New constitution wins popular vote in Bolivian referendum

Two million Bolivians voted in the Jan. 25 national referendum, with some 1.3 million of the 2 million voters—almost 62 percent—voting to approve the new constitution. This new document took two years to develop into a legal framework that overturns centuries of oppression of Bolivia’s marginalized masses. With its 500 articles, the constitution lays out rules to recognize Bolivia’s oppressed Indigenous peoples and offer them a voice in their future.

Bolivian law prohibits vehicular traffic on election/referendum days to prevent anyone from voting more than once. The 1.3 million arrived by foot or by donkey to vote for the new constitution and cheer its victory.

Bolivian miners march past Evo Morales in El Alto, just above La Paz, Feb. 7.

Cheers, fireworks and dynamite, Bolivian tin miners’ expression of solidarity, greeted President Evo Morales when he appeared on the presidential palace’s balcony, a few feet above his supporters.

On this momentous occasion in the history of Bolivia, Morales greeted the thousands who filled the Plaza de Murillo that evening in the capital, La Paz, saying, “Here begins a new Bolivia. Here we begin to reach true equality. We will break the chains of discrimination, segregation, racism, subordination, colonialism, and humiliation.” (NACLA, Jan. 27)

Morales continued, “I want you to know something: the colonial state ends here. Internal colonialism and external colonialism end here. Sisters and brothers, neocolonialism ends here, too.” The president was referring to the policies of Morales’s predecessor, Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, known as Goni, who was ready to sell Bolivia’s rich natural resources at low cost to foreign buyers.

Goni’s use of violence against the Bolivian masses, who defended themselves and their country against exploitation, killed 80 workers and peasants. When an uprising forced Goni to flee the country in 2003, he settled in Florida. The Bolivians are trying to have him extradited, so he can face charges for his crimes against the people.

Peasants in the countryside voted overwhelmingly for the constitution, which won handily in five of Bolivia’s nine departments, even in Chuquisaca, whose capital, Sucre, has been a center of opposition to Morales and his party, the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS).

The Indigenous peasantry feel special resentment about the lack of support from capitalist and middle-class city dwellers. The peasants feel that the cities would starve without them, and they should be recognized for feeding the country.

The constitution lost in the wealthy eastern departments of Pando, Santa Cruz, Beni and Tarija, where there has been organized and violent opposition to MAS policies and where the ruling politicians have called for secession. But even in this region, known as the Media Luna or half moon, 41 percent in Pando, 35 percent in Santa Cruz and 43 percent in Tarija voted for the new constitution. (Cambio, Jan. 28)

The new constitution calls such basic services as water, sewer, gas and electricity basic human rights, as well as education and health care. It recognizes the Afro-Bolivian community, as well as 36 Indigenous groups and their linguistic traditions, and provides for self-rule on traditional lands. Article 5 promises the use of “at least two official languages, one of which must be Spanish and the other will be chosen taking into account the use, convenience, circumstances, necessities and preferences of the population.” (NACLA, Jan. 27)

In recognition of the spiritual and religious traditions of many indigenous groups, the constitution recognizes the Indigenous earth goddess Pachamama. The freedom of religion provision confirms the separation of church and state.

Morales’s right-wing opposition campaigned widely against this particular article, charging that it diminishes the power of the Catholic Church in Bolivia. Morales has asserted that the Catholic Church has supported the wealthy landowners of Santa Cruz and has tried to turn back the clock to the feudal time of the last century.

Article 14, paragraph 11 reads, “The State prohibits and punishes all forms of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity,” making Bolivia one of the first countries to include gender identity as part of their constitution.

The right-wing has mobilized an attack with billboards and media announcements saying gay marriages will abound and undermine Bolivian society. The new constitution, however, falls short of supporting the right of women to abortion.

The new constitution also prohibits the creation of U.S. military bases in Bolivia. The U.S. ambassador to Bolivia unceremoniously walked out of a recent speech by Morales in La Paz.

The Bolivian masses also voted for a 5,000-hectare limit on privately owned rural estates (a hectare is equal to about 2.5 acres).

In Bolivia, just 100 families own 25 million hectares. Two million peasants have access to only 5 million hectares, giving Bolivia, one of the poorest countries in the world, one of the highest concentrations of land in the hands of the fewest number of landowners. (ipsnews.net)

In response to the openly reactionary press in Bolivia, MAS founded its own newspaper, Cambio, the first issue of which was published on Jan. 22. Morales said that Bolivia was preparing to let the truth be known to the Bolivian people and that this newspaper “won’t humiliate anyone, but will inform and educate us.” (ipsnews.net)

Another recent development in Bolivia was the expulsion in January of the Israeli ambassador to Bolivia as a protest against Israel’s bombing of Gaza and massacres there.

On Feb. 7 there was a government- and trade union-sponsored celebration of the new constitution in El Alto, the Indigenous city on the plateau just above La Paz, which is home to 650,000 of Bolivia’s 9 million people. El Alto is known for its resistance to the bourgeois government of Goni and its sacrifice of many people to the struggle against neo-liberal policies.