Update on the autonomy referendum in Santa Cruz, Bolivia (Updated)

Iwanted to post this map in my prior post, to give you a sense of what it would mean for the regions of Santa Cruz, Beni, Tarija and Pando to declare themselves autonomous of the Bolivian government based in La Paz. As you can see, from the red lines delineating the regions seeking autonomy, not only would Bolivia lose more than half of its territory, but also its most fertile land.

In this post I want to update you on what is happening in Bolivia, now that the vote is under way. Already some regions are experiencing some violent confrontations between autonomistas, as Cruzeños are now known, and masistas, or supporters of the President's MAS party. Below is a map of the current trouble spots.

Last night in Yapacani, supporters of the President not only burned down three offices used by the autonomy movement, but also deliberately injured a reporter for La Razon, claiming he was working for the separatists. In San Julian, campesinos from Cochabamba, decided to block of the interdepartmental road between Cochabamba and Santa Cruz. They also promised to burn any ballot boxes installed in the area to prevent a vote. In Montero, clashes between masistas and autonomistas ended when police intervened with tear gas to disperse the crowd. This was, however, not before a student on the pro-referendum side, was injured when a stick of dynamite exploded near him.

According to press reports, more than 1,000 supporters of the President have made their way to Santa Cruz from Potosi, Cochabamba and Oruro with the intent of stopping the referendum. So far, there have not been more reports of violence, however, many migrants from La Paz have reported that they are being intimidated by members of the youth militia, Unión Juvenil Cruceñista, whom they accuse of telling them that they should prepare for the ethnic cleansing that will follow today's referendum.

In an interesting turn of events, the province of Cordillera and Camiri, within Santa Cruz, has declared itself autonomous from Santa Cruz, with the objective of preventing the referendum from taking place, and threatening the national integrity of Bolivia.

So far, the country's armed forces are backing President Morales, and have said that the autonomy vote threatens the national integrity of the state. The military, however, remains committed to allowing the process to resolve itself through political negotiation, and does not have any plans to engage the problem militarily. This is likely the path the resolution of the crisis will take. As indicated in my earlier post, most analysts see the referendum by Santa Cruz and the three other provinces/states as a means of gaining some leverage in future negotiations with the government on issues as varied as Morales's bid to redistribute wealth, and the re-nationalization program, and more autonomy for the provinces. To boot, the prefect of Santa Cruz, Ruben Costas, who has led the movement for autonomy, himself has stated that negotiations cannot begin until after June 22, when the referendums in the three other states will be completed. This points to the fact that he is thinking in terms of leverage, and hence negotiation with La Paz and Morales.

MABB blog also has a couple of posts on the situation on the ground in Santa Cruz. Please check it out.

Update

El Deber, which is based in Santa Cruz, reports that in the town of Plan Tres Mil an elderly man died as a result of the protests and clashes between masistas and autonomistas. According to the report, police had to use tear gas to disperse both groups. Unfortunately, the man who died lived directly above the site of the clashes, and it is believed that he died due to complications resulting from the tear gas that entered his apartment.

The departmental electoral court in Santa Cruz has reported that voting in up to 96% of the electoral centers in the state went as planned. So far, the only trouble spots have been as reported earlier, Yapacaní, San Julián, and some new addition such as Cuatro Cañadas, San Pedro, and Plan Tres Mil were clashes between pro- and anti- referendum forces were more pronounced.

BoliviaRising, reports that up to 21 people were injured in clashes in Santa Cruz.

Mabblog gives a mid-day update on the situation on the referendum vote.

Mabblog is also reporting that according to Red Uno, in Bolivian TV, the referendum has won with 85% of the vote. He also notes that the government reaction has been to call the referendum a failure, due to the violence around Santa Cruz. Additionally, he reports that 30% of voting tables were not opened for various reasons, which affects 3% of registered voters.

El Deber, reports that the referendum has won with 85% of the vote.

Blog from Bolivia, from the Democracy Project, reports that many anti-referendum protests were held in Potosi, Cochabamba, and La Paz. Some news reports indicate that many of these called on President Morales to speed up a referendum on the new constitution.

Apparently unable to contain himself, President Hugo Chavez has thrown himself into the Bolivian crisis. He called on Venezuelans to show solidarity with Bolivia's president, Evo Morales, as he battled through foreign intrigue, aided by Bolivian lackeys of the empire (a reference to the US).

I also wanted to embed this video from al-Jazeera on the Red Ponchos, who are at once Evo Morales' most loyal supporters, and also some of the most impatient for the reforms he promised.

One of the most significant impacts stemming from the turmoil in Santa Cruz, as well as President Morales' nationalization program, is that investment in its energy sector has fallen from $650 million in 2002, to $149 million last year.

Finally, the AP has a list of the key provisions that were part of the recently approved referendum. These are as follows:

• Creates a state legislature and state police force.
• Wrests control of the state's considerable natural gas reserves from the national government.
• Grants control over land distribution, effectively halting President Evo Morales' plans for sweeping reform.
• Allows the state governor to sign international treaties.
• Declares Santa Cruz's population as "mostly mestizo," or mixed blood, and requires schools to teach that Santa Cruz is a "melting pot of Bolivians."

As noted in my previous post, it is the more radical provisions that elicit deep opposition from President Morales. First, by voting to create a state legislature and elect its own governor, Santa Cruz not only denies the President his constitutional power to select the provinces governor, but also grants itself a new power of electing a legislature.Additionally, the referendum effectively seeks to block any further land redistribution by the President, and gives the region it's own police force apart from the national government. As you can see, from the al Jazeera report above, given the fact that President Morales wanted to integrate the Red Poncho militia into the national army, this provision by Santa Cruz is perhaps a bit more understandable. The army effectively blocked his proposal, and this forced Morales to say that he would instead seek to disband the militia. Perhaps more important for Morales, and the one issue with the potential for future conflict between Santa Cruz and La Paz revolves around Santa Cruz seeking full control over its natural gas resources. Given Morales' recent re-nationalization of four energy companies, this will likely not sit well with his administration. To understand how important control over Bolivia's energy resources is, one need only look at Bolivia's ally, Venezuela, and how Hugo Chavez has used wealth from the country's vast oil reserves to further his political aims, not only within Venezuela, but also abroad. The final provision outlined above, declaring Santa Cruz a mestizo state, will feed the perception by the indigenous population that the European descended elite continue to view them as lesser humans. It is particularly hurtful for them, since the country itself is over 60% percent of indigenous descent.