Since returning from the Oct. 22-24 BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia on Oct. 26, Bolivian President Luis Arce Catacora has faced an escalating domestic crisis which is affecting the country’s economic and political stability. The ostensible reason for the crisis is the personal conflict between former President Evo Morales, who governed from 2006 to 2019, and Arce, who became President in 2020, which has turned very ugly.
But the real issue is not the personal enmity between them but the destabilization of Bolivia as a new BRICS associate member, whose participation in the group should bring great benefits in terms of new trade relations and cooperative economic agreements with other members, as well as membership in the New Development Bank. What is underway is a wrecking operation aimed at the BRICS, including Bolivia’s neighbor Brazil, whose President Lula had strongly defended Bolivia’s entry into the group. If Bolivia blows up, this will have regional repercussions as well.
Morales is now engaged in his 18th day of a destructive campaign of road blockades in much of the country, which is causing great economic and political dislocation, huge losses, food shortages, etc. Morales claims that Arce has reneged on their original agreement by which Morales would run for President in 2025, has wrecked the economy and was behind an assassination attempt against him on Oct. 27. Charges from the Morales camp have been met with counter-charges from the government and combined with acts of violence at some of the road blockades, the situation has become very dangerous.
According to La Razon tonight, President Arce issued a statement calling for all road blockades to be immediately lifted to allow for a return to normal activity. He warned that should this “loud request from the Bolivian people not be heard, our democratically-elected government with more than 55% of the vote will exercise its constitutional faculties to protect the interest of the Bolivian people.” That could mean a state of siege or state of emergency, among other options.
