USAID/OTI Bolivia Field Report
October 2005
Program Description
The USAID Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) Bolivia program promotes peaceful participation in El Alto and other marginalized communities and increases access to balanced information on issues of national importance. OTI also expands economic opportunity by supporting short-term, community-based activities in distressed areas, such as El Alto and the altiplano, which are designed to increase self-reliance. Issues affecting youth and indigenous groups are cross-cutting themes in all of OTI/Bolivia's work. In response to Bolivia's ongoing political crisis, OTI is working closely with the transitional government to meet critical needs and help the country prepare for elections. OTI's implementing partner is Casals & Associates.
Country Situation
General and prefectural elections – The political crisis that placed in jeopardy the Dec. 4 date for general and prefectural elections worsened in October as political representatives from Santa Cruz and Cochabamba debated with counterparts from La Paz, Oruro and Potosi over the redistribution of congressional seats based on the 2001 national census. Even after the National Electoral Court extended a deadline that would have left enough time for the court to fulfill its duties under the electoral calendar, legislators from the competing departments failed to negotiate an accord on new congressional apportionment.
The current crisis began in September when the Constitutional Tribunal ruled that the Dec. 4 elections, which would be conducted using the existing distribution for congressional seats, were unconstitutional based on the 2001 census. President Eduardo Rodriquez Velte has adamantly stated that he will leave office on Jan. 22, 2006, and he intends to have a newly elected government in place before his mandate expires.
Update: President Rodriguez issued a Supreme Decree on Nov. 1 that redistributed seats and rescheduled elections for Dec. 18. Initial reactions on the part of social and political sectors suggested broad support for the decree, which is binding under Bolivian law. Under the terms of the new statute, Santa Cruz gained three congressional seats and Cochabamba gained one seat, while La Paz lost two seats, and Oruro and Potosi each lost one seat.
Candidate preferences – A national opinion poll conducted during October by private firm Ipsos-Captura showed presidential candidate Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga with a slim lead over rival Evo Morales. Quiroga, the leader of the Podemos political party, polled 29.2 percent compared to Morales' Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) party with 28.3 percent. While Quiroga maintained an advantage in several departments, he came in second in La Paz, Santa Cruz and Cochabamba - no candidate has ever won the presidency without winning the three departments known as the "axis."
The leading candidates used the word "nationalize" to describe their positions regarding the hydrocarbons industry in their platforms submitted to the National Electoral Court. While Morales said that he would nationalize the industry "without trickery and without fear," Quiroga said that he would "nationalize the benefits of the hydrocarbons sector." Morales' MAS platform includes the nationalization of mines and the "reduction of foreign investment in key sectors."
Bolivia and the Summit of the Americas – By month's end, the fourth Summit of the Americas, traditionally attended by heads of state from the region and the United States, was receiving wide coverage in the Bolivian press, both for reasons of economic opportunity and political controversy. President Rodriguez planned to meet with President George Bush during the summit to request that the United States renew trade preferences with Bolivia that are set to expire next year and permit Bolivia to engage as a full participant in ongoing negotiations for a potential Free Trade Area of the Americas that would include Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and, potentially, Argentina.
OTI Highlights
A. Grants Activity Summary
OTI/Bolivia approved nine new grants for $327,000 in October, bringing the total to 227 grants for $7.7 million since March 2004.
The Office of Transition Initiatives continued to implement a series of elections-related civic education and dialogue projects approved since August. Two more projects were approved in October, including a $64,000 grant to print and distribute 230,000 copies of
educational booklets on such subjects as citizenship, civic participation, decentralization and autonomy. The booklets will be distributed throughout El Alto, the altiplano, and other parts of the country by USAID partners International Republican Institute and Partners of the Americas, as well as through local Bolivian nongovernmental organizations and prior OTI grantees. The second project will provide 100 small businesses with an opportunity to exchange ideas and proposals for increasing productivity with representatives from political parties and civil society groups. The project objective is to support efforts by the National Confederation of Micro and Small Enterprises to educate Bolivians about the important role played by local businesses in generating employment.
OTI also funded a school reconstruction project in Ancoraimes, a conflictive indigenous community in the rural province of Camacho in La Paz. The grant will fund the rehabilitation of 40 classrooms and provide furniture for six of the largest schools in the municipality. A computer lab will be established in the largest school. The project is part of a conflict-resolution initiative in that it is designed to help the local government establish a positive state presence. The project proposal came from the mayor of Ancoraimes following extensive, positive press coverage of an OTI grant to establish computer labs in the municipality of Achacachi. Similar school rehabilitation activities that bring the local government and citizens together in conflictive areas to improve the academic environment have provided a sense of ownership to the entire community and opened the door to constructive political participation.
