I | INTRODUCTION |
Bolivia, republic in central South America, nicknamed
the Rooftop of the World because of its high elevation in the Andes Mountains.
Bolivia has a landscape of snow-topped mountain peaks and broad, windswept
plateaus. To the east of the mountains, vast grassy plains give way to lowland
tropical rain forests. The official capital of Bolivia is Sucre; La Paz is the
administrative capital and seat of government. At an altitude of about 3,600 m
(11,900 ft), La Paz is the highest capital in the world.
Bolivia is one of the poorest countries in
South America. Although Native Americans make up the majority of the country's
population, a small Spanish elite has traditionally dominated the political and
economic life of the country and held most of the wealth. The minerals of the
Andes were long the source of this wealth, but petroleum and natural gas
overtook them in the late 1900s. Coca leaves, the source of the drug cocaine,
also became an important export in the second half of the 1900s.
Most of Bolivia's people live on a plateau
between two ranges of the Andes Mountains, which occupy a third of the country.
Since the 1950s, however, the sparsely settled, eastern lowland plains have
gradually become more heavily populated, in part because of discoveries of
significant deposits of oil and natural gas there. In addition, the region's
fertile farmland was opened to settlement. Santa Cruz, the region's center of
trade and commerce, surpassed La Paz to become Bolivia's largest city in the
early 2000s.
From the 16th to the early 19th century,
Bolivia was a colony of Spain. The country became independent in 1825. In 1952
Bolivia underwent a political revolution that brought far-reaching changes to
the country. The leaders of that revolution introduced programs designed to
provide greater political, economic, and social opportunities for Native
Americans. The government extended the vote to all Native Americans, promoted
education in rural villages, and redistributed land, breaking up the large
estates established during colonial times and giving small plots of land to
Native American farmers. But the reforms failed to solve Bolivia's economic
problems. Subsequent regimes have tried to privatize large segments of the
economy, and Bolivia's social, political, and economic situation remains
unstable.
II | LAND AND RESOURCES |
The principal physical feature of Bolivia is
the Andes mountain range, which extends generally north to south across the
western part of the country. The Andes form two ranges in Bolivia, the western
range (Cordillera Occidental), which runs along the Chilean border, and the
eastern range (Cordillera Oriental), the main range, which crosses the west
central part of Bolivia. The Cordillera Oriental contains some of the highest
Andean peaks, notably Ancohuma (6,388 m/20,958 ft), Illampu (6,360 m/20,867 ft),
and Illimani (6,462 m/21,201 ft).
Bolivia is bounded on the north and east by
Brazil, on the southeast by Paraguay, on the south by Argentina, and on the west
by Chile and Peru. Bolivia and Paraguay are the only South American countries
without direct access to the sea. The maximum length of Bolivia from north to
south is about 1,530 km (about 950 mi); its maximum breadth is about 1,450 km
(about 900 mi). It has an area of 1,098,581 sq km (424,164 sq mi), which makes
it about the size of the states of Texas and California combined. Among South
American countries Bolivia ranks fifth in area (after Brazil, Argentina, Peru,
and Colombia).
A | Natural Regions |
Bolivia is divided into three distinct
regions. The Altiplano, or plateau region, and the Cordilleras of the Andes
cover the western third of the country. The Yungas, a series of densely
forested and well-watered valleys, embrace the eastern mountain slopes and dip
down to the eastern plains. The plains, or the Amazon-Chaco lowlands, spread
over the eastern part of Bolivia.
The Altiplano lies between the Cordillera
Occidental and the Cordillera Oriental at an elevation between 3,620 m and 4,270
m (11,900 ft and 14,000 ft) above sea level. It is about 800 km (about 500 mi)
long and about 130 km (about 80 mi) wide. The bulk of Bolivia's people and
industries are found in the northern part of the Altiplano. So is Lake Titicaca,
the highest navigable lake in the world. Bolivia shares this lake with Peru. The
southern part of the Altiplano is arid.
The region known as the Yungas descends
steeply to the plains, falling 4,350 m (14,250 ft) in only 80 km (50 mi).
Precipitous slopes, isolated valleys and basins, and mile-deep canyons
characterize the Yungas. However, there is also fertile soil in the Yungas, and
bananas, coffee, and citrus fruits are grown here.
Stretching east and northeast from the
mountains are the great Amazonian plains (“llanos” in Spanish). The region
contains large grassy tracts and, along the tributaries of the Amazon, dense
tropical forests. Much of it becomes swampland during the wet season (December
through February). However, large areas lie above the flood line and provide
rich grazing lands. In the southeast, separated from the Amazonian plains by the
Chiquitos highlands (about 1,070 m/about 3,500 ft), are the dry, semitropical
plains of the Chaco (see Gran Chaco).
