Bolivia constitution could give Indians upper hand

[struggle4progress]

Thu Jan 22, 2009 7:44pm GMT

By Eduardo Garcia

LA PAZ, Jan 22 (Reuters) - ... President Evo Morales, an Aymara Indian, says the constitution being put to a referendum vote on Sunday will create a multicultural state where indigenous people have a greater say and end a status quo that favors a mixed-race elite descended from Europeans and Indians.

"This fine land belongs to us: Aymaras, Quechuas, Guaranies, Chiquitanos ... The rights of those that were born in this land are recognized in the new constitution," he told supporters in southern Bolivia this month ...

Even though some 60 percent of adults in this impoverished country of about 10 million people consider themselves indigenous, many still feel looked down upon ...

Polls show at least 55 percent of Bolivians will vote "yes" for the new constitution, allowing Morales to run for re-election, increase state control over the economy and give indigenous peoples more representatives in a new "multicultural" legislature ...

http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKN2246296220090122?sp=true



Friday, January 23, 2009
Morales's constitution aims to recognise rights of indigenous

... “This process was synonymous with the construction of a new state,” says Alex Contreras, a former spokesman to Morales. “A state must recognise the rights of national majorities, not just those of a small privileged minority.”

The Bolivian constitution was created 182 years ago by the descendants of the Spanish colonisers who took over once independence had been won. It has been modified slightly since then, generally behind closed doors.

The constitutional assembly elected in May 2006 was made up of members of both social movements and political parties.

Over a year and four months, the assembly worked in the city of Sucre and carried out consultations in cities, towns, villages and communities nationwide, collecting proposals from citizens about the kind of Bolivia they would like to live in ...

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2009/0123/1232474675854.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. Wow, it's coming up fast. Do you think they have the time to work in another massacre,

to try to put the fear of god into the native Bolivians in order to keep them away from the polls?

It wouldn't surprise any of the Latin America-watching Democratic real DU'ers.

Thanks for posting this important information.