Latin America – Pike & Hurricane

Social Reforms, Corruption and Missing People: The Telenovela of Bolivian Political Leadership

Julia Glatthaar — Sun, 29 Oct 2017 19:01:48 +0000

When we, the writers of Pike and Hurricane, decided on this month’s overall topic “leadership”, I instantly thought of the Bolivian president Juan Evo Morales Ayma who has always been a fascinating political figure to me.

Every time I hear his name, I get transferred back to the time I spent in Bolivia. Whether I was working in the school kitchen and listening to the radio, or walking down the steep streets of La Paz seeing graffiti’s of “Evo, sí”, “Evo, no” and “Evo presidente”- everything would be about Evo, or related to his politics, and of course the myths and scandals surrounding him.

Bolivia is a multicultural country situated in Latin America. It has 37 official languages and due to its unfortunate history, it is the only Latin country that does not have a direct access to the sea (you’re welcome, I know at some point during a pub quiz you will relish this piece of information).

The majority of the Bolivianos have indigenous background and Evo, who identifies himself as Aymara (one of the largest indigenous groups), was the first indigenous president ever to be elected in 2006. What makes this government even more special, is that it has been the first one to last for longer than just a few years, months or days.

Currently, Evo is serving his third of two terms, that are allowed by the constitution, and speculation hints that he will stick around for longer, even though a controversial referendum that took place on the so-called “day of lies” (día de la mentira) should keep him from doing so. You can read all about his political career, from a coca farmer to the president here.

By now, you can probably imagine that opinions on Evo tend to be very diverse; and believe me, everybody has an opinion on this man!

To give you an insight, I interviewed two of my friends David Crespo Godoy from Argentina, and Salomon Alberto Pinto Limpias from Beni- a small village in the Bolivian Amazonas.

The expression of the Bolivian pueblo

Alberto has been living in Germany since 2007, but he still is very much in touch with Bolivia and up to date with its political developments. When he talks about his country, he refers to it as the “pueblo boliviano”.

“Evo Morales has been a very good president for the Bolivian people- he is the expression of the Bolivian pueblo; he comes from a very small, rural village of farmers, he is very humble and has many characteristics that make him appealing”, says Alberto.

“For example, his Spanish is far from perfect, because it is not his first language; he had to learn it during his time in politics. However, over time, he also has forgotten most of his mother tongue. Many Bolivians – myself included – can relate to this situation being trapped between the values and traditions of our rich history and the modern world.”

Alberto living his daily life in Germany.

When asked about what has changed since Evo became president, he answered :

”Evo has managed to give Bolivia its dignity and identity back, he is teaching Bolivians democracy, their rights and their obligations. I have noticed how change has managed to pick up over time, we may be changing slowly, but there is a positive motion within our country. Schools and hospitals are being built, agriculture is changing from illegal coca farming to more sustainable crops, and people have found their hope again. The only thing we lack is professionals and experts that can advance this change.”

“I have voted for this government and I would vote for Evo again, if I get the chance. I am not ignorant towards his faults, but Evo is what Bolivia needs right now – a long-lasting, steady and stable government. I believe Evo will run again and that he will remain our president, because he is the true candidate of our people. If the Bolivian pueblo wants him again as a president, he will offer his services again. It will be the decision of the Bolivian people, not of the president. I think that if it were not for the scandals and false allegations, the opposition had spread, Evo would have won the referendum.”

Alberto then further explained his point of view regarding the opposition and the current political situation:

“I feel that our opposition is not offering constructive criticism of our government and in the event of coming to power they would destroy everything Evo has managed to establish. If they were to come to power, they would take away every social programme that we have fought for so long.

The government has its faults, but Evo is the best person to represent my people and he is the person we need to keep on making positive changes and to keep our positive image in the international community”

Scandals and corruption

David Crespo Godoy is from Argentina and he is an international management consultant who has lived in the US, Europe, Asia and Central America. He did a consultancy in Bolivia from October 2003 to May 2006 and then he went back in October 2012 and has lived there ever since. When we got to know each other, he was living in Tarija, a town in South Bolivia.

A photo of David while in Jerusalem.

