Bolivia is currently in the midst of an interesting political conflict. The autonomy votes in Santa Cruz and the other "media luna" departments, establish much more power on the state level and thus put the brakes on President Morales' socialist reforms. This represents a deep split in the country. Now, this week's recall elections for the executives and the department prefects could potentially upset some officials, and there is an outside chance this could lead to violent protests, armed confrontations, or some form of political division. How will this all play out?
Backing up a little bit, it's worth saying that what's on the table here is a difference in opinion on the optimum political model. The issue is basically theoretical, with the president championing a model of ultimate central power, nationalization of industry, fixed prices, and government grants to the most disadvantaged, and those in the "media luna" espousing the neoliberal model of free enterprise and international trade. The two models can't both be run in the same country, thus the conflict. An Op/Ed in el diario Los Tiempos warned that if the struggle became violent, international peacekeepers would swoop in and, "guys, we really don't want that."
The current Bolivian discussion is not unlike our own situation in 1860, when the North and South were interested in different economic models. The North was interested in keeping southern products for national industry, and the South was interested in maintaining lucrative international trade relationships. Like the "media luna" could do, the South suceeded in order to defend its autonomy of trade.
Obviously, the global situation has changed enormously since 1860, but I'd like to offer this line of questions: Would the international community "swoop in" and "bring the peace" to Bolivia if things got violent? If that same coalition would have arrived in the US when Lincoln invaded the South, how would that have stifled American history? If we would never have been allowed to fight it out, and in the process murder 625,000 people, would we ever have been able to resolve that economic question? Does peacekeeping stop evolution of society?
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