After weeks of tension between Sucre civic leaders & Evo’s government, the assembly delegates decided to go back to Sucre to work. Three different negotiations had broken down, regardless of any offer made by the government as Sucre became inflexible on its core demand: discussion of the capital issue (Sucre leaders want the capital moved back to Sucre from La Paz).
A few days ago, the assembly delegates (who had been meeting in La Paz) decided to head back to Sucre to continue work on the new constitution—it’s been more than a year since the assembly was installed (August 2006) & charged w/ writing a constitution (due August 2007). By January 2007, the assembly had ground to a halt over various issues, including the question of whether moving the capital back to Sucre (the country’s historic capital) could be discussed.
Yesterday, crowds of university protesters (many of them drunk) attacked various MAS assembly delegates. At least eight delegates & four journalists were assaulted in Sucre. In response, vice president Alvaro García Linera has called for social movements to mobilize to Sucre to make ensure the security of the assembly. The pro-MAS Bartolina Sisa campensino federation (among others) announced that on Monday they march to Sucre to support the assembly & ensure its ability to work.
For now, the assembly is (again) frozen. All sides blame the other, of course. Sucre leaders accuse MAS for its unwillingness to touch the capital issue, the government labels the opposition “right-wing oligarchs,” Tuto (leader of PODEMOS) blames García Linera for the violence by announcing a few days ago that the MAS delegates (as a majority) would dictate terms regardless of the intransigence of “minorities” (the opposition). Overall, the polarizing rhetoric of “war politics” has made things extremely difficult to find compromises.
