Andean Information Network

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 [...]

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 [...]

Some of the Morales administration’s most successful initiatives have been small stipends, commonly called “bonuses,” disbursed by the government for traditionally under-served sectors of the population.[i] May 26, 2011, marks the second anniversary the Juana Azurduy[ii] bonus designed to provide health and nutrition benefits to pregnant mothers and young children.
Requirements
The Juana Azurduy bonus is designed [...]

The U.S. government historically exercised significant political influence through conditioned funding for Bolivia. However, the U.S. budget for Bolivia should shrink substantially in 2012, further limiting an already diminished presence. Reductions in funding and diplomatic involvement could help lay the foundation for an innovative bilateral relationship.
Congress is currently reviewing the Obama administration’s FY 2011 State [...]

In 2011, the newly elected House of Representatives will likely move U.S. foreign policy in Latin America toward intervention. Right-wing politicians in the U.S. maintain close ties with Latin American elite. In recent years, many of these opposition leaders have appealed to U.S. conservative interests in their region, expressing concern about their loss of power [...]

On September 6, ex-Bolivian president Jorge Quiroga and his lawyer responded to court conviction of Quiroga’s for defamation, slander, and libel against Union Bank.  The charges refer to Quiroga’s statements on February 6, 2009, when he denounced Union Bank as an outlet for corrupt money laundering. Quiroga’s accusations occurred shortly after Jorge O’Connor D’Arlach, a [...]

On August 16, after 19 days of blockades and hunger strikes in urban Potosí and surrounding areas, Potosí civic leaders and MAS officials reached an agreement to end protests.  After protest leaders and Bolivian government officials met in Sucre, the Morales administration agreed to begin work on the demonstrators’ six demands.[i] While this agreement marks [...]

Andres Schipani’s article, “Jessica Anne Jordan Burton: beauty queen defies cartel beasts in Bolivia’s war on cocaine,” presents an inaccurate, hyperbolic, and sexist account, which projects narrow-minded generalizations and grossly distorts the current reality of Bolivian drug policy.  Unfortunately, this erroneous portrayal has been widely reprinted and quoted in the English-speaking press.
Inaccurate or incomplete information [...]

Yesterday, former Human Rights Ombudsman (Defensor del Pueblo) Waldo Albarracín told the press that the deaths of David Callisaya Mamani (16) and Fidel Mario Hernan Jiménez (19) last week in Caranavi should make President Morales ineligible to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for which he was recently nominated.  It’s a valid argument that nevertheless presents [...]

The results of April 4 departmental and municipal elections largely reflect previous trends in voter choices. Initial estimates indicate that the official MAS party won five out of nine governor posts: Cochabamba, La Paz, Chuquisaca, Potosi and Oruro. They may have also prevailed in Pando, although that departmental race remains too close to call before [...]