The only studies to date that have analyzed the economic effects of blockades have focused on the macro-economy and the broader business sector. A new OTI grant will fund researchers from the Center for Economic Business Research of the Private University of Bolivia to analyze the negative impacts of blockades on the poor. Bolivian analysts often speculate in the press and offer anecdotal evidence that citizens who are most likely to participate in blockades are those who also are most likely to suffer from the economic fallout, such as a lasting increase in the price of basic goods. The research team will carry out its activities during a two-month span in La Paz, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz, using statistical modeling to examine what, if any, empirical links exist between the rise in social mobilizations and inflation. Results will be published in an academic paper and publicized through three seminars. In addition, 10,000 informational handouts will be produced based on the most important parts of the study.
| Community Development and Economic Opportunity |
4 |
$108,400 |
81 |
$2,397,326 |
| Civic Education for Emerging Leaders |
|
|
25 |
$ 847,009 |
| Information Diffusion and Dialogue |
4 |
$163,600 |
84 |
$3,424,987 |
| School Reconstruction and Education |
1 |
$ 55,000 |
37 |
$1,090,967 |
| Total |
9 |
$327,000 |
227 |
$7,760,289 |
B. Indicators of Success
Informing indigenous communities about the general elections – Ensuring that citizens have adequate access to information and an opportunity to debate issues is a key part of promoting a peaceful political participation in indigenous communities. Recent surveys demonstrate both the need for and room for information; citizens are open to changing or shaping their opinions according to the amount, type and accuracy of information at their disposal. The surveys also underscore the need for projects that train indigenous youths, who are seen as credible interlocutors by their peers, to help other young people make better-informed decisions.
During the lead-up to December's general elections, OTI is implementing massive information and educational campaigns to inform the population about key political issues. Activities include 700 workshops and "education fairs" targeting over 80,000 citizens from historically disadvantaged populations. About 40 hours per week of OTI-funded television and radio programming, both in Spanish and native languages, covering tolerance and peaceful participation, continues throughout El Alto and indigenous communities in the altiplano. The activities have had a variety of positive results, especially in communities that have traditionally felt isolated from the democratic process. Having learned by radio and word-of-mouth about OTI-funded informational workshops being conducted in rural municipalities throughout La Paz and Oruro, a number of community leaders have publicly requested that the workshops be replicated for the benefit of their own rural communities. The supplemental workshops held in increasingly remote areas of the altiplano have made OTI's information dissemination activities, in many cases, unprecedented. Citizens and community leaders who have participated in rural workshops have repeatedly told facilitators that, until now, "nobody from any [donor] organization has ever visited our community."
Hydrocarbons – October saw a number of protests and blockades in La Paz and El Alto that were brought on by shortages of government-subsidized liquefied natural gas, a main fuel source for Bolivians. Shortages, due primarily to increasing demand and cross-border contraband trade, led thousands of affected people to take their empty storage canisters to the streets and block traffic.
OTI has supported a number of activities, including information campaigns, vehicle conversion, and installation projects in support of the use of natural gas to relieve the pressure in the altiplano. In October, U.S. Ambassador David Greenlee, senior ranking government officials, and Abel Mamani, president of the Fejuve neighborhood organization, participated in the inauguration of natural gas connections that will benefit over 20,000 people in El Alto. The $165,000 project, supported by OTI, generated unprecedented collaboration between the state hydrocarbons company and a social sector that has been one of the government's most vocal critics. The symbolism of the Bolivian government delivering on its longstanding promise of providing gas to Bolivians with the cooperation of an often-conflictive sector was acknowledged by the local press in front-page headlines. OTI will work with the state hydrocarbons company and Fejuve to replicate the project in several districts throughout El Alto.
Supporting Bolivian government efforts to mitigate conflict - At the request of the Rodriguez government, OTI funded a series of conflict-resolution workshops in August for cabinet ministers and vice-ministers, during which participants learned negotiation techniques designed to achieve compromises and beneficial outcomes for both sides of the negotiation table. The workshops helped officials from the Ministry of the Presidency develop their ideas for creating a government unit specifically designed to address conflicts. That unit, the new Vice Ministry for Strategic Affairs, was constituted by the president in September.
Two OTI grants are supporting the Rodriguez administration's efforts to provide technical assistance on conflict resolution to the government ministries and to model best practices for government-led conflict mitigation. OTI funded a return visit by conflict-resolution expert Jim Tull during the month to work with the Vice Ministry of Strategic Affairs to develop its institutional structure and work plan. OTI also approved a grant that will support the Ministry of the Presidency in working out an instructions manual for Bolivian ministries on processes and procedures for addressing social demands and conflicts.
Next Steps/Immediate Priorities
In November, OTI/Bolivia will continue to support election-related information diffusion and civic education activities as elections approach to ensure that indigenous and rural populations have the same access to information about the political process as their urban counterparts.
For further information, please contact:
In Washington, D.C: Amy Frumin, LAC Program Manager, 202-712-4231, afrumin@usaid.gov
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