Bolivia: The Shoe Is On The Other Foot

BOLIVIA

The Shoe is on the Other Foot

In what could be the first case of its kind, a US federal court in Fort Lauderdale is hearing allegations of human-rights abuses brought against a former foreign head of state.

Bolivian ex-President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada stands accused of ordering the extrajudicial killings of poor, indigenous Bolivians in 2003, when he cracked down on protests against his administration. He then resigned and fled to the United States when he couldn’t bring the protesters to heel. The charges were filed under the US Torture Victim Protection Act, the Miami Herald reported.

Around 3,000 miles away, Evo Morales must have been smiling.

Morales was one of the leaders of the protests that ousted Sánchez de Lozada. Today, he’s president of Bolivia, the first from the country’s indigenous community.

But now Morales is in danger of resembling the strongman he fought against years ago.

Writing in Bloomberg View, journalist Mac Margolis argued that many Bolivians believe Morales is flouting the country’s constitution by seeking a fourth term in office.

In 2016, a referendum to let him run again failed. But Morales argued that limiting his time in office contravened his human rights and the political choices of his supporters. The country’s highest court overturned the referendum. Morales’ approval rating has sunk to 22 percent as a result.

“Bolivians have not always been so worried about democracy and the rule of law,” former La Paz Mayor Ronald MacLean-Abaroa told Margolis. “But ignoring the popular will and insisting upon running again, that really offended people.”

As leftwing leaders in Argentina, Venezuela and elsewhere in South America have lost face, Morales is a survivor, explained Foreign Affairs.

His base of support is strong. He’s made good on promises to bring historically excluded groups into government – including the country’s bowler hat-wearing ‘cholitas’ – and responded to calls by women across the country to acknowledge rampant sexual abuse. He’s also improved the economy, driving Bolivia to even put a satellite into space with China’s help. And his critics are disorganized.

But, as the World Bank noted in a blog post, Bolivia is a poor country facing major problems, including urban congestion stemming from the influx of folks from the countryside into La Paz and other big cities, a common dilemma among growing developing nations.

Morales knows how to unseat a president. He’ll need to do more to keep others from unseating him.