Problems continue w/ Bolivia’s new constitution. According to a La Razón report, a small committee is modifying the text outside of committee & after it was approved by the assembly. This is the latest in a series of “irregularities” in the procedure by which the constitution was approved. It doesn’t help, of course, that an “official” version of the final document hasn’t yet been made publicly available. There’s a version on the assembly’s website, but it’s dated November 24 and labeled a “draft” (proyecto de ley).
Meanwhile, a “Provisional Autonomous Assembly” in Santa Cruz approved its own autonomy statute, which will be put before voters in a referendum. Similar statutes are expected by the end of the week in Tarija, Beni, and Pando. Leaders in Chuquisaca are starting to gather signatures for a similar proposal. (Note: These are not declarations of secession, but rather of regional autonomy, something akin to the Spanish or British devolutionary models. But w/o support from the central government.)
Today’s La Razón also has a special supplement that’s highly critical of the government. Among other things, it claims that the police & military repress only anti-government movements, but give MAS supporters free rein. It also warns that the rule of law is in jeopardy & that the country’s future is now in the hands of social & civic movements’ street mobilizations.
