community from the Organization of American States and the United States to Bolivia's neighbours have backed the sovereignty of the Bolivian central government and the country's territorial integrity.

The US, hardly a major fan or Morales' policies and his nationalization of the oil industry, on Monday defended Bolivia's territorial integrity and urged the opponents to hold dialogue and work things out.

All opinion polls prior to the election had anticipated 70 per approval for autonomy, and abstention remained a key element. The fact that it was relatively high, at over 35 per cent, gave Morales reason to stand by his own position.

The president stressed that the referendum, which he described as 'illegal and unconstitutional,' only saw under 50 per cent of the people registered to vote actually support more autonomy. He got the figure from the sum of abstention, non-valid votes and votes against the proposal.

There were no conciliatory moves or disposition to compromise from either side.

Morales' idea of a socialist organization of society collides head-on with the economically-successful representatives of the capitalist economic model in Santa Cruz.

However, it may be argued that that was precisely why Morales was elected president in 2005: most of the people who gave him close to 54 per cent of the votes in the most recent general election in Bolivia want him to improve their lot at the expense of the country's elite, notably in Santa Cruz.

The situation is extremely tense.

In Santa Cruz, one person died and at least 24 were injured, and several reporters were attacked inside the international media centre in the provincial capital. There were heavy clashes in rural areas and in poor neighbourhoods in the city of Santa Cruz between supporters of more regional autonomy and supporters of Morales.

The referendum was a show of force and it changed little for or against Bolivian elites, for or against the left-wing president.

Political analysts in La Paz noted that both sides have nothing left to do but to keep going at each other and will have the chance to do so soon, in the three upcoming referendums.

© Copyright 2007 by monstersandcritics.com.

Evo enacts Decree to disarm 'red ponchos' and unionists

Early this week, groups of indigenous Aymara of the Omasuyos province announced their intention to violently face off with the promoters of the division of Bolivia, in reference to the referendum on May 4.

La Paz / ANF
On Tuesday night, the Government enacted Supreme Decree 29543, which provides a plan to disarm the civilian population that carries firearms and ammunition of military, police or even civilian use, unless they have the proper authorisation.

It also determines the regulation of the possession, use of weapons and ammunition for military, police and civilian use, with a clear desire to counter threats of clashes between pro-autonomy and anti-autonomy groups during consultations to be conducted in Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando and Tarija.

The new legal tool also determines the regulation, possession and use of weapons and ammunition for military, police and civilian use, taking into account recent developments in Cochabamba and Santa Cruz, where people were killed by gunfire.

The Defense Minister, Walker San Miguel, and the Minister of Government, Alfredo Rada, presented the decree in Palacio Quemado and argued that in recent months several criminal acts have occurred, including the recent deaths of three policemen after a shooting incident along the border with Brazil.

They also made reference to the mutual threats of weapons use by the so-called "red ponchos" of Omasuyos and members of the Cruceñista Youth Union, which is generating a climate of violence that could erupt during the Cruceño referendum scheduled for 4 May.

The decree regulates the import, sale, possession, handling, use, carrying, destruction, deactivation, control, monitoring, seizure and confiscation of weapons and ammunition for military, police and civilian use, in article 1.

Article 3 prohibits the bearing, possession and sale of weapons, ammunition, explosives, whose import has not been previously authorized by the Ministry of National Defense through an expressed Ministry resolution.

It prohibits the bearing, possession and sale of weapons and ammunition for military and police use by individuals, the staff of private security companies and other public or private institutions who are not empowered by the Constitution and existing laws.

Article 4 stipulates that confiscation for the carrying, possession and illegal use of firearms or ammunition shall be carried out by the National Police or the Armed Forces of the Nation, as well as the verification of their legal authorization to import, bear and use.

This decree establishes in Article 7 that the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Nation and the General Commander of the National Police will coordinate the design, development and implementation of the Programme for Active Disarmament.

Article 8 stipulates that all national military units and police of the must carry out a detailed inventory and registration of the arms and ammunition in their possession, and that this task must be done within a maximum of 120 days by the Ministry of Defence in the case of the Armed Forces, and the Ministry of Government in the case of the Police.

