It is largely due to President Morales' family lineage that the Aymara people have been granted more and more rights in Bolivia. The Aymara have been oppressed since about 1483, when the Incas assumed control over the Aymara region. Although they maintained some autonomy throughout Incan occupation, they were still conquered and controlled until about 1523, when they were subjected to Spanish control. Without having been persecuted or enslaved outright, the Aymara and other smaller divisions of natives have gone without full freedom for a long time, despite having been an established group throughout the Andes Mountains in Western Bolivia, Southern Peru, and Northern Chile for over 2,000 years.
An obvious impact of President Morales' regime in Bolivia is his coca growing, about which he says " I am a coca grower - I cultivate coca leaf, which is a natural product, I do not refine [it into] cocaine." The Aymara have grown coca for centuries, chewing it, using it as medicine, and using it in ritual offerings to their gods. But in the last 100 years the government has been confiscating it to prevent the cultivation of cocaine (which can be chemically extracted and isolated from the plant), ignoring the fact that the leaf is a big part of their tradition and has even become a symbol of their cultural identity. President Morales is the head of the biggest coca-growing union in Bolivia, which has sparked controversy and criticism from the opposition who call him a "narco-trade unionist".
In 2008, Morales suspended cooperation with the US Drug Enforcement Administration in Bolivia, accusing them of involvement in anti-government protesting (which the U.S. denied). This, in addition to his close alliance with President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, has severely strained relations with America. President Morales was reelected on the 6th of December, allowing him to further the Movement towards Socialism and his pro-Aymara policies. His decent from the Aymara is an obvious part of his political ideology and attitude towards America, as well. Hooray for the natives who deserve to finally be free, but woe to America whose policies (oddly reminiscent of imperialistic Spain, the second conquerer of Morales' people) are being fought and opposed. May President Morales continue to protect the rights of his people but find a way to do so in accordance with other nations to ensure sound international relations.
*The acronym for the Movement towards Socialism is MAS because the Spanish term is "Movimiento al Socialismo", in case any of you were wondering.
O.K. so it might be good to have an indigenous president. If we believe that someone is good because of his lineage, this becomes more likely. In other words is someone moral because his parents are moral, is someone a force for good change because they are from a family of changers? I respect the soverignity of Bolivia of course, so my issue with this post is not whether President Morales is a "good president". Rather, it should not be concluded that he is a good president because the history of the country is that of colonial oppresion or Incan opppression. Quoting from the New York times:
ReplyDeleteHeinz Dieterich, a political analyst in Mexico who writes widely on leftist movements in Latin America, summed up Mr. Morales’s situation as being “an exile in the majority of the provinces of his own land.”
“The de facto division of Bolivia into two countries” continues, Mr. Dieterich said in a recent essay, “until one of the two antagonistic powers is in a condition to deliver the decisive blow, to liquidate the other.”
The referendum originated in May in what now seems to be a self-defeating effort to remove Mr. Morales from office by Podemos, an opposition party whose influence has eroded.
Many voters here in Cochabamba, Bolivia’s third-largest city and the scene last year of street battles between the president’s followers and his critics, appeared ready to support Mr. Morales going forward, though with some hesitance.
“I don’t support all of his ideas, but Evo is our first indigenous president and should be given the chance to finish his term,” said Yovana Vélez, 25, a publicist. “The last thing we need is more upheaval, more chaos.”
So, I don't care if he grows cocaine producing plants, or that he is an indigenous president. The question for all people must be liberty and safety. The redistribution of the land may on the surface seem to be a moral correction for past ills. Of course that is a seductive idea. It is certainly a popular with those getting the land. If there are more of those than those from whom the land is taken well then, that is a good way to remain poplular.The problem is that without the rule of law seperate from a person or political movement then chaos ensues which is not good for anyone, indigenous or oppressor. The last point is that when a leader starts rewriting constitutions, it is usually a bad plan. Absolute power corrupts absolutely... Usually it is a good idea to have the law seperate from reinterpretation by the charmer of the day.
I think I agree. I do not fully understand the situation in Bolivia but it is true that a person should not be judged by his or her genes but by their actions and good character. The bias that I approached the topic with was that an indigenous president would most likely place his own people as top priority and not foreign powers, but whether or not his policies are helping the Bolivians is not a question I can even begin to answer. I hope to hear some good thoughts from my Bolivian buddy, so more on that later.
ReplyDeleteThe quote by Yovana Velez is certainly frightening; a mindset like that can definitely lead to trouble. But what I gathered from the sources I read from was that he has redistributed land to ensure more regional, personal control rather than centralized government control, which does sound nice and I hope Bolivia benefits from it. My question as to the constitution was: how old is it? From what I read, the democracy is fairly new. I am much too lazy to research it but if, as I assumed, the constitution is relatively new then I think adding amending it is great; that is just my personal idea. It sounded to me like he just added some stuff to protect the rights of the natives, but I could be very wrong. But I do agree with your last sentence there in most cases, for sure.