Morales promises ‘democratic revolution’

[Judi Lynn]

Morales promises ‘democratic revolution’
By Naomi Mapstone in Lima and Andres Schipani in La Paz

Published: January 23 2009 17:46 | Last updated: January 23 2009 17:46

Evo Morales, Bolivia’s popular leftwing president, has ended his campaign for a new constitution ahead of Sunday’s national referendum with promises of “democratic revolution” and a new era of equality for the volatile Andean nation.

At a rally in La Paz, thousands of supporters waved the multicoloured check flag of indigenous people and chanted “Evo, yes!” beneath a giant inflatable figure of Mr Morales in a trademark striped woollen jumper.

For Mr Morales, Bolivia’s first indigenous president, the rally was a celebration of three years in office, and a milestone in his bid to extend state control over natural resources and redistribute land and set quotas for indigenous groups in government.

“There will be millions and millions of Bolivians who will guarantee the approval of the new constitution to refound Bolivia so as to be a new state with equal opportunities, a new state where everyone will have the same rights and duties,” Mr Morales said. “Brothers and sisters, we have to guarantee this democratic revolution with Evo Morales or without Evo Morales.”

Bolivians are widely expected to vote in favour of the constitution, which endorses “community justice” and the election of judges, removes Catholicism as the state religion and, in a supplementary question, seeks to limit landholdings to 5,000 hectares or 10,000 ha.

More:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/081d4d04-e957-11dd-9535-0000779fd2ac.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. Key elements of new Bolivian constitution being voted on Sunday

Updated: 52 minutes ago

Key elements of new Bolivian constitution being voted on Sunday
By the Associated Press
4:11 PM EST, January 23, 2009

Key elements in the proposed constitution going before Bolivian voters Sunday:

RE-ELECTION: Presidents can serve two consecutive five-year terms. Current constitution permits two terms, but not consecutive. Morales could thus remain in office through 2014.

INDIGENOUS RIGHTS: Recognizes self-determination of 36 distinct Indian "nations." Sets aside seats in Congress for minority indigenous groups but not for the Aymara and Quechua, who together comprise the majority in Bolivia's western highlands.

LAND: Voters decide in the referendum whether future land ownership should be capped at 12,000 or 24,000 acres (5,000 or 10,000 hectares). Current holdings are grandfathered in. The state can seize land that doesn't perform a "social function" or was fraudulently obtained.

JUSTICE: Judges on Bolivia's highest court are elected rather than appointed by the president as current law provides. The state recognizes indigenous groups' practice of "community justice" based traditional customs.

LOCAL AUTONOMY: Eastern lowland provinces can set up state assemblies that control local issues, but not land reform or natural gas revenues. Indigenous groups are granted self-rule on traditional lands inside existing states. All autonomies have "equal rank."

NATURAL RESOURCES: The state controls all mineral and oil and gas reserves. Indigenous groups get control of all renewable resources on their land. Water is a fundamental human right that cannot be controlled by private companies.

More:
http://www.courant.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-lt-bolivia-referendum-glance,0,7824620.story

[Judi Lynn]

2. Bolivia's native peoples poised to win new rights

Posted on Friday, January 23, 2009
Bolivia's native peoples poised to win new rights

COTA COTA BAJA, Bolivia — Highland Indian communities here remain rooted in the past. The towns have dirt streets. Farmers till their fields with hand plows. Pigs, sheep and cattle graze alongside dogs that run loose.

The men wear trousers, sandals and fedoras. Women prefer bowler hats, colorful shawls and multilayered skirts known as polleras. They carry infants on their backs, wrapped in the shawls. Most everyone chews green coca leaves to ward off hunger and the cold.

For the past three years, Bolivia's first indigenous president, Evo Morales, has made mostly symbolic improvements that have opened doors for the country's Indian majority. However, he's now put forth a new constitution Bolivians are expected to approve Sunday that seeks to empower the Indians and end their longtime status as second-class citizens.

"We want to create a new state with equal rights for everyone," Morales told jubilant supporters in the country's historic Plaza Murillo in La Paz on Thursday night.

~snip~
Bolivia is South America's poorest country. About 60 percent of the population lives on $2 a day or less. Bolivia has more Indians than any other Latin American country as a percentage of its population.

More:
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/60633.html