Andean Information Network

In September 2008 lowland elites led sustained protests against the Bolivian president, Evo Morales, demanding autonomy for their departments.  Yet, Morales’ MAS government never opposed grassroots autonomy initiatives. In fact, the administration held a 2006 referendum allowing lowland departments to opt for autonomy to be defined in the new Constitution. Ironically, opposition efforts to block [...]

On December 6, Evo Morales, Bolivia’s first indigenous President, easily won reelection with 64% of the vote to 26% for the right-wing candidate Manfred Reyes Villa. During his first term in office the international press and opinion makers hyped a “deep” divide between Bolivia’s eastern lowland regions and the western Andean highlands. For example, an [...]

Evo Morales is the most popular President Bolivia has ever had. Last month he won re-election with 64% of the vote in spite of the fact that he is often at loggerheads with Bolivia’s upper classes that control the country’s print and television media.
Evo Morales and representatives of the U.S. government have a history of [...]

Alternative indigenous candidates polled relatively poorly.  Victor Hugo Cardenas received the highest percentage in the group (4.5%), leaving him in fifth place, Rene Joaquino (3.5%). Both came in several percentage points behind the category, “Don’t know; didn’t respond.”  It will be interesting to see how numbers change as the campaign season progresses.

Department
% Votes for Morales
Second [...]

Candidates and Potential Candidates 

Victor Hugo Cárdenas, The People (Gente): Vice President during the first Sánchez de Lozada term, Cárdenas intends to contribute to a unified opposition bloc and promote “national reunification.”[ii] Of Aymara heritage, he faces harsh criticism among indigenous populations for his perceived “sell-out” to neoliberal policies. It is interesting to note that Cárdenas, [...]

The Pivotal Indigenous Vote The candidates’ capacity to bridge deep regional and ethnic divides will also present an interesting campaign challenge. Recent elections and referenda results demonstrate the need for opposition contenders to tap into voter demographics outside of the urban, upper-middle class mestizo populations, which have historically represented conservative opposition groups’ core support. The urban [...]

In contrast to the goodwill generated by Obama and Clinton during and after the Summit, the ATPDEA decision came as an unwelcome blast from the past.  With the high-level dialogue underway, Bolivia had expected Obama to reverse the Bush decision.  The [...]

In many ways, perceptions of Bolivia in the US resemble a Rorschach test on which to project one's fears, dogmas or utopian visions.   In reality, Bolivian political and social dynamics are complex, constantly shifting, and impossible to force into preconceived external formulas.  Neither an Andean socialist paradise nor an extension of the "Venezuelan-Iran-Cuba axis of [...]

The following paragraph exemplifies Farah’s tone throughout the piece:
 What is interesting in the dynamic [...] is that conflict eruptions seem to coincide with deep crises facing the Morales government. For example, the expulsion of the DEA and accusations of U.S. government conspiring came just after two sisters of Margarita Terán, one of Morales' closest confidants [...]

Much like U.S. tribunals, Bolivian military court proceedings lack transparency, the selection process of judges depends on the military high command, and does not require that all officials have legal training. The tribunal acts as both judge and jury. Furthermore, human rights advocates have consistently critiqued the Bolivian military justice tribunal for quick acquittals for [...]