Statement on the Bolivian Revolution
by the SPUSA International Commission - June, 2008

The Socialist Party USA expresses its solidarity with the workers, campesinos and indigenous communities of Bolivia who are struggling to create a new vibrant socialist project in their country. The possibilities of achieving such a goal were greatly accelerated by the election in 2005 of the government of Evo Morales, representative of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) party. Now, two years into Morales' first term, the MAS government faces serious challenges from the right delivered in the form of a movement for "autonomy" coming from a bastion of the old oligarchy in Santa Cruz.

The historical legacy and theoretical traditions of socialism make it difficult to publicly declare opposition to a genuine movement for autonomy expressed by a nationally-oppressed group. We re-affirm the notion that oppressed groups, minority or majority, have, when facing oppression by a state apparatus be it capitalist or ostensibly communist, the right to self-determination. For example, claims by Aymara communities in the north of Bolivia prior to the election of the MAS government were clearly just demands for the liberation of a majority grouping from the shackles of a political economy directed by a thin layer of capitalist elite taking direction from the IMF/World Bank. The above definition has little to do with the current crisis in Santa Cruz.

The claims by the property-owning elites in Santa Cruz, commonly referred to as Crucenos, have nothing to do with the right to self-determination or even the desire for autonomy. They are, instead, part of a concerted nation-wide effort to re-articulate a right-wing movement in the country capable of re-taking state-power. The Crucenos are at the epicenter of this attempt since they have managed to maintain key elements of power from the pre-MAS era -- access to property, access to local state-power and access to external funding from US sources.

However, it would be a serious mistake to see Santa Cruz as the last bastion of right-wing power in Bolivia. Aspects of a resurgent right-wing project are appearing all over the country. Because of the manner in which it was dispersed in 2003, this new conservative trend is forced to wear different colors in different regions. In some cases, such as the Santa Cruz-based Union Juvenil Crucenista and its counterparts in other cities, the right acts in an openly violent quasi-fascistic manner. In other circumstances, they march in urban areas under the cover of the Feminine Civic Committee to defend the "family-basket" against supposedly inflationary MAS policies. In the case of La Paz a pro-business elite works through the nominally social-democratic party dubbed Podemos (Social Democratic Power) which is led by loser of the 2005 presidential elections Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga. Taken together, these forces represent a coherent attempt to re-organize the right in Bolivia.

The MAS is a party built organically from the social and workers' movements which developed in Bolivia at the turn of the 21st century. As such, it contains within it wings with nationalist, indigenous and leftist agendas. The Morales regime has attempted to balance these forces while building a progressive electoral bloc. The government has carried out reforms including the hydrocarbons nationalization (essentially an increase in the tax-rate paid by multi-nationals to the state) and a literacy program. The MAS is now faced with the tasks of deepening the revolution by addressing demands from working class and indigenous communities for re-organizing the state to recognize the organs of popular power, for a substantive land reform and for a more aggressive campaign of nationalizations. Such developments would mark a positive move from the development of a "normal" or "Andean-Amazonian" capitalism towards a democratic socialist project.

There is much for socialists in America to learn from the Bolivian Revolution. The mobilizations of the early 21st century, the construction of popular organs of political decision-making and the ability to dispose of successive right-wing governments demonstrates the capacity of the working class and peasantry to transform political reality. Confronting the elites based in Santa Cruz, a region which produces 60% of Bolivia's yearly GDP, is a crucial step to neutralize the resurgent right-wing thereby securing the future of the Bolivian Revolution. The Socialist Party USA supports efforts to extend the democratic-socialist project to address the historical inequities which have defined class relations in Bolivia.