B | Rivers |
In the northern and northeastern valleys and
plains, the drainage system consists of the Beni River and its main tributary,
the Madre de Diós River; the Guaporé River, which forms part of the boundary
with Brazil; and the Mamoré River. These rivers flow north to join the Amazon
River. The Pilcomayo River, the chief river of southeastern Bolivia, flows
through the Chaco to feed the Paraguay River, eventually draining into the Río
de la Plata, a large estuary that empties into the Atlantic Ocean between
Argentina and Uruguay. The Desaguadero River, outlet for Lake Titicaca, feeds
Lake Poopó to the southeast.
C | Climate |
Although situated entirely within the
tropics, Bolivia has, as a result of its varied elevation, a wide range of
climate. In the higher regions the climate is cold and dry. The Altiplano and
the high ranges of the Andes have unbelievably clear skies and intense sunshine,
with afternoon thundershowers during summer (from December to March). In the
lower-lying regions the climate is warmer. Humid, tropical conditions prevail in
the northern plains. The southern plains are cooler and dryer. The mean annual
temperatures range from 8°C (47°F) in the Altiplano to 26°C (79°F) in the
eastern lowlands.
D | Natural Resources |
The Andes Mountains are rich in mineral
resources. These resources include tin, lead, silver, copper, antimony, zinc,
sulfur, bismuth, gold, and tungsten. Salt, petroleum, and natural gas are also
found in Bolivia. The soil of certain regions, notably the valleys of the Yungas
east of Santa Cruz, is extremely fertile. Bolivia has the second largest
reserves of natural gas in Latin America. Only Venezuela has larger
reserves.
E | Plants and Animals |
Because of the wide variations in elevation,
plant and animal species of nearly every climatic zone are found in Bolivia. A
coarse grass, called ichu, grows on the largely barren high plateau in the west.
Para rubber trees, more than 2,000 species of hardwood trees, and vanilla,
sarsaparilla, and saffron plants are common in the tropical forests of the east.
The llama, found chiefly on the Altiplano,
is an efficient beast of burden. Alpacas and vicuñas also inhabit the plateau.
Jaguars, capybaras, peccaries, tapirs, and other animals are common in the
Yungas. Birds are found in great variety in the forests. Fish are abundant in
Lake Titicaca and the rivers, among them bass, trout, and deadly piranhas.
Monkeys, pumas, armadillos, and a variety of reptiles, birds, and insects are
found predominantly in the tropical Amazon Basin.
III | PEOPLE |
The population of Bolivia (2008 estimate) is
9,247,816, giving the country a population density of 9 persons per sq km (22
per sq mi), one of the lowest in South America. Roughly 55 percent of all the
people are Native American, and about 30 percent are mestizo (of mixed
Native American and European ancestry). Most of the remaining inhabitants are of
Spanish descent. Some 36 percent of the people live in rural areas.
The official languages of Bolivia are
Spanish and two Native South American languages, Quechua and Aymara; of those
the Native American languages are more commonly spoken. Roman Catholicism is the
religion of the great majority of the population. However, in rural areas,
Catholicism contains many elements of indigenous beliefs.
The Native Americans are divided into the
two major native language groups, the Aymara and the Quechua. Of the groups that
presently live in Bolivia, the Aymara have probably been there the longest. They
had a well-developed civilization along the shores of Lake Titicaca for many
centuries before the Quechua-speaking Incas conquered them. Native American
language, religion, and customs prevail in rural areas, and the Native American
influence remains strong in the poorer districts of even major cities.
In past centuries the indigenous communities
resisted European influences, a response to the Spanish conquest of the region
in the early 1500s. European settlers established a rigid class system in which
an upper class of colonists ruled over a lower class of Native Americans.
The Bolivian upper classes speak Spanish and
trace their ancestry to the early Spanish colonists. However, since the settlers
and Native Americans intermixed from the very beginning of the conquest, few of
the old aristocratic families can claim pure European ancestry. Until the 1950s
these aristocratic families, plus a few recent immigrants from other South
American countries and Europe, had a monopoly on wealth, education, and
political power. They owned almost all the land and controlled most large
businesses and some of the mining industry. Even the country’s educational
system was geared to training this elite. Since the revolution of 1952, however,
Bolivian society has become more open and allows for more social mobility.
A | Principal Cities |
La Paz was long Bolivia’s largest city
and remains its administrative capital (population, 2008 estimate, 839,905).
However, Santa Cruz (1,538,343), a major trade center located east of the Andes,
has surpassed it in population. Other large cities in Bolivia include El Alto
(896,773), a shantytown that was once a suburb of La Paz and became the
country’s fastest-growing city; Cochabamba (603,342), in a fertile farming
region; Oruro (232,246), in the mining district; Sucre (288,290), the country’s
official capital; and Potosí (164,803), the silver-mining center of the colonial
era.
B | Education |
Primary education is nominally free and
compulsory for children between the ages of 6 and 13. The country’s literacy
rate is 88 percent.
In 2002–2003 almost all children of
elementary-school age were enrolled in primary schools, but some attended for
only a brief time. Only 86 percent of children of secondary-school age attended
school. Enrollment in institutions of higher education was 39 percent.
