Eastern Bolivians vow to intensify autonomy movement
16 Dec 2006 02:22:26 GMT Source: Reuters
(Recasts throughout with conclusion of demonstrations, adds president's comment) By Eduardo Garcia SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Protesters at four huge rallies in eastern Bolivia threatened on Friday to intensify their autonomy movement if a constitutional rewrite does not give them more control over regional affairs. In the biggest march in Santa Cruz, the country's most populous and wealthy city, hundreds of thousands of protesters held banners that read "Autonomy Now." Tens of thousands joined pro-autonomy protests in three other eastern regions. The movement demands greater say in how to spend local taxes and freedom to not follow leftist reforms of President Evo Morales, the first indigenous leader of landlocked Bolivia, South America's poorest country. Morales, who came to political prominence as a protester with the coca-farmers movement, has nationalized the country's energy industry, and his program to redistribute idle land to poor peasants is very unpopular in Santa Cruz. Governor Ruben Costas spoke to the crowd in Santa Cruz and asked if the people would support the forming of local governments if the assembly rewriting the constitution does not grant the eastern regions of Santa Cruz, Pando, Beni and Tarija more autonomy. The demonstrators, many of them wearing green and white T-shirts, the colors of the Santa Cruz flag, shouted "yes" in unison. The eastern Bolivia autonomy movement is scared that the constitutional assembly has become dominated by Morales' Movement Toward Socialism party and wants voting rules changed in the assembly, so that they can get their autonomy issues written into the new constitution. However, protesters denied they want to create a breakaway state and Morales said he was pleased with the peaceful tone of the protests. CHANGED DISCOURSE "I want to congratulate (the Santa Cruz protest leaders) because they changed their discourse, they no longer advocate division, separation," Morales told reporters in La Paz soon after the demonstration ended. Overall, the demonstrations were peaceful, although Morales' supporters threw stones to pro-autonomy protesters traveling by bus to join the Santa Cruz rally, leaving about 20 of them injured. Some protesters said autonomy was not enough. Wearing a baseball cap that read "Independence", Mauricio Melgar, a 29-year-old teacher, said he wanted "something more than autonomy" because he believes the government is excluding the Eastern part of the country. "Morales is ignoring our demands... I think this government is excluding us for racial reasons," said Melgar. Leftist Morales has accused the pro-autonomy drive of being led by a "racist right" intent on splitting Bolivia. Bolivia is roughly divided along ethnic and economic lines, with the resource-rich eastern lowlands home to more European-descended people, while the indigenous majority, who are relatively poorer, populate the western Andean plateau. Many people in Santa Cruz feel they have little in common with the poor, mountainous west of the country, where Morales has his support base. "Santa Cruz is different to the Andes. It's another country," said taxi driver Juan Carlos Balderrama. "People talk differently, people think differently, people dress differently, it looks more like a Brazilian city." (Additional reporting by Carlos Quiroga in La Paz)
