Why not just let parliament vote?

06.09.2005

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The session of parliament that was to vote on whether to accept Mesa's resignation was suspended. A group of miners traded dynamite for gunfire w/ troops outside Sucre. So the tension continues; it'd be nice if the protesters would at least give parliament a chance to vote, since it's not yet clear even if Vaca Díez will be voted president or not.

Meanwhile, a group of citizens from rural Santa Cruz are en route to break the MAS-led bloqueo outside Samaipata (where residents there recently battled MAS protesters who recently arrived). The nearby town of El Torno protested to kick MAS out of the municipal government coalition, and won. In Santa Cruz, this seems to be quickly becoming a particidal war between elements of civil society supporting MAS & those opposed (including, of course, the UJC).

Lastly, Santa Cruz secession may no longer be an issue. Jaime Solares called on residents of El Alto to form a Popular Assembly as "parallel government" — and calls to seize the capitol buildings in La Paz. This could open the possibility to the bulk of Bolivia governed from Sucre, w/ El Alto & much of the indigenous Andes governed from El Alto-La Paz. At that point, nationalizing hydrocarbons won't be an issue; there's precious little of it there.

Meanwhile, the Solares-Evo-FEJUVE protesters continue to oppose a non-event. It's no longer clear that parliament will appoint Vaca Díez. Besides, they first must vote on whether they accept Mesa's resignation; they could refuse it. Why not just call a truce to protests? Why not just wait to see what parliament actually decides? They could always resume protesting later. Why not just give the democratically elected representatives vote? Why insist, instead, on the presumption that they somehow represent "the Bolivian people" (that imaginary abstract construct).

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ADDENDUM 1: I'd like to join Barrio Flores in calling for Evo to resign, alongside Vaca Díez. Tit for tat; goodwill for goodwill.

ADDENDUM 2: I thought I'd post a link to the website for the Nación Camba.

ADDENDUM 3: Meanwhile, still working on some dissertation research. Here's an updated Bolivian Politics Wiki. It's a slowly evolving work in progress.

Posted by Miguel at 07:41 PM

Comments

The mobilizations are demanding the resignation of Vaca Diez and Cossio. However, they have yet to articulate what they would do if that happens, i.e. send everyone home, stop the blockades and let daily life resume. There needs to be some sign of goodwill from those mobilizations, because there needs be compromise.

Posted by: eduardo at June 9, 2005 08:40 PM