Illegally-held firearms will be confiscated without compensation and become the property of the Police. The bearing, use and possession of illegal weapons, ammunition and explosives for military use, will lead to immediate seizure by the Armed Forces of the Nation.

translation: humanist movement toronto

THE AUTONOMIC STATUTES OF SANTA CRUZ IN 9 POINTS

source: Embassy of Bolivia in Washington
draft translation: Humanist Movement NYC/T.O.

1. Renewable, natural and environmental resources are exclusive domain of the Department (Art6): Forestry, Woods, and their use; Sustainable use of biological diversity and biotechnology; Use of Hydro resources, water, canals, irrigation, mineral and thermal springs; Alternative sources of energy and biofuels; Territorial regulation. Furthermore, the Statue determines the development of an Environmental Law by the Departmental Assembly (Art. 93), with no reference to the existing national law nor of Parliament.

2. Non-renewable Natural Resources. We declare the creation of a Departmental public oil and gas corporation (Art. 117) and another for mining and steel (Art. 121), parallel to those of the State, whose approval, in spite of being within the stated "jurisdiction of national legal approval", will depend exclusively on the Departmental Assembly.

3. The area of Land Transportation also consists of exclusive powers, which are: Land Transportation and other means of transport, and Highways, rail and other means of transport. "Other means" and "other vias" means “all”. With the addition of the field of Communications, the Control and use of the assignation of the electromagnetic spectrum, Telephony and Telecommunications are also the exclusive domain of the Department. (Art. 6).

4. In the Economic-Financial area, the following are exclusively under the domain of the Department: Departmental fiduciary funds and the determination of public investment policy; financing of Departmental infrastructure and taxes of Departmental character (Art 6). In terms of of taxes, it is established that the Assembly can impose "Special Contributions" for concrete budgetary needs (Art. 124; I), finally, State jurisdiction over customs policy is limited, resolving that controls over duties of any kind may not be established except through Departmental Law. (Art. 82).

5. In the area of Work, “work and labor relations” are exclusively under the management of the Department, (Art. 6;2) as are the areas of Education, Culture, Recreation, and Elections (Art 6;2). The latter will be governed by Departmental legislation as well as the national Electoral Code, but only "in so far that it does not contradict the present Statute." (Art 156; I).

6. Regarding the topic of land, the Statute establishes that the regularization of the rights, distribution, redistribution and land administration is the responsibility of the Departmental Government and shall be governed by the Law of the Assembly. (Art. 102)

7. In the field of Justice Administration , the Supreme Court of the District of Santa Cruz is raised to the highest level of jurisdiction (Art. 143; I).

8. With respect to the area of Civil Security, Article 69, I, determines the creation of another police force, which will have among its powers: "the protection of Departmental authorities and the public property of the Department" and only that, because the property and authorities of the State within the Department are not mentioned.

9. With respect to the area of Indigenous Peoples, the proposal begins with a racist declaration (Art. 161), (“the cruceño people recognize with pride their mestizo-majority racial situation,”) that according to the Statute, is "in agreement with Convention 169 of the ILO, and the Convention of the UN on Indigenous Peoples." The Statute promises the maintaining and protection of the cultures and forms of indigenous organization (Art. 2. II;), traditional medicine (Article 64), and language (Art. 5.I). The Statute recognizes only the indigenous natives of Santa Cruz and recognizes their rights to TCOs (Art. 103.II). However, it does not recognize indigenous autonomies.

CONCLUSION

1. What attributes remain for the National State? Article 8 of the Statute expresses the situation of what remains in the State. Its functions are reduced to the following: Credits, banking and insurance, Labor and the healthcare assistance for social security, intellectual and industrial property: Airports and air strips; meteorology, pharmaceutical products, museums, penal and civil registry.

2. Aside from having no legal basis in national legislation, the Statute has been an open rebellion to the established order, as for example when proceeding to take irreversible actions against certain authorities such as the Court of Electoral Department (Art. 152; III).

3. The validity of the State and national legislation are conditioned on the basis of “not contradicting the present Statute”, in the case of the judicial power and the Electoral Court (Art 156; I). Finally they announce the insubordination of the established order in front of measures adopted by the state such as elimination of the supervision in the sense that these departmental entities have the highest administrative instance and create a new departmental structure.(Art. 37; II) The same respect to the Constitutional Tribunal (Art 168). In this context this Project is to break away from the national political system, to protect the departmental authorities but not the State.

4. The statute pretends to eliminate the sovereignty of the National State, creating conditions for separation to an autonomous area. The other factors are accessory. In spite of the recognition of rights of the indigenous or nationalities they are maintained as minorities and do not have power.

