Due to circumstances beyond my control, I was unable to attend, as an electoral observer, the autonomy referendum in Tarija being held today. I was present at the one in Santa Cruz, closely followed the events in Beni and Pando, and I had every intention of witnessing the Tarija referendum. What is happening in Bolivia is incredibly hopeful, as the Bolivian opposition, formed by an extraordinary coalition, has understood that the only effective way to counter the advance of totalitarianism is through responsible democratic engagement.
The government of Evo Morales has tried by all legal and illegal means, with national and foreign assistance and resources, to halt the autonomist push driven by popular initiative in the regions of the Bolivian media luna. Thankfully, their attempts have been as successful as their state refoundation project. Nevertheless, the significance of what is happening in Bolivia cannot be minimized.
Politically, the prefects are providing a masterclass to all democratic opposition movements in Latin America. In none of our countries, except perhaps Colombia, has the opposition shown such maturity and efficiency in preventing the Castro-Chavista machinery from imposing its monochromatic reality. Presidential aspirations have been set aside by the leaders of the autonomist movement. Civil society organizations have acted in line with the movement, which will undoubtedly bring greater prosperity to the regions; thus, this opposition is not the Venezuelan type, where no leader, apart from Chávez, has the necessary “muscle” to fill the streets.
The prefects of Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando, Tarija, Cochabamba, and Chuquisaca enjoy popularity levels much higher than Evo’s. Unlike the president, they command a democratic troop, not paid with petro and narco-dollars.
The autonomist movement benefits from multiple factors. A director of the Electoral Court of Santa Cruz once told me about the manual voting process, “our system is so rudimentary!” I replied, “thank God we vote this way and not with Smartmatic machines that nobody audits, like in Venezuela, where you never know if the results reflect the true popular intention.”
Additionally, Evo’s constitutional attempts have been a total and absolute failure. Thus, the former coca leader does not have the necessary majority in congress, the senate, or even in the national constitutional assembly. Not even in El Chapare, where he recruits shock forces and the Ponchos Rojos he mobilizes across the country, does he have an overwhelming majority.
The purpose unity of the Bolivian opposition as a whole is exemplary, demonstrating that it is possible to have leaders who can set aside personal agendas for the common good, translating into massive popular support, democratic strength, and resounding results in favor of autonomy.
Sadly, neither Venezuela, nor Cuba, nor Ecuador, nor Brazil, nor Nicaragua exhibits the political maturity among opposition leaders.
Much is at stake in Bolivia; the communist and narco-terrorist expansion, directed from Havana and Caracas, has found an insurmountable obstacle in that country. The prefects are absolutely right in treating the OAS and its Secretary General with disdain. Their struggle is admirable, and their determination is unwavering.
All Latin American democrats would do well to follow the example that Bolivia has set.