Will Determine Future of Oil Industry in Bolivia
Today Bolivia is holding a controversial referendum on what to do with its recently discovered reserve of natural gas. The issue last year caused radicals to oust their President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada. Vice-President Carlos Mesa took over, and his strategy is to put the issue to the people in a vote, albeit a cunningly crafted one. The issue is essentially a stand-off between indigenous Bolivians (Aymaran and Quechua-speaking people) who make up a majority of 8.5 million Bolivians, and the mestizo minority that make up the rest.
Picture I took of the Bolivian President Carlos Mesa when his plane stopped in Santa Cruz while I was waiting for a connection flight. The entire terminal had to be cleared, but not before I could snap a few shots. (Can you guess which one is the President?)
Personally, I'm not sure what to think. I feel sympathy for the poverty-stricken and marginalized indigenous Bolivians, but I feel their demands and sometimes their techniques are not what is best for bringing Bolivia out of poverty.
In any case, anyone wishing to inform themselves on the issue can read the following article from the New York Times. If interest is shown, I will post another good article from The Economist. Let me know what you think.
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For more info about Bolivia, visit my site Equipo Bolivia.
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Bolivia Bets Future on Natural Gas Referendum
By REUTERS
Published: July 18, 2004
Filed at 1:26 a.m. ET
LA PAZ, Bolivia (Reuters) - Bolivia holds a landmark referendum on Sunday that will decide the future of its huge natural gas reserves in a gamble by a new president battling an indigenous Indian revolt.
The issue over who profits from one of Latin America's biggest reserves has pitted a poor Indian majority calling for national control over its natural resources against European descended elites who believe Bolivia needs foreign investment.
Widespread fury at plans to export natural gas lay behind a siege of the capital by Indian groups in October in which dozens of protesters were shot dead by troops and pro-Washington President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada was ousted.
His replacement, Bolivian President Carlos Mesa, has made the referendum a vote of confidence in his government. Polls show a majority backs him, but defeat could force him from office and plunge South America's poorest nation into civil unrest.
``What the referendum will give is undeniable legitimacy. If the referendum is a yes, it will hand me moral and effective power that I will use,'' Mesa said on Saturday.
Mesa is asking if voters want to allow gas exports and have more state control over reserves to appease Indians, many of whom want to go further and throw out foreign firms. The five complicated questions could made referendum results ambiguous.
Washington fears that instability in Bolivia, the world's third biggest source of coca -- the leaf used to make cocaine -- could lead to more drug smuggling from the Andean region.
Many Bolivians say gas is the latest natural resource, like silver in Spanish colonial times, to lead to their enslavement. They oppose exporting gas when 80 percent of Bolivia's 8 million inhabitants live in poverty with no running water or electricity.
Some radical Indian leaders behind October's revolt have called for a boycott of the vote and threatened to burn ballot boxes. They say the referendum is worthless because it does not ask if foreign companies should be nationalized.
Indian groups set up sporadic road blockades on Saturday.
``On Sunday fires will burn in our communities,'' said Indian leader Felipe Quispe, a former guerrilla.
The referendum also reflects how Indians across the Andean region are rebelling against the state. Many villagers in Bolivia have thrown out police and reverted to age-old Indian communal laws.
Last month Indians suspended a town mayor accused of corruption upside down from a lamppost then set him on fire, killing him.