The Embassy appreciates the cooperation of the Humanist Movement in this newsletter.

Based on: http://abi.bo/index.php?i=noticias_texto_paleta&j=20080314113921&k=

Bolivia To Nationalize Telecom Italia Unit, Gas Cos

Thursday May 1st, 2008 / 20h30

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP)--President Evo Morales said Thursday that he is nationalizing the leading Bolivian telecom company and will return four foreign-owned gas companies to state control.
Morales announced plans to buy back a majority of the former state company last year from Telecom Italia SpA (TIA), but negotiations have dragged out.
Terms of the nationalization announcement weren't immediately clear, though Morales said the company's employees would keep their jobs.
Celebrating May Day festivities in La Paz, Morales also announced the purchase of a majority stake in the energy company Andina, a unit of Spanish company Repsol YPF SA (REP).
Morales also issued a decree placing three more foreign-owned gas interests, including subsidiaries of BP PLC (BP) and Ashmore Energy International, under state control.
Bolivia privatized Entel in 1995 and handed 50% of the company to Stet International in exchange for the Italian company's promise to invest $608 million to improve service. Stet later merged with Telecom Italia.
Telecom Italia has said it has spent more than that to build up Bolivia's largest cellphone and Internet networks while maintaining a commanding share of the now-deregulated telecommunications sector.
But the Bolivian government claims Telecom Italia fell short on the promised investment and owes some $25 million in back taxes.

Source : Dowjones Business News

14 countries smack down the secessionists in Bolivia

Electoral Authorities Support Resolutions Against Referendums in Bolivia

Rosa Rojas - La Jornada

Translation: Machetera

Electoral authorities in 14 Latin American and Caribbean countries, Mexico among them, expressed their support for the resolutions of the Bolivian National Electoral Court, aimed at preserving the electoral institution and maintaining respect for domestic legal and constitutional norms as a fundamental principle in the strengthening of democracy in Bolivia.

In recent days, the Court rejected the holding of a referendum over the autonomy statutes of Santa Cruz, Tarija, Beni and Pando, a decision that was ignored by the departmental electoral courts, which continued their work toward holding said referendums.

The regional declaration was signed by Argentina, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Haiti, Santa Lucia, Belize, and Trinidad and Tobago, all present at the fifth inter-American reunion of Electoral Authorities of the Organization of American States (OAS) which ended the previous day in Quito.

Additionally, the text was backed by the Andean Electoral Council and the entity Electoral Experts of Latin America.

In parallel, Bolivia reported that it had denounced the illegality of the four regions autonomy statutes before the OAS. Santa Cruz is pushing for the first referendum to be held on May 4th, something that has kept the country in crisis as it fears an onset of violence.

The councilor David Choquehuanca explained La Paz's position to the Permanent Council, where he pointed out that these processes are happening in a manner that is outside the country's constitution and risks generating legal uncertainty. The OAS will examine the report.

For his part, President Evo Morales said that it is not an issue of autonomy or statute, but that in essence it is he who is considered "the problem" because those pushing the statutes "do not accept that an indigenous campesino could be president of the republic," according to statements he made this week to the BBC in its digital edition.

Morales said that it is not a referendum, but a non-binding "poll, an opinion survey," since the supposed autonomy referendum is anti-constitutional, not just unconstitutional, because autonomy is not a part of the present Constitution, and should a new Magna Carta be put forward, autonomy will belong to the people, not to the oligarchy.

Antonio Peredo, Senator of the governing Movement toward Socialism (MAS) described the statement of the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere, Thomas Shannon, as "insolent." Shannon called the Bolivian government's denunciation of the U.S. Ambassador, Philip Goldberg, for supporting the separatists, "stupid."

Shannon, according to today's La Prensa, declared that his country was "strongly committed to Bolivia's territorial integrity and to the success of democratic government in Bolivia," and that the "serious disputes" between "Bolivia's federal government and the states need to be resolved by political mechanisms and dialogue." (Bolivia is a unitary state, not a federal one)

Amid complaints by Santa Cruz workers of being pressured to vote on May 4th in the referendum or lose their jobs, Bolivian social sectors repudiated a statement from the U.S. embassy, accusing it of abetting the illegal acts of the prefects in the four rebellious regions.

