For the past week, following voters’ approval of the new constitution (as well as the reduction of maximum land ownership from 10,000 to 5,000 hectares), members of Bolivia’s Landless Movement (MST, Movimiento Sin Tierra) began occupying lands throughout Bolivia, concentrated in Santa Cruz. Some of the occupied lands, however, were owned by the state hydrocarbons company (YPFB). The result has been increased tension as regional opposition leaders who criticize the government for giving MST “license” to seize lands, and MST leaders criticize Evo’s MAS government for not moving quickly enough to meet their demands. In the end, Evo has chosen to crack down on MST by ordering the arrest three of the group’s leaders, including Valerio Queso.
Queso may be vaguely familiar to many around the world. The man looks very much like Evo, and actually played the Bolivian president in a recent film biopic, Evo Pueblo.
This isn’t Queso’s first political difficulty. He was rescued by police forces in December after an El Alto mob captured him, beat him, and was preparing to lynch the MST leader (after his followers seized lands belonging to an Aymara community). In the weeks leading up to the constitutional referendum, MST had grown increasingly critical of the MAS government. This latest run-in suggests that the earlier MAS-MST alliance has ended.
There’s another surprising bit of news in the post-referendum political scene. The media had frequently published a number of stories alleging corruption at the highest levels in YPFB. A few days ago, Evo dismissed Santos Ramirez, the interim president of YPFB & a close ally of the president, and ordered an investigation into the state company’s affairs.
Ramirez is accused of skimming funds from the government’s contracts w/ Catler Uniservice. His family is implicated in stealing $450,000 from YPFB. Ramirez’s wife (Giovanna Cristina Navia Doria Medina) is a legislative deputy for MAS; she reportedly has < a href=http://www.la-razon.com/ultima.asp?id=758664>surrendered her parliamentary immunity.
The whole affair broke out after a businessman, Jorge O’Connor D’arlach, was killed in a robbery attempt. O’Connor was carrying $450,000 in cash & YPFB contracts w/ Catler Uniservice. W/in days, police investigators connected O’Connor to Ramirez. Days later, Evo himself announced that the $450,000 had come from YPFB accounts. The investigation continues, likely to take down a number of high-ranking government officials. To his credit, Evo himself has backed the investigation & declared that he would see it through to the end, “caiga quien caiga” (“no matter who falls”).
The announcement vindicates a number of private newspapers & television news reporters that had long accused Ramirez of corruption. YPFB (along w/ COMIBOL, the state mining company, in its heyday) has a long history of mismanagement going back to its founding in the 1930s. Various regimes have long used it as a source of patronage for loyal supporters, often turning a blind eye to (or participating directly in) corruption. The company was “capitalized” (sold to private control, but retaining 50% state ownership) in the 1990s during Goni’s first presidency. After Evo assumed the presidency in January 2006, he announced the restoration of YPFB & re-nationalized the country’s oil & gas industry. Many critics of the move cited the history of YPFB corruption as a source for concern.
The announcement clearly complicates Evo’s position as he seeks to move forward w/ the new constitution & negotiate w/ opposition leaders. But it could also serve as a sign that the new government will seek greater transparency in the future. Or at least that it will deal w/ serious breaches of conduct. Combined w/ the arrest of Queso, this could be a sign of a push to restore the rule of law. If so, that will be a very positive development.
Opinions are split on whether or not the Santos Ramirez case would have had a drastic effect on the Referendum vote had it emerged prior to the 25th of January.
I, too, am glad that Evo is pushing for the investigation, although he had been claiming that it was nothing but a smear campaign against his govt. before the facts had come out.
The District Attorney of Santa Cruz, Solis, ordered the warrant on Queso. It didn't have anything to do with Evo.
Queso first tried to parcel land in El Alto, but they just ran him off. Queso then went to Santa Cruz and decided to parcel out land that the municipality bought and intended for a park, and then he decided to try the same with some land behind a diary plant. He also tried it were two subdivisions were being built.
La Razon is in La Paz so they try to make it look like Evo was responsible by saying it was "Bolivian Justice" that ordered the arrest.