We’re coming up on the final 48 hours before Sunday’s recall referendum in Bolivia. Not much is likely to happen between now & then, based on legal restrictions placed before any vote (e.g. no alcohol can be sold, motorized transportation is restricted to authorized vehicles). As of this morning, the CNE is virtually running the country (in the sense that it has temporary command authority over the country's security forces).
Here’s where things stand politically, as of this morning’s news reports:
There’s an ongoing hunger strike in Tarija, Santa Cruz, Beni, and Pando. Civic groups there are demanding the government transfer hydrocarbon tax funds to the prefectures; the government earlier froze those transfers.
There’s an ongoing teachers’ strike across the country. The health workers’ union may also increase its protest activities after the vote. Meanwhile, the mineworkers have announced they’ll cast a “punishment” vote against Evo in the Huanuni mines (the sight of recent deadly confrontations between mineworkers’ & state security forces). These three sectors are mobilized through the COB, which insists that the government adopt its pension law (w/o modifications), rather than the government proposal.
La Razón earlier published a brief rundown of the differences between the two pension plans. Basically, the key differences are that the government plan would be based on individual accounts, managed by a nationwide system, and allow for non-salaried employees (self-employed merchants, campesinos, etc.) to “buy” into the system. In contrast, the COB wants the pension plan limited to only salaried employees (e.g. members of COB-related unions).
While the vote hasn’t yet happened, a number of post-referendum developments are also floating. One is that members of MAS may call for a cabinet shakeup. Meanwhile, there’s hints that dissident members of MAS & PODEMOS may come together to form a “third” parliamentary option.