* * *

Machetera is a member of Tlaxcala, the network of translators for linguistic diversity.
Posted on http://www.rebelion.org/noticia.php?id=66593

EVO MORALES: "Support for social revolution is very encouraging."

UNITED NATIONS PRESS CONFERENCE, April 23, 2008

Bolivian President Evo Morales Ayma this afternoon dismissed calls by an emerging separatist movement in the eastern lowland Bolivian state of Santa Cruz to hold a so-called autonomy referendum on 4 May as an "illegal" and "not very important" move by a select group of Santa Cruz wealthy families to divide the country.

"No real Bolivian agrees with division, but there will always be this kind of initiative started by families that want to create obstacles," Mr. Morales said during a Headquarters press conference on Bolivia's current situation, as well as today's opening at Headquarters of the seventh session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

"Our obligation is to maintain the unity of the country and bring about transformation based on legality and constitutionality over and above any sectarian interests or claims," he said, stressing that "the unity of the country comes first".

President Morales, who took office in January 2006, said Bolivia was undergoing a deep transformation towards democracy and the redistribution of wealth as part of its struggle against a 500-year-old history of imperialism.

"When one seeks unity and equality and, above all, social justice, there will always be obstacles," he said. There had been progress in the past few years, but it would take time to make profound structural and social changes, as well as preserve and capitalize on the country's vast natural resources for the benefit of all Bolivians.

"What encourages me is the warmth and affection I experience when I go to the fields and towns and when I visit and talk to people. Their support for a social revolution is very encouraging," he said.

During the country's colonial era, the enemies of indigenous Bolivians were the Viceroy, the Catholic Church and the upper classes, which had a stranglehold on the nation's political, religious and financial life, respectively, he said. While remnants of that legacy remained, and powerful interests continued their fight to maintain control, democracy was in fact deepening and the State was now working for the common good. Just five years ago, Bolivians were granted the right to a referendum on their political leaders and their future.

In 2005, under the previous administration, Bolivia earned $300 million from its hydrocarbons industry, he noted. Last year, thanks to moves to nationalize that industry, Bolivian officials took in $1.93 billion and distributed the earnings to districts, mayor's offices, schools and other public entities throughout the country for socio-economic development.

"We're very happy to see this because this is the first time that the State has managed to have an effect on each home, each family," he said.

He explained that the Morales Administration had also lowered the legal pension age from 65 to 60, and had used 30 per cent of the country's hydrocarbons tax revenues to close the wide pension gap so that all Bolivians from farmers to court judges received a liveable income upon retirement.

In an effort to implement the September 2007 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, he said the right to indigenous autonomy had been incorporated into the Bolivian Constitution and work was under way to consolidate those rights regionally.

Fielding questions from correspondents on his views of climate change, the President also touted the indigenous tradition of communal living, respect for Mother Earth and the end of private property as solutions to global warming.

"The concentration of land or money in a few hands is not the solution to our problems," he said. "The day environmental problems become so acute, you're not going to suffer less because you're so rich or so powerful. Let's use that money to protect the environment so that everyone will benefit."

Further, he criticized the use of farmland to produce biofuels for automobiles, saying it was causing wheat and other food prices to rise fast, seriously harming indigenous and very poor people worldwide. "According to some Presidents and some transnational companies, cars are more important than people," he said, stressing the importance of raising international awareness to end such biofuel development.

As for the right of Bolivians to chew coca leaves, Mr. Morales said the proposal to ban coca leaf consumption was contrary to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. He had voiced his complaints in a letter to the Secretary-General, calling on the Organization to respect the merits of coca leaves and their historical and cultural value among indigenous communities.

Regarding last year's decisions by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) to ban soccer matches in La Paz because of its high altitude and Mr. Morales' subsequent lobbying that ended that ban, he said it was a form of discrimination against people living in high altitudes. Soccer, like other sports, was good for one's health and was part of integration. Bolivia was preparing a petition for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to address the marginalization of and discrimination against Bolivia and to defend the universality of soccer.

Concerning charges by the Peruvian Prime Minister and others that centres of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) being set up in Bolivia and Venezuela were helping to re-establish rebel groups such as the Shining Path and Tupac Amaru, Mr. Morales said that maybe those centres destabilized empires, but not people. "What we're looking for now in Latin America are liberating democracies," he said.

http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs//2008/080421_Bolivia.doc.htm