A Vote That May Strengthen Bolivian Leader

[Judi Lynn]

A Vote That May Strengthen Bolivian Leader



Noah Friedman-Rudovsky for The New York Times
President Evo Morales of Bolivia on Thursday in El Alto, campaigning for a referendum Sunday.

By SIMON ROMERO
Published: August 8, 2008

LA PAZ, Bolivia — Faced with calls in a rebellious province for a military coup and with spreading protests that have kept him from landing his plane in parts of the country, President Evo Morales is pressing ahead with plans for a national referendum on Sunday intended to determine whether he and his top regional rivals should remain in office.

~snip~
Despite the spreading protests, Mr. Morales is expected to win the referendum, with support among Aymara and Quechua Indians in the highlands remaining strong. But the vote’s rules, drafted to make it easier to oust governors than the president, may open a new stage of confrontation if some of the governors lose.

That outcome would allow Mr. Morales to pick the governors’ successors, which could aggravate tension in some areas over redistributing petroleum royalties to bolster social security payments for impoverished elderly citizens. Political leaders in eastern Santa Cruz began a hunger strike this week aimed at recovering a portion of the royalties.

Yet while Mr. Morales and his opponents square off over specific policies, the vote on Sunday also revolves around the president’s broader ambitions to reconfigure Bolivia’s political system to benefit the country’s indigenous peoples, who make up more than 60 percent of Bolivia’s 10 million inhabitants.

Despite discontent in several provinces that have drafted their own autonomy statutes, with vague prospects of how they could be put into effect, Mr. Morales has higher approval ratings than any Bolivian president in recent memory, about 60 percent. Partly because of high prices for the country’s mining exports, the economy may grow 6 percent this year.

More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/09/world/americas/09bolivia.html?_r=1&ref=world&oref=slogin

[Judi Lynn]

1. Bolivians to vote on whether to keep president, governors

Bolivians to vote on whether to keep president, governors
Posted: 10 August 2008 0937 hrs

LA PAZ: Bolivia's four million voters are to cast ballots Sunday in a referendum deciding whether President Evo Morales and eight of the country's nine governors should stay in office.

The recall plebiscite was called by Morales in an attempt to subdue opposition governors who are defying his leftwing reforms and demanding autonomy from his government.

A stalemate between the president and six of the governors has plunged Bolivia into crisis and stymied some of Morales's efforts to turn it into a socialist state modelled on that of Venezuela.

Pre-poll surveys suggest Morales will be reconfirmed in his post, thanks to massive support among the indigenous majority from which he hails and which makes up 60 per cent of Bolivia's 10-million strong population.

"I am not afraid of the people," he said Saturday, as he urged "calm" voting.

More:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/366350/1/.html

[Judi Lynn]

2. Bolivia's Evo Morales puts his agenda to the test

Bolivia's Evo Morales puts his agenda to the test

The South American nation will hold a recall referendum on the president and eight governors. Polls indicate that Morales is likely to retain his job; several opposition leaders may lose theirs.

By Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
6:25 PM PDT, August 9, 2008



LA PAZ, BOLIVIA -- President Evo Morales seeks a new mandate for his socialist agenda today in a nationwide referendum that reflects deep divisions in this troubled South American nation.

Morales, his vice president and eight state governors face recall votes that could throw them all out of office. Polls indicate that Morales is likely to retain his job, though several governors who oppose his policies could lose theirs.

A tense atmosphere prevails across the country. Violent anti-government demonstrations and airport blockades forced the cancellation of an energy summit with the presidents of Argentina and Venezuela. There have been threats to obstruct the vote and reports of gunfire directed at the vehicle of a Cabinet member.

"I'm sorry to say it, but now the dictatorships of the '60s and '70s are being replaced by some groups that take airports, occupy electoral offices and take shots at ministers' cars," Morales said at a rally last week.

