Bolivia's Autonomist Right -- A Dangerous Threat
Against The Current vol. 135
Webber, Jeffery R.
http://www.solidarity-us.org/node/1622
Date Written: 2008-07-01
Publisher: Against The Current
Year Published: 2008
Resource Type: Article
Cx Number: CX13427
Autonomist right-wing forces in the Bolivian department (state) of Santa Cruz — acting through the offices of the prefecture (governorship) and Santa Cruz Civic Committee — held an illegal May 4 rerendum on departmental autonomy. According to the consulting agency Captura Consulting the “yes” side won 85% of the votes cast, with 15% against. However, many organizations within the left-indigenous bloc of the department had called for a boycott of the referendum, and were successful in obtaining an abstention rate of over 40%. Compare that to the remarkably low abstention rate of 15% in the December 2005 general elections that brought Evo Morales, the country’s first indigenous president, to office at the national level. Nonetheless, the right declared results a triumphant victory.
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