MABB (the “other Miguel”) has an excellent summary of recent constituent assembly news. Today’s La Razón reports that delegates will decide the future of the assembly. One of the three options? Close the assembly. I’ve no idea what that would do to the process of writing a new constitution (though likely it would simply mean using the legislature to write a new constitution, as happened in 1995 & 2004).
The Argentine presidential elections are coming up tomorrow (Sunday, 28 October). It’s highly likely that Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, the wife of current president Néstor Kirchner, will win the presidential race. The latest Angus Reid poll puts her at 47%—w/ her nearest rival (Elisa Carrió) pulling in barely 16%.
Last semester I designed a little “constitutional engineering” exercise for comparative politics. It’s probably better for a special topics course. Fortunately, I’m teaching just such a course this semester: Democracy & Democratization.
I’ve been swamped w/ work (particularly trying to make better progress on my book manuscript) the past few days. But Bolivia is still simmering. There was another clash between university students and police in Santa Cruz. Students from UAGRM (Universidad Autonóma Gabriel René Moreno), joined by a number of other civic groups, marched in opposition to the government’s plan to reduce the share of hydrocarbons tax revenue to municipalities, departments, and universities. The laws that regulate the tax structure (since 1994) stipulate that 20% must go directly to the country’s municipalities (on a per capita basis), and other 5% must go to the universities (all Bolivian public universities are autonomously self-governed since the 1940s). At least 10 were injured. The UAGRM students will be joined today and over the weekend by other mobilizations, including the UMSA (Universidad Mayor de San Andrés) university students from La Paz.
There were attacks against the Venezuelan consulate & a Cuban medical mission early this morning in Santa Cruz. From police reports in La Razón, the attacks involved small dynamite (probably the “M-80s” frequently used in Bolivian protests), and no one was injured. But this is the first attack on any embassy or consulate in recent memory (to my knowledge). It follows days after a government military assault on the city’s airport re-stoked anti-government tensions (see previous post).
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PS. Just to be clear: I don’t endorse such attacks on any embassy, consulate, public building, or private residence or business. By anyone. At any time.
I get the INESAD (Institute for Advanced Development Studies) newsletters in my email on a regular basis. This most recent one on the government’s new Renta Dignidad (an expanded version of the BONOSOL pension) is interesting:
Here’s a report from Human Rights Foundation Bolivia on the Viru Viru assault. It’s in Spanish, but it tries to give as detailed an account of the event as possible, as well as noting that several television images clearly showed Venezuelan troops (plural) inside the airport (though there’s no proof they were directly involved in the operation). The highlights:
Things seem to have calmed down in Bolivia. The conflict’s certainly not “over”—but at least there’s a respite.
I am, however, increasingly bothered by the references to the presence of Venezuelan troops in Bolivian—and particularly that this isn’t covered in the international media. Are there Venezuelan troops in Bolivia? If so, how many? And what is their purpose? Recently, elite Bolivian troops have begun training in Venezuela in “intelligence” and “urban combat.” Is Venezuela opening its own School of the Americas? This is particularly troubling since Chávez recently threatened to turn Bolivian into another “Vietnam.”
I just got an email from my mom (in Santa Cruz, Bolivia) and am reading the papers. The government seized the Santa Cruz airport (w/ a nighttime air assault by elite forces). At least 10 were injured. According to my mom, Venezuelan troops were involved (though I haven’t seen this in the press reports). The Santa Cruz prefect has called on residents to resist the government’s takeover. This is going to get very ugly, very fast. Here’s more from the International Herald Tribune. There were clearly problems w/ Viru Viru (which prompted the government takeover). But I don’t think going in w/ unrestrained military force was the answer.
I’m extremely interested to see if Stephen Colbert does, in fact, end up on the South Carolina primary ballot—and what effect that has on the presidential race. A stunt? Perhaps. But then, so are the “candidacies” of the likes of Mike Gravel, Tomas Tancredo, Sam Brownback, Dennis Kucinich, and at least a few others in the over-crowded primary fields.
El Alto is getting restless again. Irate parents destroyed & burned four blocks along calle Jorge Callasco in the 12 de Octubre neighborhood. The parents were angry that merchants were selling alcohol (and other vices) in the area, which is close to schools. Evo’s government is accusing the mayor of mishandling the situation. Meanwhile, the local police authorities (who by all accounts did nothing) admit that they can’t guarantee public safety in much of EL Alto. Additionally, the federation of parents of El Alto (FEDAPAF) has broken its dialogue w/ the minister of education. They’re demanding to speak w/ Evo regarding the 1,000 classrooms they were promised. Otherwise, they’ll begin a blockade of the city of El Alto.
I’ve just finished the syllabus for my spring 2008 research methods course. Here’s the syllabus.
Chávez is under criticism—even from MAS members—for some of his recent statements about Bolivia. During his visit to Cuba, Chávez stated that he would turn Bolivia into a “new Vietnam” if anything happened to Evo’s government, which was highly criticized as “interventionist” in many sectors (most notably, of course, the opposition). Some MAS members have joined in calls against Chávez’s statements, though government spokespeople were thankful for the Venezuelan president’s statements of “solidarity.”
Washington Monthly editor Paul Glastris was on last night’s Colbert Report discussing his magazine’s college rankings. The issue sparked by interest, because Dickinson’s president (Bill Durden) is a leading champion against the US News college ranking system, which has recently come under criticism.
I’m teaching a multidisciplinary introduction to Latin American studies course next semester. It took me a while to conceptualize the course, but here’s the syllabus. Below are some of the texts I’m assigning (also in my Amazon bookstore). Comments are always welcome.