Bolivia

After months of street battles and political meetings, a new draft of the Bolivian constitution was ratified by Congress on October 21. A national referendum on whether or not to make the document official is scheduled for January 25, 2009. "Now we have made history," President Evo Morales told supporters in La Paz. "This process of change cannot be turned back… neoliberalism will never return to Bolivia." […]

Declassified U.S. government documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) reveal a clear and consistent policy of U.S. intervention and meddling in Bolivia’s internal affairs. These activities are directed from the U.S. Embassy in La Paz, particularly through the local offices of the U.S.-taxpayer-funded Agency for International Development (USAID). […]

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"If 85% of Bolivia is owned by 15% of the country, that means that 85% of us are sharing the 15% that’s left," Eleodoro explains to me, his words hissing through the gaps left by his missing teeth. Eleodoro is a campesino I’ve just met, and in many ways, his analysis sums up the current reality of Bolivia. […]

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Upon arriving in Santiago, Chile on September 15 for an emergency meeting of South American heads of state, Bolivian president Evo Morales said, "I have come here to explain to the presidents of South America the civic coup d’etat by Governors in some Bolivian states in recent days." The conflict in Bolivia and the subsequent meeting of presidents raise the questions: What led to this meltdown? Whose side is the Bolivian military on? And what does the Bolivian crisis and regional reaction tell us about the new power bloc of South American nations? […]

On September 9th a group of approximately 50 vandals entered by force, completely sacked and set on fire the offices of the Center for Juridical Studies and Social Investigation (CEJIS) in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Eastern Bolivia. At 6 PM, three 4×4 vehicles and other motor vehicles arrived at the doors of the institution, from which descended youth armed with sticks, knives, torches and stones.
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Bolivian President Evo Morales has declared U.S. Ambassador to La Paz Philip Goldberg "persona non grata", after accusing him of aiding and abetting pro-autonomy opposition groups that are blocking highways and occupying government buildings, reducing the supply of natural gas to Brazil. "I am not afraid of anyone, not even the empire (the United States)," Morales said. […]

Casimira Rodríguez spent decades organizing her fellow domestic workers into a union, which she founded in 1985. When Bolivian Evo Morales was elected president of Bolivia, he tapped Rodríguez to become the nation’s Justice Minister, a post she held for year. She spoke with Nancy Romer about her experience in government, the opposition to the government, the president’s relationship with social movements, and even offered advice to U.S. workers. […]