You can read the full interview in Spanish here. But I will provide you with the most important issues we talked about.

“Originally, since the inauguration of Evo, the image of Bolivia improved a lot in the international community. Although, due to Evo indirectly supporting narcotrafficking, he has lost some of his popularity. And this loss of popularity can also be seen within Bolivia.

Even though Evo has managed to make positive changes, his government also has its dark side and is involved in serious corruption and money fraud schemes through front businesses. People have started to realise this, which is why he lost the referendum”, David said. When I asked him about all the scandals surrounding Evo, he merely answered:

“I think that his government invented the scandal regarding Zapata [former girlfriend of Morales, ed.] and the lost son, reeling the attention of the public eye to something that would not have serious damage to Evo’s image.”

However, David also concurred that many positive changes have taken place since Evo took office:

“Some of the positive changes I have noticed in Bolivia since 2006 are that there is now a regular work day and the minimum wage which people with few exceptions are receiving- a salary of 2000 Bolivianos (~290 US$) per month, that the gap between the rich and the poor has started to close, and that the government offers a variety of services to all citizens, that traditionally only rich people had access to.”

“If the government invested more into small family businesses- that make up 80% of all businesses here, if it focused on production areas apart from oil, gas and petrol, if it invested more efficiently in our education system, we would achieve a much faster change within Bolivia!”

“Another positive movement has been the new constitution of 2009. On the one hand, it has given many Bolivians the hope for a better life. On the other hand, it has lessened US influence in Bolivian politics, for example our parties were administered by the US government and they even got to define the leaders in our ministries. This has not been public, but it is known alike.”

However, there is a flipside to the Bolivian success story, according to David:

“Indeed I think that the biggest problem we face in our country is corruption – it starts in our daily life and goes up to our government and the fact that it controls our judiciary, forces conformity. Evo and his government have made it impossible to speak out against them by taking advantage of errors within our legal system, for example by not considering people going missing a crime and therefore will not search for them or start an investigation.”

“In October 2012 my father “disappeared”. At that time he had been involved in a legal process against the government, because they had confiscated one of his airplanes. When I started investigating, I made out that alongside him three more people had gone missing. And then, when I reported this to the Human Rights Commission, it dawned on me that my father was merely one of hundreds.”

“Due to my investigations, I was arrested by the military in June 2013 and accused of being a terrorist. That same day I had to negotiate with the government and make a deal: I had to leave the country and stop all further investigations. Furthermore, my father’s company was expropriated by the military.”

“Since then I went on a spiritual journey to come to peace with myself and the fact that my father alongside many others will never come back again.”

“I wanted to share my story to show some of the serious problems we are facing with the Bolivian government.”

By Julia Glatthaar

Photo Credit:

Photo 1 by Kris Krüg, Celebration Dinner with Bolivian President Evo Morales – Colomi – Bolivia CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

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Manuela Sáenz – Liberator of the Liberator

Anna Bernard — Wed, 10 May 2017 13:22:47 +0000

Manuela Sáenz is a curious case indeed. She was a Latin American revolutionary figure from the continent’s turbulent 19th century. The revolutionary times opened up a space for behavior defying gender, class and racial norms, which created the first seeds for emancipatory women’s movements. Since her passing, Sáenz has gained a heroine status. Her legacy has empowered various Latin American feminist and revolutionary movements to this day.

The life of Sáenz

Born in Quito, current-day Ecuador, in 1797 as the illegitimate child of elite class parents, Manuela Sáenz defied societal norms since her birth. She was informally recognized by her father who later found her a rich English merchant, who she married according to her father’s wishes. This marriage subsequently set off a chain reaction that destined her to become a revolutionary heroine.

Sáenz followed her husband and became a socialite in Lima, Peru. It is in these circles that she got involved in political and military affairs, leading her to bloom as a supporter of the independence cause. As a politically active member of the upper class in Lima, she initially engaged in the independence cause in ways acceptable for women. She informed independence leaders of any Spanish royalist actions and strategies that she heard of, and she was known to hold “tertulias”, intellectual gatherings, where independence sympathizers gathered to further their cause.

