BY JUAN VíCTOR FAJARDO

In print | Published September 18, 2008

The past week has been a troublesome one for Latin America. The Pando region in northern Bolivia is currently the setting of violent protests and confrontations between supporters of Evo Morales’ government and members of the opposition. The issue at hand is a set of constitutional changes that President Evo Morales hopes to present by way of a referendum on Dec. 7. Much like the constitutional changes that Chavez proposed last December in Venezuela, Morales’ proposal promises a radicalization of the revolutionary process currently under way in Bolivia. More specifically, Morales has suggested the revamping of land reform policies and a change in current distribution of Bolivia’s gas revenues, among other things.

Needless to say, the proposed changes have sparked a wave of protests from leaders of the opposition who have recently gained prominence in the Bolivian political world. About one month ago, Bolivian citizens were asked to vote on whether or not nine high government officials should remain in office. One of these nine officials was President Morales himself. The governor of Bolivia’s richest gas-producing state, who happens to be one of the fiercest members of the opposition, was also one of the officials whose job was on the line. The results of the referendum show that Morales still has the popular support of the Bolivian electorate. They also demonstrate, however, that some of the strongest opposition leaders also have with a significant base of support in their respective regions. The referendum was meant to unite Bolivia under prominent leaders but it did just the opposite. Bolivia is now geographically divided between the opposition in the gas-producing east and the central government.

It was precisely these two opposing groups that confronted each other on the streets of the Pando region this past week. The opposition believes that the changes threaten the political autonomy of their region. As of Sunday, Sept. 14, the skirmishes, which have involved armed individuals on both sides, have left a total of 30 reported casualties. President Morales accused the governor of the Pando region of having hired professional killers from Brazil and Peru to massacre the pro-government protestors. An order for his capture is currently in place.

In the midst of what seems to be a small-scale civil war in northern Bolivia, Morales ordered the expulsion of the American ambassador to La Paz on the claim that the US representative is in support of the opposition groups. Although the Bush administration has been clear in stating that the reasons behind the removal or the ambassador are unfounded, whether or not this is true remains unclear.

In solidarity with the Bolivian revolutionary government, President Chavez also asked the US ambassador to Caracas to leave the country. Chavez’s move is especially controversial for several reasons. The first is that it is yet another indication of Chavez’s tendency to exert his political influence in the region and get involved in conflicts that do not impact Venezuela directly. It seems rather ironic that while Chavez criticizes the government of the US for being an intruder in domestic Latin American issues, it is he who most actively gets involved in issues facing other Latin American countries. Furthermore, the recent militaristic developments in Venezuela make the expulsion of the American ambassador to Caracas even more serious. The Venezuelan government recently invited the presence of two Russian bomber planes to conduct “test flights” in the Atlantic. Although the Russian bomber planes have the capacity to carry nuclear weapons, they arrived in Caracas without them. The presence of Russian bomber planes in Venezuela is a political move in retaliation to the recent activation of the American naval fleet in the Caribbean. Nonetheless, the Venezuelan government claims that the “test flights” have no ulterior motive other than to “strengthen the friendly ties” between Russia and Venezuela.

Prominent political analysts in Venezuela have written at length about the parallels between what is happening today in Venezuela and what happened in Cuba during the 1960s. The Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela is a revolutionary project inspired the 26 of July Movement led by Fidel Castro during the Cold War. It is safe to say, at this point, that Chavez envisions his revolution as a continuation of the Cuban Revolution. In other words, he sees himself as the inheritor of the Cuban project. Although Chavez sustains that one of the main goals of his revolution is to challenge the influence of the United States in Latin America, his most recent alliances with Russia, China and Iran are worrisome.

Does Chavez think that we still live in a Cold War world? When will he stop playing the geopolitical game and start providing solutions for the problems that really impact Venezuelans? When will the crime rate in Venezuela’s biggest cities become a priority?

Juan Victor is a senior. He can be reached at jfajard1@swarthmore.edu.

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