Bolivia has ten universities: in Sucre,
La Paz (two), Cochabamba, Llallagua, Oruro, Potosí, Santa Cruz, Tarija, and
Trinidad. San Francisco Xavier University (1624), in Sucre, is one of the oldest
in the Americas. The University of San Andrés (1830), in La Paz, is the largest
university in Bolivia, with a student enrollment of about 37,000.
C | Culture |
In dress, language, architecture, and
lifestyle, the large Native American population of Bolivia follows many of the
ways of its ancestors with some influence by Spanish traditions. Native clothing
is colorful and suited to life in high altitudes. In rural areas girls learn to
weave at an early age, and woven woolen textiles in bright colors are popular.
Women traditionally wear bowler hats, woven shawls, and skirts made of bands of
fabric in horizontal tiers. Petticoats are worn beneath the skirts, and layers
can be added or removed as needed. The Spanish-speaking population in the cities
generally follows Western customs.
Indigenous and Spanish colonial
influences have fused to produce the culture of modern Bolivia. Holidays and
religious festivals are celebrated by dancing and festivities. A weeklong
carnival, held before Lent in Oruro, is the country's largest annual
celebration. Called La Diablada (Dance of the Devil), it features dancers
dressed as angels, devils, and Incas.
Native American traditions are strong in
painting, literature, music, dancing, and folklore. Many contemporary painters
have been inspired by indigenous art. Spanish influence prevails in music and
folk dances of the valleys, while the austere and plaintive native tradition
predominates in the highlands. Pre-Columbian and Spanish-colonial instruments
are widely used, among them the gigantic panpipes, called sicus or
bajones; the native flute, or quena; and the armadillo-shell guitar,
or charango. See Latin American Literature; Latin American
Music.
La Paz is home to the National
Archaeology Museum; the National Art Museum; the Museum of Ethnography and
Folklore; the Museum of Precious Pre-Columbian Metals; the Coca Museum; the
Museum of Musical Instruments; and the Museum of Andean Textiles. Bolivia's
other museums include the Archaeological Museum in Cochabamba and the Museum of
Indigenous Arts in Sucre. Important libraries are the National Library and
Archives in Sucre, the Santa Cruz Municipal Library in La Paz, and the libraries
of the University of San Andrés in La Paz and San Francisco Xavier University in
Sucre.
IV | ECONOMY |
Since early colonial times, mining for
precious minerals and metal ores has played an important role in Bolivia's
economy. Many of the largest mining operations were nationalized during the
1950s. However, later Bolivian governments encouraged private industrial
development and sought foreign investment capital. The state airline, Lloyd
Aéreo Boliviano, was sold to private interests in 1993. In 1995 Bolivia began
implementing a privatization program in which the government did not sell
state-owned companies outright; instead, half of the company's shares and
management control were awarded to investors who agreed to invest in the company
for several years rather than pay cash to the government. The remaining shares
were to be divided among Bolivia's adult population and held in retirement
accounts as a new private pension system. Despite these efforts to deflect
charges that Bolivia was “selling out” its resources to foreigners, the
privatization efforts drew sustained criticism and prompted serious labor
strife.
Many farmers in rural areas of Bolivia
depend on the production of coca for a living. In South America, the leaves of
the coca plant are dried and chewed as a stimulant. Coca leaves also yield the
drug cocaine. To halt traffic in cocaine, the United States government has
pressured Bolivia to stop farmers from growing coca. The Bolivian government has
entered into agreements with the United States to restrict coca production in
return for U.S. economic assistance. These agreements either do not adequately
compensate coca growers or else ask them to grow crops for which their land is
unsuited. Not surprisingly, Bolivia's coca growers object.
Bolivia's estimated gross domestic product
(GDP) in 2006 was $11.2 billion. GDP is a measure of the value of all goods and
services a country produces. Budget figures for 2006 showed revenues of $2.7
billion and expenditures of $2.7 billion.
A | Agriculture, Fishing, and Forestry |
Bolivia has little land suitable for
agriculture, because mountains, forests, and swamps spread over so much of the
country. Many of the Bolivians who farm engage in subsistence agriculture on the
Altiplano and live at or below the poverty line. Agriculture employed 5 percent
of the labor force and, along with fishing and forestry, accounted for 14
percent of the GDP in 2006.
Bolivia's agriculture suffers from
antiquated farming methods and inadequate transportation. Although the country
is self-sufficient in the production of sugar, rice, and meat, it must still
import certain foodstuffs. The chief Bolivian crops are soybeans, sugar cane,
potatoes, cassava, bananas, maize, rice, plantains, and citrus fruits. Farming
with modern methods is increasing in the eastern plains near the city of Santa
Cruz. Fishing is a relatively unimportant industry in landlocked Bolivia.
