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The Democracy Center debate

10.23.2005

Technorati tag: Bolivia

There's an interesting post over at Publius Pundit that mentions this weekend's pro free trade march in downtown La Paz. The post contains a solid round-up of recent Bolivia blog coverage. But it also contains a barb aimed at Jim Schultz's Democracy Center (especially a link to this post). I'd like to address this briefly.

Now. I've had my disagreements w/ Schultz in the past. And I agree that his posts contain a bias that has at times colored his perception & coverage of Bolivian politics. Unlike many of his detractors, however, I'll emphasize that Schultz is indeed a man of principle, that his biases no more color his perceptions than do the biases of his opponents, and that he has (more often than not) attempted to provide a reasoned analysis of events.

That said, I agree that some of his coverage fails from the glaring error of omission of some key facts. Most notably in the post in question, which references the events of February 2003, and most especially on the death of a young nursing student, Anna Colque. In doing so, Schultz overstates his case.

First, I want to point out that Colque's death is tragic. I think few people would disagree. And I think a good case can be made for mismanagement by the administration of then-president Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada (Goni). The administration's weakness, in part due to a social crisis inherited from the Banzer-Quiroga administrations (1997-2002), led to clumsy handling of civil unrest.

But this does not mean that Goni is a murderous thug guilty of "genocide" (as his opponents claim). Not just because the accusation clearly speaks to an utter ignorance of what genocide means — there was no "ethnic cleansing" program as in Bosnia, Rwanda, or Sudan during Goni's administration. At worst, the regime cracked down too harshly on civilian protests, resulting in the lost of roughly a hundred different people during 2003 (included in this number, one must remember, are soldiers & police as well).

Now, as to the Colque case. Nowhere in Schultz's post does he point out a glaring & crucial fact about the February 2003 events. This was NOT a civilian-led protest. Regardless of whether civilians were involved (they certainly were, including teenage schoolchildren brought in by their teachers), or whether the protesters' grievances were legitimate (a matter of debate, though ironically the proposed tax increase they protested was rescinded the previous day), it is important to note that the protest began w/ a police mutiny.

On 12 February, an elite para-military police unit descended on Plaza Murillo (which overlooks both the Presidential Palace and the National Congress buildings) demanding a 50% pay increase. As they went on strike, many of the police officers took their weapons & equipment (keep in mind that these are essentially the Bolivian SWAT force). In a state of emergency, the presidential & parliamentary guards (and other hastily assembled military units) reacted to defend the two government institutions. It's unclear who fired first (though many eye witness reports from that day suggest the police did).

The result, was a brief but heavy exchange of gunfire between mutinying police officers & loyalist military units. In that confusing exchange, many civilian protesters who were scattered w/in the police officers came into the line of fire. Several, unfortunately, were killed & many wounded (the total is 15 dead, 73 wounded). One of these was Anna Colque, who was providing medical attention to another wounded civilian.

Gunfire damage to both the Presidential Palace & a police building a block up the street (from which police snipers were firing at the executive offices) were still visible when I arrived in Bolivia later that year. As was damage to the vice presidential building, along w/ other government buildings (among these, sadly, the vice ministry offices in charge of sustainable development assistance) looted & set afire by protesters that day.

Now. One can wonder whether she was deliberately targeted by the soldier who shot her, and whether he knew (at that moment) that she was an unarmed civilian. We can even wonder whether any military officers gave the deliberate order to fire, indiscriminently, into the crowd. And we can even wonder whether, if such an order were given (and it's an "if" question, keep in mind), that order came directly from Goni. Unless all of those things can be demonstrated — and no one has, despite all the accusations — then it's difficult to seriously entertain the notion that Goni should be personally held responsible for the "murder" of a civilian protester under the circumstances.

I think a solid case can be made against the Goni administration by political opponents. After all, his policies were opposed by many in the populist & leftist opposition. But if those attacks begin to slide into untenable & ridiculous accusations of "genocide" & deliberately "murdering" citizens, then the accusations became nothing more than politically charged propaganda rhetoric (such as when Schultz implicitly compares Goni to Saddam Hussein)*. Such attacks do little service to either the complexity of events or to long-term issues of democratic rights & the rule of law. As such, they become part of a politically motivated witch hunt — and one should then not be surprised if Goni decides to seek exile in the United States, nor if the US grants him such exile. After all, can he really expect to receive a fair trial under such circumstances?

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NOTE: A close reading of Schultz' comparison between Goni & Saddam makes clear, of course, that Schultz doesn't think Goni is like Saddam, that Goni's crimes aren't as serious by comparison. But the use of Saddam's name in that context, and the way in which the point about the poor comparison between the two is not fully stressed, makes it (whether intentional or not) a case of an association fallacy.

Posted by Miguel at 07:26 PM

Comments

Posted by: Logan Foster at October 23, 2005 09:42 PM

Posted by: eduardo at October 23, 2005 11:50 PM

Posted by: MABB at October 24, 2005 08:03 AM

Posted by: Jose A. de la Reza at October 24, 2005 08:59 PM