By Alicia Sagra
As we have said in several articles, in the midst of an important economic crisis (expressed in the shortage of fuel and dollars) that has left behind the so-called “Bolivian economic miracle”, Bolivia is going through an enormous political crisis generated by the confrontation between the country’s President Luis Arce, and the former President Evo Morales.
As we have said before, the current confrontation between these former MAS comrades [1] is not based on political issues, much less on the concern for the living conditions of Bolivian peasants and workers. Their fight has to do with the electoral dispute, as both want to run as the presidential candidate for MAS in the 2025 elections.
This confrontation has already manifested itself through road blockades, maneuvers with sectors of the armed forces, accusations of a self-coup, mutual denunciations before the judicial system, and now it is manifesting itself with the so-called “March to Save Bolivia” promoted and led by Evo Morales.
This march between Caracollo and La Paz (189 km), which according to the Bolivian press was very large, lasted a week. It left Caracollo on September 17 and arrived in La Paz on Monday, September 23, where it was greeted with an important rally. In this meeting, Evo gave a speech that spoke of the government, saying that it had become a dictatorship and that the grassroots should recover democracy. He stated that he was giving it 24 hours to solve the problem of fuel and the availability of dollars, and that if it did not do so, the mobilizations would continue.
War of communiqués from on high
During the seven days of the march, there was a war of declarations coming from both sides. From the government and the Arce sectors, Evo was accused of “encouraging civil war”, of “promoting a coup d’état”; while Evo denounced the government for creating a “media siege” to distort the character of the march.
The Arce sectors, including the peasant central CSUTCB, demanded the arrest of Evo Morales for not respecting the Constitution and destabilizing the government. While the Evoist sectors demanded the resignation of Arce and Vice President David Choquehuanca so that the president of the Senate, Evoist Andrógino Rodríguez, could take over.
The war of accusations was not limited to the national level. Evo Morales sent a letter to the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, requesting the organization’s intervention to prevent the government from “disrupting” his protest with “shock groups that are in fact paramilitary groups”.
Meanwhile, the day after the march arrived in La Paz, the Foreign Ministry denounced to the international community that the march led by Morales directly threatened the “continuity of the democratic order” by issuing an ultimatum to the government of Luis Arce.
Physical confrontations and injuries from below
These confrontations from above led to physical confrontations from below. On Sunday the 22, supporters of Luis Arce organized a rally in the city of El Alto to ask the population to prevent the march. The rally was broken up by supporters of Evo Morales, which led to a violent confrontation that left several people injured. And on Monday, another similar confrontation took place in La Paz, where groups were awaiting the arrival of the march.
The violent situation led to the suspension of classes in several schools in El Alto and La Paz on Monday.
MAS is Not the Political Instrument Workers Need
The two leaders have accused each other of corruption, both present themselves as defenders of “democracy”, against Arce’s “dictatorship” or against “Evo’s coup”. But the truth is that the only thing that moves them is the presidential candidacy and the deals and perks that come with that position. And for that, they will stop at nothing, and even actively promote the confrontation between the peasants and popular sectors.
The truth is that MAS, which raised so many expectations among the peasants, indigenous peoples, and Bolivian workers, and which unfortunately had the support of the majority of the Latin American and international left, never stopped defending the capitalist system. This is the reason why it was not, and is not, the political instrument that the urban and rural workers need. To put an end to the suffering of the workers, peasants, and poor, it is necessary to put an end to capitalism. In order to achieve this goal, a different political instrument is needed, a workers’ party that is socialist, revolutionary, internationalist, and that works for a revolution like that of 1952. But time it must give power to the workers and promote the Latin American revolution to defeat imperialism and advance towards the construction of a socialist society. This is the only way to truly achieve a plurinational and multiethnic workers’ state, free from exploitation and oppression.
Note
[1] Luis Arce was Evo’s economy minister and became president with Morales’ support.