B | Mining, Manufacture, and Trade |
Mining is a major industry in Bolivia,
providing a large share of the country's export earnings. Bolivia's income from
mining depends on prices in world markets. Bolivia was one of the world's
leading producers of tin through most of the 20th century, but tin is now
produced more cheaply in other countries, and Bolivia's tin production has
declined as a result. By the end of the 20th century, increased production of
other minerals—gold, silver, and zinc, in particular—offset the decline in
income from tin. Other mineral resources include lead, antimony, tungsten, iron,
and lithium. However, protests including legal battles delayed government plans
to open these deposits to private investors.
Petroleum and natural gas production
increased in importance in the 1960s and early 1970s; by the early 1990s Bolivia
was self-sufficient in petroleum and was exporting significant amounts of
natural gas to Argentina. In the late 1990s a pipeline was built to supply
natural gas to Brazil.
The refining of petroleum and the
processing of food products (including beverages) and cement are Bolivia's major
manufacturing industries. Smaller industries include leather working, tobacco
processing, and the manufacture of chemicals, textiles, paper, furniture, glass,
explosives, and matches. La Paz and Santa Cruz are manufacturing centers as well
as centers of domestic trade. In 2006 industry, which includes mining,
manufacturing, and construction, accounted for 34 percent of the GDP. Industry
employed 28 percent of the workers.
Although Bolivia long depended on mineral
exports, declining tin exports and increased production of petroleum and natural
gas changed the country's economy during the 1980s. By the year 2000, natural
gas accounted for nearly 20 percent of export earnings while metals provided
close to 15 percent. Animal feed was another important export. Bolivia's imports
consist mainly of machinery, motor vehicles, electric equipment, and
manufactured goods. Bolivia consistently has a trade deficit. In 2003 imports
totaled $1.7 billion, and exports earned $1.7 billion.
The principal purchasers of Bolivia's
exports are Brazil, the United States, Colombia, the United Kingdom, Venezuela,
Peru, and Argentina. Chief suppliers of imports are the United States, Brazil,
Argentina, Chile, and Peru. Ties with partners in the Andean Community are also
important to Bolivia’s trade; these partners include Colombia, Ecuador, Peru,
and Venezuela. Founded in 1969, the group works toward common policies on
energy, tariff reduction, industrial and agricultural development, political
cooperation, improved internal and international trade, and the creation of a
common market. Bolivia is also a member of the Latin American Integration
Association (LAIA), an organization with many of the same goals as the Andean
Group, but on a wider scale. In 1996 Bolivia joined the Southern Cone Common
Market (known by its Spanish acronym, MERCOSUR), a trade group dedicated to
lowering tariffs and removing other trade barriers among its member nations.
MERCOSUR—which also includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay—covered a
market of more than 190 million people in 1995, making it the world's
fourth-largest free trade group.
C | Tourism |
Tourists come to Bolivia to enjoy the
beautiful mountain scenery of the Andes and to visit Lake Titicaca. In addition,
there are Incan and pre-Incan ruins in the mountains. Bolivia also has a number
of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the silver-mining town of Potosí,
which dates from the 1500s; the historic city of Sucre, the first capital of
Bolivia; and Jesuit missions at Chiquitos, which were built between 1696 and
1760. In 2004, a Che Guevara Trail opened in eastern Bolivia. It leads from
Santa Cruz via Inca sites to the village near Vallegrande, where revolutionary
leader Che Guevara was captured and shot in 1967.
D | Currency and Banking |
The basic unit of currency is the
boliviano, equivalent to 1 million old Bolivian pesos (8
bolivianos equal U.S.$1; 2006 average). The Banco Central de Bolivia is the sole
bank of issue. Several state-owned development banks provide investment credits
to small mining and agricultural operations. Foreign and domestic private
financial institutions also operate in the country.
E | Transportation and Communications |
Bolivia has 3,698 km (2,298 mi) of
railroad tracks. Railroads connect the landlocked country to ports on both the
Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The principal line connects La Paz with the free
port of Antofagasta, Chile. Since 1992 Bolivia has had use of Peru’s seaport at
Ilo. Bolivia also has free port privileges in the maritime facilities of
Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay.
About 62,479 km (about 38,823 mi) of roads
exist in Bolivia; only a few are hard-surfaced, and many are passable only in
the dry season. The country’s major road links the highland city of La Paz with
Santa Cruz in the eastern lowlands, the country’s most productive agricultural
region. A paved road also links the country to the Pacific Ocean at Arica,
Chile. The Pan-American Highway links Bolivia with Peru and Argentina.
Light-draft water vessels can navigate about 10,000 km (about 6,000 mi) of the
nation's rivers, primarily in the eastern part of the country.
Bolivia has 19 daily newspapers. Reporting
on political protests can be dangerous and result in jail sentences, and
journalists generally exercise self-censorship. Radio is an important means of
communication in rural areas.
F | Labor |
Bolivia's labor force was 4.3 million in
2006. Nearly the entire nonfarm labor force is organized, most of it in unions
belonging to the Central Obrera Boliviana (COB), the central labor federation.
Peasant unions were established after the 1952 revolution.
V | GOVERNMENT |
Bolivia is a republic governed under a
constitution passed in 1967 and since amended.
