New Times in Bolivia: The hope of a new Constitution

By Lynne Longenecker

January 25, 2009 became an historic day in Bolivia when 61% of the population voted to approve a new constitution that expands the rights of the indigenous majority, solidifies state control over natural resources, and lays the foundation for more equitable land distribution. While historic, the vote also followed the pattern of a divided country that is becoming familiar in Bolivian politics, with four of the country’s nine departments strongly rejecting the proposal.
Based at MCC’s office in Santa Cruz, the largest city in the lowlands of eastern Bolivia, we experienced the referendum through the eyes of a city in which it seemed hard to find anyone who openly supported the new constitution, or anything having to do with the Evo Morales government, for that matter. Even so, the day of the vote was amazingly calm and quiet. Vehicles were prohibited on the streets, so kids were riding bikes and people were sitting on lawn chairs where there is normally busy traffic going past.


Even weeks afterward, I've been surprised at the ongoing calm. I thought there might be more immediate reaction, protests, etc. At this point all the "action" seems to be in the context of discourse in the press and media, rather than anything physical. From what we read it sounds like more resistance might come as the government tries to enact laws that put the constitution into practice. This may be a difficult process because the opposition controls one of the arms of congress. Despite the tension, the calm is encouraging, and fits historical patterns that have shown the Bolivian people to be amazingly slow to take to violence. It also matches a recent study by the United Nations which showed that the large majority of Bolivians support peaceful dialog to resolve the country’s differences, as opposed to violent conflict.


It's interesting to see the spin in the press. The press from the western highlands celebrates the victory as a major step forward in rights and opportunity for indigenous people, framing it as the basis for a new era in Bolivian history after centuries of discrimination. The press in the eastern lowlands claims "victory" in the sense that the constitution lost in these four departments. Some claim that this means the new constitution doesn't apply in this part of the country, although that argument doesn’t really have any legal basis. It would be like the "red states" in the recent US elections claiming that Obama wasn't really their president!


What it does mean is that the government will need to choose what kind of posture to take toward the opposition departments. If they try to use this as a mandate to steamroll changes through without negotiation with the opposition, it will fuel sentiment that the government is imposing its changes, and fears of non-indigenous people of being overrun or oppressed by the newly empowered indigenous people. I hear these feelings from people in this part of the country and can understand the fear to some degree, so I hope the government can take a posture of continued dialog in the process of putting this constitution into practice.

It's amazing to see the power of the media in all of this. The leaders of the opposition have been very good at using media to prey on the fears of the people to raise resistance to the government. On the other hand, Evo can be divisive with his rhetoric, too, even though his criticisms of the historically unjust political and economic structures usually seem to be very well founded. How to speak the truth in ways that challenge and change structures without alienating the opposition to the point that it's really detrimental to your cause? I guess that's a difficult tension for anyone working for structural change, and one that MCC will need to navigate in the months ahead. How to promote justice while really listening to voices on all sides of the conflict? When to take a confrontational stance and when a more conciliatory one? How to bring about change that is truly positive and just, and not simply a replacement of one oppressor for another?

So far, it seems like an amazing achievement that the Morales government has been able to walk that line successfully enough to bring about this new constitution through peaceful, democratic processes and minimal violence. We hope the international community can help these processes continue as Bolivians sort out the details of what these changes mean and what a more just Bolivia will look like.
At MCC we see an important need to work at bridge-building in this context, as the tendency is for people to have less and less contact with those from the other side, and for media and politicians to dehumanize the “other” in efforts to capitalize on fear and distrust.


Lynne is serving as coordinator for the peace and justice program for MCC Bolivia. This includes providing administrative support for MCCers working in this program, as well as developing new opportunities for MCC peace-building work in the polarized context of Bolivia.