The anti-government protests have made it difficult for Morales, Bolivia's first Indian president, to travel outside of his stronghold here in the capital and the surrounding western highlands. His efforts to redistribute land and income in South America's poorest nation have made him a hero to the struggling Indian masses and left-wing activists worldwide.

More:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-bolivia10-2008aug10,0,1253362.story?track=rss

[Judi Lynn]

3. Bolivia's President puts his popularity to the test

Bolivia's President puts his popularity to the test
Morales gambles on election to oust opposition leaders

By Phil Davison
Sunday, 10 August 2008

After today's Bolivian referendum, Evo Morales will know whether he will be staying on in the presidential palace or contemplating a return to growing coca – "for medicinal purposes, not for cocaine".

The 48-year-old President, known for visiting world leaders in a woolly jumper and wearing well-worn tennis shoes at public events, gambled on a "recall referendum" to assert his popularity and call the bluff of regional governors, who seek autonomy and oppose his land reform and nationalisation policies.

As well as his popularity test, he has insisted on separate referendums in eight of the nine departments in the hope of seeing off some of the governors and giving himself a greater mandate for constitutional change, including the chance to run for a second five-year term.

Even if, as expected, Mr Morales wins his personal vote, the governors say they will not recognise the result and the poorest nation in South America faces further polarisation between the President's indigenous supporters, mainly in the highland west, and the political establishment of European or part-European descent in the wealthier, gas-rich eastern lowlands.

More:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/bolivias-president-puts-his-popularity-to-the-test-889766.html

[Judi Lynn]

4. Bolivia to decide Morales' fate

Page last updated at 00:39 GMT, Sunday, 10 August 2008 01:39 UK
Bolivia to decide Morales' fate
By Daniel Schweimler
BBC News, La Paz

The people of Bolivia are set to vote on whether they want President Evo Morales and eight regional governors to remain in office.

The recall referendum was organised to consolidate the leaders in office amid growing divisions over the president's attempts to reform the constitution.

Mr Morales has criticised what he calls privileged groups who talk of separation and oppose change.

Protests have been increasing in the run-up to the referendum.

Deep divisions

The country has become increasingly divided between rich and poor, east and west over the president's plans to radically reorganise the way Bolivia is run.

He wants to give poor and indigenous communities and women a greater voice, he wants to redistribute land in what is South America's poorest country.

More:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7551994.stm

[Judi Lynn]

5. Bolivia's Morales confronts rivals

Bolivia's Morales confronts rivals
Aug 10, 2008 9:51 PM

From the Andes to the Amazon, Bolivians vote in a recall referendum that President Evo Morales is expected to win, but the outcome is unlikely to ease a bitter standoff with his rightist rivals.

Regional governors who have led opposition to Morales' leftist agenda will also face the recall, meaning they too could be voted out. A surprise Morales defeat would force him to call new elections in the natural-gas rich nation.

Morales, a former coca farmer who is Bolivia's first Indian leader, hopes a victory will allow him to relaunch reforms including nationalizations, land redistribution and a constitution that aims to empower the poor.

But with volatile Bolivia roiled by pro- and anti-government protests fueled by racial and economic divisions, few people expect the recall vote to restore calm in South America's poorest country.

More:
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/1318360/1994529

[Judi Lynn]

6. Bolivia holds referendum

Bolivia holds referendum

August 10 2008 at 10:41AM

La Paz - Bolivia's four million voters are to cast ballots Sunday in a referendum deciding whether President Evo Morales and eight of the country's nine governors should stay in office.

The recall plebsicite was called by Morales in an attempt to subdue opposition governors who are defying his leftwing reforms and demanding autonomy from his government.

A stalemate between the president and six of the governors has plunged Bolivia into crisis and stymied some of Morales's efforts to turn it into a socialist state modeled on that of Venezuela.

Pre-poll surveys suggest Morales will be reconfirmed in his post, thanks to massive support among the indigenous majority from which he hails and which makes up 60 percent of Bolivia's 10-million strong population.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3&art_id=nw20080810095026108C576028