A | Executive |
Executive power is vested in a president
and vice president, elected by direct popular vote of married people over the
age of 18 and single people over 21. A 1995 constitutional amendment extended
the presidential term from four years to five. Neither the president nor the
vice president can be reelected to an immediate succeeding term. The president
appoints the cabinet. Among other presidential powers is the right to rule by
decree.
B | Legislature |
The Bolivian congress is bicameral,
composed of a senate of 27 members (3 from each department) and a chamber of
deputies of 130 members. All are elected for four-year terms.
C | Political Parties |
The principal political parties are the
Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR), the Nationalist Revolutionary Movement
(MNR), and the Socialist Movement (MAS).
D | Local Government |
The republic is divided into nine major
political divisions, called departments: Santa Cruz, El Beni, Tarija, Potosí, La
Paz, Chuquisaca, Pando, Cochabamba, and Oruro. These departments are
administered by prefects appointed by the president. Each department is divided
into provinces, administered by subprefects appointed by the president.
Important cities and towns have popularly elected councils.
E | Judiciary and Defense |
Justice is administered by the Supreme
Court, which is composed of 12 members, elected by the congress to ten-year
terms, and by district and local courts. Military training for one year is
universal and selective. In 2004 the combined strength of the armed forces was
31,500.
F | Health and Welfare |
Health conditions are poor in Bolivia. In
2004 the country had 1 physician for every 1,364 inhabitants. The infant
mortality rate is among the highest in South America; malaria, dysentery, and
tuberculosis are common. Cases of yellow fever also occur in low-lying areas.
Medical services and hospitals are particularly inadequate in rural areas.
Bolivia has a comprehensive social insurance plan, but it covers less than half
the working population.
VI | HISTORY |
Civilized cultures have lived in what is now
Bolivia for more than 1,000 years. The ancient Tiwanaku civilization
developed along the shores of Lake Titicaca around ad 600 and left impressive stone
monuments. However, little is known about the origins of this group. In about
1300 the Quechua-speaking Incas, who came across the lake from present-day Peru,
overran Tiwanaku. When the Spaniards arrived in South America in the early 16th
century, the Inca Empire, of which Bolivia was a part, was divided by civil
strife, with two rival nobles claiming the throne. The Spanish took advantage of
this strife to conquer the empire.
A | Colonial Rule |
The territory of Bolivia was conquered in
1538 by Spanish conquistador Hernando Pizarro, younger brother of Spanish
explorer Francisco Pizarro. The elder Pizarro had subdued Peru, which was the
heart of the Inca Empire. Within the next 40 years, Spanish settlements were
formed at Chuquisaca (present-day Sucre), Potosí, La Paz, and Cochabamba.
The region was first called the province
of Charcas and later Alto Perú (Upper Peru). It was governed by an
audiencia (a judicial body with executive powers) under the viceroyalty of
Peru. In 1776 Spain transferred Bolivia to the newly created viceroyalty of the
Río de La Plata, which administered Bolivia from what is now Buenos Aires,
Argentina.
Throughout the three centuries of the
colonial period, Bolivia was important to Spain because of its rich silver mines
located at Potosí, which until the 18th century was the largest city in colonial
America. Bolivia's silver mines produced several hundred million dollars' worth
of silver, extracted from the mines by Native Americans. They worked under the
dreaded mita, or obligatory service system, which required Native
Americans to work a specified number of hours in the mines each year. This
forced-labor system led to many uprisings by Native Americans who worked the
mines.
For centuries the production of minerals
for export was Bolivia's most important economic activity, and other areas of
the economy were neglected. From early colonial times, Bolivia imported food and
most manufactured goods to supplement the meager output of its farms and
rudimentary local industries. Mining began to decline in the 18th century, and
by the end of the century the industry had stagnated.
B | Independence |
Bolivia was one of the first countries in
the Spanish Empire to attempt a break from Spain, but it was one of the last to
succeed. The Spanish suppressed the first critical rebellion at Chuquisaca in
May 1809. Fifteen years later a revolutionary army under General Antonio José de
Sucre liberated Bolivia after defeating Spanish forces at the Battle of Ayacucho
in Peru on December 9, 1824. Bolivia declared its independence from Spain on
August 6, 1825, and took the name Bolivia in honor of South American
independence leader Simón Bolívar. In 1826 a congress at Chuquisaca adopted a
constitution drafted by Bolívar. It vested supreme authority in a president, who
was chosen for a life term.
From the beginning of its national
existence, Bolivia was plunged into a state of nearly chronic revolution and
civil war. The first president, General Antonio José de Sucre, was expelled from
the country after holding office for only two years. During the next half
century, interludes of political tranquility were brief and infrequent. Between
1836 and 1839 Bolivia was in a confederation with Peru, but a Chilean invasion
brought an effective end to it, increasing the turbulence. Short wars and
disputes with both Peru and Chile followed.
