On the back of years of struggle by Bolivia's social movements, the Movement Towards Socialism's (MAS) Evo Morales was elected president in December and announced his governmental cabinet on January 23. In the following article, abridged from International Viewpoint (), Herve Do Alto offers some first impressions of the composition of the new government.
The announcement of the MAS government certainly invalidated many prognoses: whereas some people were expecting Morales and vice-president Alvaro Garcia Linera to show signs of moderation to the US and to the multinational corporations that are present in Bolivia, it was finally a government equal to the hopes of the popular movements that was designated, during a ceremony in which many ministers accepted their new appointment with clenched fist raised, as a sign of the pursuit of the struggle against imperialism and for social justice. This government was described as "radical" by the right-wing press, and as "bringing hope" by the left press.
The first salient characteristic of this cabinet is the massive presence of leaders of social movements. This is the case, for example, of the trade unionist Santiago Galvez, who was made minister of labour; of the leader of the Federation of Neighbourhood Committees (FEJUVE) Abel Mamani, appointed minister of water; and of Walter Villaroel, the cooperative miner who is now minister of mines. Some appointments even surpassed people's wildest hopes: this was the case with the appointment of Casimira Rodriguez, leader of the Union of Women Cleaners, to the ministry of justice.
Finally, it is the radical trade unionist Hugo Salvatierra, openly hated by some big landowners of the Santa Cruz region, who is at the head of the ministry of rural development.
Some of these appointments have given rise to discontent, often due to the divisions that affect the social sectors from which the new ministers come, as in the case of Villaroel, who is contested by the miners of the state sector.
Nevertheless, the predominant feeling is that this government is representative of the working people of Bolivia. To such an extent that even the secretary of the Bolivian Workers Confederation (COB), Jaime Solares, despite his constant criticism of the MAS, expressed his satisfaction that Galvez was in the government.
The so-called "political" ministries have mostly been given to those in whom Morales has confidence: the minister of the presidency (prime minister) is the sociologist Juan Ramon Quintana, the foreign affairs minister is the Aymara indigenous activist David Choquehuanca, while the interior ministry is headed by former MAS senator Alicia Munoz. The vice-ministry in charge of the coca question was given to Felipe Caceres, a cocalero (coca farmer) from Chapare. Keynesian Carlos Villegas is in charge of the main economic portfolio, the ministry of planning.
Some ministerial appointments have nevertheless had people wondering, such as that of Santa Cruz businessperson Salvador Ric, appointed minister of public services, who is suspected of representing the Cruceno private sector, but who has however been involved in the MAS for several years.
The defence minister, Walker San Miguel, proposed by MAS's electoral ally the Movement Without Fear (MSM), is on the other hand openly contested by many social leaders. His collaboration in the process of "capitalisation" (privatisation) implemented by former president Sanchez de Lozada, who was driven out of Bolivia during the October 2003 events, is an established fact. Was this just a casting error?
The radical profile of the rest of the government makes it a plausible hypothesis, even though for the moment, despite the criticisms, Morales has decided to keep San Miguel in his cabinet.
Over and above the names of the ministers, it is interesting to see that the first positions of the MAS on the "hot" dossiers augur an unyielding attitude towards both the US and the multinationals. Andres Soliz Rada, who is in charge of the key ministry of hydrocarbons, and who was for a long time opposed to the MAS, which he reproached with not advocating a genuine nationalisation of gas, has announced that there will be an audit of all the oil companies in Bolivia. He has already succeeded in making the Spanish company Repsol back down, by forcing it to admit that it had committed fraud by putting on the New York Stock Exchange gas reserves that belong to the Bolivian state.
Another point of contention is the invitation for tenders to exploit the mining reserves of Mutun: Morales himself gave his approval in December for it to be maintained, whereas many unions pointed out that the conditions for sharing out royalties would only leave crumbs for the Bolivian state.
Now the mines minister Villaroel has finally announced that this is being suspended in order to review the present Mining Statute, so as to give the state back sovereignty over all mining resources, and to revise the sharing of the profits they generate in order to make it much more favourable to Bolivia.
Although we will still need time before we can formulate the first judgments on the actions of the MAS government, there is nevertheless no doubt that its first tentative steps are going in the direction of satisfying the popular demands of the famous "October agenda" (which came out of the 2003 uprising that ousted Lozada, and which includes demands for the nationalisation of gas and the formation of a constituent assembly). And so they keep alive the hope of building a real alternative in Bolivia.
From 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly, March 22, 2006.
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