It was in 1822, at the age of 25, that Manuela Sáenz met Simón Bolívar, the Liberator, the most famous Spanish American revolutionary figure of the time. During the revolutionary campaigns, Sáenz worked as Bolivar’s personal archivist, informant and confidant, while also being his lover, companion and political supporter. Sáenz is also believed to have fought alongside Bolívar’s troops as an equal in one or more of the battles, thus contributing to the independence movement’s victories and to the consolidation of the independence of Spanish America.

Most memorably she also twice saved her confidant’s life. In 1828, Sáenz assisted Bolívar to flee would-be assassins who had made their way into Bolívar’s proximity. Her audacity and perceptiveness earned her the title ‘Libertadora del Libertador’ from Bolívar.

Women’s involvement in the revolution – the legacy

Although the life of Sáenz was incredibly eventful and full of departures from the norms of her times, she has been depicted most commonly merely as the lover and partner of Bolívar, thus not receiving the credit she deserves for her efforts and loyalty to the independence movement. This difficulty to reconcile with and accept her significance in the creation of an independent continent is arguably related to her break from traditional female roles and societal norms. However, since the turn of the twentieth century, a variety of scholars have sought to capture the deep scope of her life and efforts in the revolutionary processes, while recalling and re-evaluating her association with Bolívar and his movement.

Women were crucial to the Spanish American wars of independence. Most women, especially among the elite and middle sectors of society, conformed to the notion of “proper womanhood” even during exceptional times such as revolutionary struggles. These women supported the independence cause by giving monetary support, serving as spies, sewing uniforms, and by sacrificing their husbands and adult sons to the independence movement. Some women would follow armies in order to tend to the wounded, which was deemed as acceptable behavior for women, as they were seen as extending their supposedly natural instinct to nurture into an extreme situation in a time of crisis and sacrifice. Most of the women with the armies, however, were poor indigenous or mestiza women, who were the daughters, girlfriends, or wives of low-ranking soldiers. These women followed their men, feeding and comforting them as they fought for independence. Still, women in the aforementioned functions stayed in the accepted spectrum of actions regarding their gender, class, race, and status.

Manuela Sáenz departed from these standards. She was engaged in the revolution long before she was involved with Bolívar. Sáenz was a talented and dedicated revolutionary who was capable of manipulating existing gender norms – sometimes adhering to them, at others rejecting them – when she needed to advance her personal and political interests. The problem was that as the revolution ended, strong female revolutionaries such as Sáenz were expected to step away from their exceptional position they had gained during the crisis, and once again pertain to a more traditional role out of the realms of politics and military affairs.

Emancipation emanating from the revolutions

It is argued that Manuela Sáenz and other women like her participating in the revolutionary movements have been crucial in the revolution of women’s emancipation in Latin America.

“The revolution will be feminist or it will not be.”

Five factors have been identified that contributed to the emergence of Latin American women’s emancipation and revolutionary feminism, born of the various revolutionary movements. Firstly, engagement, such as that of Sáenz’s, in independence movements challenged the status-quo perception of gender behavior thus giving women more space to manoeuvre. Secondly, training in the ranks of the independence movements gave women unprecedented logistical skillsets that they were able to utilize in the organization of women’s movements. Thirdly, there was a political opening in a more chaotic state structure that gave women a chance to organize. In addition, this organizing was stimulated by unmet basic needs by revolutionary movements that women themselves felt a need to address; and finally, a collective feminist consciousness – subtle or not – needed to be present for emancipatory movements to gain strength.

In this context Sáenz was certainly ahead of her time, as great innovators often are. Instead of receiving recognition for her efforts, she was exiled and died a pariah. However, even after such degradation, Sáenz’s legacy subtly lived on, inspiring countless women to mobilize.

The life of Sáenz was that of norm-breaking behavior and extreme solidarity for a cause and commitment to the leader she deemed invaluable for the revolution. Sáenz found an opportunity to express her aspirations, desires and ambitions through the revolutionary movement, and by doing so she contributed to an independent continent and paved way for successive women’s mobilization.

By Anna Bernard

Photos:

Osvaldo Gago #acampadasol (Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0))

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