B1 | Boundary Disputes |
Bolivia became involved in a number of
border disputes between the mid-19th and mid-20th centuries. One of the earliest
disputes involved the ill-defined borders with Peru and Chile along the Pacific
Coast in the region of the Atacama Desert. The disputed area became the center
of controversy following the discovery of rich deposits of nitrate, a mineral
used in fertilizer production. In treaties made in 1866 and 1874, Bolivia and
Chile adopted the 24th parallel of south latitude as the boundary line in that
region. In addition, the treaty granted to Chile various customs and mining
concessions in Bolivia's portion of the Atacama. Disputes arose between the two
countries over the latter provisions, and in 1879 Chile seized the Bolivian port
of Antofagasta. In the resulting struggle, called the War of the Pacific, Chile
defeated Bolivia and its ally Peru. Bolivia lost its one seacoast possession,
becoming a landlocked country. A treaty ratified in December 1904 recognized the
perpetual dominion of Chile over the disputed territory but granted Bolivia free
access to the sea. A dispute with Brazil concerning the possession of the Acre
region was settled in 1903. The agreement ceded about 180,000 sq km (about
70,000 sq mi) to Brazil in return for a money indemnity and small territorial
compensations elsewhere.
In the first two decades of the 20th
century, Bolivia enjoyed the longest period of peace and progress in its
history. The exploitation of tin resources, begun in 1899, made Bolivia one of
the world’s major tin suppliers. Several Bolivians, later known as the tin
barons, made large fortunes from tin mining. British and U.S. investors became
interested in the industry in its early stages, and they invested a considerable
amount of capital.
This boom in the tin-mining industry
coincided with Liberal Party administrations. The government helped the industry
by only lightly taxing the new mining interests and by expanding the country's
existing rail system. The Republican Union Party overthrew the Liberal Party in
1920 and remained in power for the following 15 years. Under the new
administration, relatively little changed in economic policy. During this period
the first important manufacturing industries were established.
The Bolivian government subsequently
became involved in boundary disputes with Argentina, Peru, and Paraguay. Bolivia
reached a peaceful solution to the dispute with Argentina in 1925. In the 1930s
Peru and Bolivia appointed a joint commission that decided the border disputes
over the peninsula of Copacabana.
The Paraguay-Bolivia boundary dispute
arose over the Chaco Boreal, a low region to the north of the Pilcomayo River,
to the west of the Paraguay River, and extending to the undisputed boundary of
Bolivia. Both Bolivia and Paraguay claimed the entire territory, which was
believed to contain large reserves of petroleum. In July 1932 an undeclared war
broke out (see Chaco War). As in every other international conflict in
which the country had been involved, Bolivia lost this bloody struggle. A peace
treaty ended the conflict in July 1938 and awarded most of the territory to
Paraguay.
B2 | Political Instability |
The period after 1930 was marked by
internal strife. In that year, President Hernando Siles, who had governed for
two years without convening the national legislature, was overthrown in a
revolution. Another coup followed in 1934.
The poor performance of Bolivia's armed
forces in the Chaco War gave impetus to dissident political currents,
particularly among young intellectuals who had made up much of the junior
officer class during the war. Their social consciousness was stimulated by the
ineffectiveness and greed of professional military officers and politicians, and
by the suffering of Native American soldiers unaccustomed to the world outside
their mountain homes. Old political groups favoring the tin barons were
discredited as many people began to realize that a combination of Bolivian and
foreign exploiters was draining the country's resources.
Widespread discontent was first
expressed in the revolution of May 1936, led by Colonel David Toro, who
proclaimed Bolivia a socialist republic. Toro seized the property of U.S.
petroleum giant Standard Oil Company and encouraged organized labor in Bolivia.
Toro was largely successful in improving the desperate conditions caused by the
Chaco War and the worldwide economic depression of the 1930s. He made enemies in
influential quarters, however, and in 1937 a group led by Lieutenant Colonel
Germán Busch ousted Toro.
In 1938, during Busch’s second term as
president, a new constitution was adopted. His regime enacted the country's
first labor code, abolished the system of tenant services to landlords, and set
up controls over the mining industry. Busch abolished the new constitution in
April 1939, however, and set up a totalitarian state. Four months later he was
found dead of a bullet wound, an alleged suicide.
General Carlos Quintanilla then assumed
the presidency. He restored the 1938 constitution and stated that the army would
exercise control until new elections could be held. In 1940 General Enrique
Peñaranda was elected president. Popular discontent continued.
During the 1940s several
leftist-oriented political parties were organized. The most important of these
was the Nationalist Revolutionary Movement (Movimiento Nacionalista
Revolucionario, or MNR), founded by young nationalist intellectuals and headed
by Víctor Paz Estenssoro, an economist and one-time close adviser to Colonel
Busch. The MNR opposed the power of the big mining companies and advocated
freeing the Native American people from exploitation. The party became popular
among miners in 1942, after it disclosed before congress the government's
responsibility for a massacre at the Catavi mine in which soldiers killed
strikers, women, and children.
