The leaders of the assembly announced the following determinations:

• Manfred Reyes Villa had abandoned his post.
• They no longer recognize him as prefect and have announced that they have “fired” him.   
• They demand “Responsibility Trials” for Reyes Villa and the president of the Cochabamba Civic Committee for last week’s incidents. (Legally, the Bolivian congress must authorize this.) 
• They also demand improved attention for the wounded in last Thursday’s conflict.

Conflicting expectations divide social movements

These four resolutions failed to satisfy the myriad of social groups present.  Some groups forcibly retained members of the departmental council, the majority from MAS, in the regional workers union (COD) office, demanding they elect a new governor sympathetic to their interests.  Most council members, including MAS representatives refused, stating that they are not legally authorized to do so, and eventually got out of the building.

As the decision to democratically elect governors was improvised for the 2005 elections, there is no legal framework to determine their resignation, or the selection of an interim or permanent replacement.  Coca growers and some other groups also left the plaza in support of the council members’ decision.

When the crowd dwindled in the plaza, remaining participants proclaimed a parallel council that then elected what they call a “People’s Revolutionary Prefect” to ostensibly replace Reyes Villa.  The parallel governor is not well known, nor representative of many of the social movements that have participated in ongoing protests.  It is doubtful that his election will have any lasting impact, but the incident highlights the growing fragmentation and polarization within social movements and the department as a whole.

MAS officials retreated as the situation became increasingly chaotic and unclear. They rejected the revolutionary governor and publicly stated that Reyes Villa continues to be the governor of Cochabamba.  Visibly shaken, Vice President Alvaro García Linera said that the Government respects the democratically elected authorities of Cochabamba.

Cochabamba and La Paz governors accept referendum to determine their tenure

On January 13, President Morales, in a brief stop over between presidential inaugurations and meetings, proposed a referendum allowing citizens to revoke the mandate of elected officials, including mayors, governors and the president.  Legislation to authorize the “revocation referendum” has been pushed to the top of the 2007 congressional agenda.

Reyes Villa and Paredes have both refused to resign, but have agreed to support the referendum and its results, which are unpredictable.   Social movements remain divided over the issue and still continue to demand the resignation of both officials.  Protestors in Cochabamba have said that they will not permit Reyes Villa to carry out projects or public works in rural areas. Reyes Villa remains in Santa Cruz, and has temporarily appointed his second in command as interim governor, which is legally permitted.

It remains unclear whether the referendum will actually occur and what the potential impact of its results will be.  Furthermore, with the soaring polarization, division and extreme mistrust on all sides, it is doubtful that groups on either side of the conflict would respect the outcome for an extended period of time.  The proposal follows a trend in Bolivia of scheduling measures to replace government officials which in the past have succeeded in temporarily diffusing political pressure or postponing pending confrontations.  In fact, the current conflict is a product of the decision to democratically elect prefects without first putting in place broader regulations and legislation to determine accountability measures or their interactions with the central government and regional constituents.

Most protestors have left Cochabamba’s main plaza, the city appears to be functioning normally and the visible conflict has been temporarily diffused.  Unfortunately, the underlying issues have not been resolved, although the positions and stances have changed. Both MAS and Reyes Villa have provoked each other and pushed Cochabamba residents into pitched battles with unforeseeable and uncontrollable results.