Andean Information Network

A block of indigenous representatives to the Bolivian Legislative Assembly announced that they are forming a new first nations’ caucus. The news unsettled Bolivian politics, as it means that MAS will lose its guaranteed 2/3 majority rule in the Legislative Assembly.
Congressman Bienvenido Zacu, a member of the newly formed caucus, explained that the new political [...]

Insight Crime’s “Massive Overcrowding Allows Bolivia’s Prison Gangs to Flourish” accurately highlights some of the endemic problems faced by Bolivia’s prisons. Yet, the crisis is not new; it began soon after the passage of drug control Law 1008, when the prison population swelled with prisoners detained on low-level drug charges. At the peak of the [...]

An ongoing municipal conflict in Yapacaní, in the Santa Cruz department, exploded on January 11, leading to three civilian deaths. In March 2011, a group of council members suspended MAS Mayor David Carvajal due to accusations of corruption, a common occurrence in Bolivia local governments.  However, their suspension did not properly follow legal procedures and [...]

According to the blogosphere, the biggest news out of Bolivia in the end of 2011 is that Bolivians have rejected McDonald’s. Headlines such as “McDonald’s goes belly up in Bolivia”[i] and “Fast Food fails to deliver in Bolivia”[ii] have topped Google alerts for weeks. Most all of the articles on the subject offer the same [...]

Bolivia swore in 56 new justices on January 3, 2012. Their daunting task is to reshape the face of the Bolivian judiciary in accordance with the new constitution. The president and other MAS party officials spoke with high hopes about the judges’ inauguration. President of the Legislative Assembly, Hector Arce, expressed his belief that this judiciary [...]

The Economist’s January 7th article, “Rough Justice: The wrong way to reform the courts,” offers a misleading picture of Bolivia’s recent judicial elections. While the newly elected magistrates face real challenges in renewing the Bolivian public’s faith in the national justice system, this article erroneously claims that appointed judges would were be better suited to [...]

On November 17, Bolivia, Brazil and the United States planned to ratify agreements on a trilateral coca monitoring effort. Officials delayed signing the accord until Friday, and then postponed it indefinitely. Initially slated for March 2011, ratification of the agreement has been repeatedly delayed.   Furthermore, the agreement has been converted from a trilateral accord to [...]

On October 13, the Bolivian congress approved a new law to protect the contested TIPNIS indigenous territory and national park, temporary halting construction of the planned highway.  However, TIPNIS marchers, who are expected to arrive in La Paz next week after a two-month march on foot from the lowlands, reject the legislation, particularly because its [...]

On October 16, Bolivia will hold a popular vote to fill the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Tribunal, the Judiciary Council, and the National Agrarian and Environmental Tribunal.  These elections are part of Bolivian judicial reform, designed to make the judicial system more representative.  While critics of the MAS administration continue to question the politics behind [...]

On September 25 at 5 pm, approximately 500 Bolivian police officers tear-gassed and used excessive force against camping indigenous protestors outside of Yucumo, in Beni Department.   Initial reports listed one child dead and multiple wounded,[i] although human rights groups have not confirmed any casualties.   The violent police action presents the most dramatic example yet in [...]