In 1943 the MNR led a coup that ousted
Peñaranda. The new government, headed by Lieutenant Colonel Gualberto
Villarroél, encouraged unionization of tin mines and tried to improve Native
American living conditions. These efforts brought the government into conflict
with the tin barons. The conflict culminated in a bloody uprising in La Paz in
1946 and the lynching of Villarroél. For the next six years the government
remained in the hands of the conservative Socialist Republican Union Party.
B3 | The Regime of Paz Estenssoro |
After Villarroél's death in 1946, Víctor
Paz Estenssoro fled to Argentina. In 1951 Paz Estenssoro won nearly half the
presidential election vote while in exile. To prevent the election of Paz
Estenssoro, the government was placed under the control of a military
junta.
In 1952 a revolution by the MNR and the
miners put Paz Estenssoro in the presidency, and the MNR began its program of
profound social, economic, and political changes. It pledged to make Native
Americans full-fledged members of the national community, to free the country
from control of the largely foreign-owned mining companies, to develop the
economy, and to bring about real political democracy.
The revolutionary regime acted quickly.
In August 1952 it extended the vote to all adults. Previously, only literate
adults could vote. A year later, through its land reform law, it broke up the
estates of the large landlords and transferred ownership of the small plots to
Native American farmers. It began extensive projects for education and founded
medical clinics in the countryside and farm cooperatives among the peasants. The
new government took control of the major tin-mining companies. It also opened
new areas for settlement, with particular attention given to the undeveloped
eastern part of Bolivia.
The MNR's development program faced
major foreign and domestic obstacles. The country's inflation was soaring
because of declining income from mining (a result of low tin prices in the world
market), ambitious economic development programs, corruption, and the departure
of much foreign and native capital from the country. The second MNR president,
Hernán Siles Zuazo, came into office in 1956 and took major steps to counteract
inflation. In conjunction with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the
United States, his administration launched a stabilization program that limited
wage increases, abolished most price controls, and reduced government spending.
These measures did not end the economic crisis, and Paz Estenssoro was
confronted with these problems when he returned to the presidency in 1960. A
rise in agricultural and mineral production led to a partial recovery, however.
During its years in power, the MNR
provided Bolivia with the most stable and open government in the country's
history. The press was free to criticize the government and did so
energetically. Government changes in 1956 and 1960 were the results of
elections, although there were frequent crises and many coup d'état attempts to
oust the MNR.
B4 | Rule by the Army |
By the mid-1960s the MNR occupied the
center in Bolivian politics. The MNR made economic concessions to the IMF to
encourage international investments. These concessions cost the party the
support of many miners who withdrew from the MNR to form the Revolutionary Party
of the Nationalist Left (Partido Revolucionario de la Izquierda Nacionalista, or
PRIN). Opposition to the Paz Estenssoro government increased on the left and the
right.
The Bolivian military overthrew Paz
Estenssoro in 1965. A military junta used force to suppress the opposition of
the miners and the mine unions. General René Barrientos Ortuno, a member of the
junta, was elected president in 1966. Although he retained most of the
revolution's programs, his government reopened tin-mining operations to private
and foreign investment.
Barrientos relied heavily on armed force
to put down Communist-led guerrilla movements concentrated in the mountainous
mining regions. The Bolivian army reportedly smashed the rebel forces in 1967 in
a pitched battle near the village of Vallegrande. Che Guevara, aide to Cuban
premier Fidel Castro, was captured in that encounter and was executed shortly
afterward. Barrientos died in a helicopter crash in 1969, and a series of
short-lived governments followed, most headed by military leaders.
In 1971 a coup supported by the right
and the center brought Colonel Hugo Banzer Suárez to power. With business
support, Banzer ruled as president for seven years. In 1972 Banzer invoked
martial law. He also silenced many political opponents and suppressed protests
by peasants. After an abortive coup in 1974, Banzer suspended all political
parties, trade unions, and student groups.
Banzer stepped down in 1978 pending
restoration of civilian government, but elections in 1979 and 1980 were followed
by renewed military intervention. By 1982 the country's earnings from tin
production had declined, and foreign debt continued to rise. During this time,
the illegal export of cocaine from Bolivia began to thrive. Cocaine became the
major source of export revenues and peasant incomes and a major source of income
among government officials. Drug traffickers paid bribes to judges, politicians,
and military officers in exchange for protection from prosecution and the
ability to trade drugs without interference. The United States pressured Bolivia
to take decisive steps against the drug traffic.
In the meantime General Luís García Meza
had seized power in 1980, suspended the constitution, and instituted a
repressive regime. His opponents were arrested and killed, and many more fled
abroad. The universities were closed. The army ousted García Meza in 1981, and
moderate army leadership held power until elections were held in 1982.
Former president Hernán Siles Zuazo was
installed as president; he faced several cabinet crises and could not resolve
economic problems caused by Bolivia's huge foreign debt. Presidential elections
in 1985 returned Paz Estenssoro to the presidency. With backing from the IMF,
Paz Estenssoro immediately imposed a drastic deflationary program. A new
currency unit, the boliviano, was introduced to replace the near-worthless peso
at the rate of 1 to 1 million. Paz Estenssoro's administration slashed
government employment and subsidies and closed most of the tin mines, which were
considered unprofitable. The resulting strikes and demonstrations were
repressed. Unemployment and poverty soared, but the rate of inflation was
reduced to less than 20 percent per year. By 1988 a modest economic recovery had
begun. The government attempted to cut down coca production and the sale of
cocaine. It was aided by a contingent of U.S. troops in 1986, but the efforts
were only partially successful and were very unpopular.
B5 | Free Market Reforms |
Jaime Paz Zamora became president of
Bolivia in 1989 after winning a congressional runoff. He was followed, in 1993,
by mining entrepreneur Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada. Sánchez de Lozada worked to
implement a number of reforms intended to give more economic and political power
to Bolivia's Native American majority. He increased spending for roads, schools,
and water projects in largely rural areas. The government also legalized native
organizations and allowed bilingual education in Native American languages as
well as Spanish.
As the Bolivian government promoted a
free market economy and sought to privatize state oil holdings in the mid-1990s,
Bolivian labor activists responded by staging a series of strikes and protests.
In 1995 thousands of union workers and state employees organized more than three
weeks of civil disturbances. Their actions prompted the government to make
numerous arrests and suspend the constitutional right to a trial. The government
proceeded to privatize the oil and natural gas industry.
Former dictator and retired general Hugo
Banzer Suárez, a candidate of the right-wing Nationalist Democratic Action Party
(ADN), was elected president in 1997. Banzer pledged to continue the previous
government’s free market reforms and its efforts to combat the illegal drug
trade. In late 1997 the Bolivian government launched the so-called Dignity Plan,
an effort funded largely by the United States to eradicate coca production in
Bolivia by 2002.
B6 | Political and Social Unrest |
Coca producers rejected the government’s
aggressive new anticoca policy, and coca farmer unions vowed to defend their
crops. Sporadic clashes between farmers and Bolivian soldiers ensued. Banzer
stepped down as president in 2001 because of illness, and was replaced by his
vice president, Jorge Quiroga Ramírez.
Former president Gonzalo Sánchez de
Lozada returned to office after elections in 2002. His free market economic
policies and privatization program alienated many Bolivians. In addition,
farmers did not support the government's continuing efforts to eradicate coca.
Demonstrations, led mainly by indigenous groups, erupted after Sánchez proposed
building a natural gas pipeline to Chile. For centuries, protestors claimed, the
country's mineral wealth had gone to a small elite; the protestors demanded that
revenues from Bolivia's remaining resource—natural gas—benefit Bolivia's poor.
After a month of protests during which more than 80 people were killed, Sánchez
de Lozada stepped down in 2003 and fled to the United States.
Vice President Carlos Mesa succeeded
Sánchez as president. Mesa asked Bolivians for time to resolve some of the
country's economic problems. One of his first acts was to create a new ministry
for indigenous affairs. In January 2005 protests erupted over rising gas prices
in the country. Claiming the protests made it impossible to govern, Mesa
formally submitted his resignation in March. However, the Bolivian congress
rejected his resignation, as well as his request to hold early elections in an
attempt to quell the discontent. Congress drafted a bill to raise taxes on
profits made by foreign companies from the exploitation of Bolivia’s natural
gas. In addition, Mesa promised a referendum on the autonomy demands of
resource-rich provinces such as Santa Cruz.
Indigenous people continued to stage
massive protests. They demanded the nationalization of the energy sector and the
drafting of a new constitution to give the indigenous majority more rights. The
protests led to Mesa’s resignation in early June. Congress appointed Supreme
Court president Eduardo Rodríguez as caretaker president and scheduled elections
for December 2005.
In the elections leftist Evo Morales
won the presidency decisively, becoming the first indigenous person to hold that
office in Bolivia’s history. Morales is a former coca farmer who opposes efforts
by the United States to limit growth of the plant, which is used to make cocaine
but also holds cultural significance for the indigenous people. A leader of
Bolivia’s Socialist Movement party (MAS), Morales is known for his close
relationships with Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez and Cuban leader Fidel
Castro.
On May 1, Morales issued a decree
taking state control of Bolivia’s oil and natural gas production. Following
through on a campaign pledge, Morales said, “The time has come, the awaited day,
a historic day in which Bolivia retakes absolute control of its foreign
resources. The looting by the foreign companies has ended.” The decree required
all foreign companies to turn over most of their control of the country’s oil
and natural gas fields to Bolivia’s state-owned oil company. It also gave
foreign investors in the oil and natural gas industries six months to
renegotiate their contracts with Bolivia, stopping short of total expropriation.
To enforce the decree, Morales ordered soldiers to occupy the oil and gas
fields.
In November, Morales followed through
on a campaign promise of land reform. The Bolivian congress passed a measure
proposed by Morales that called for redistributing underutilized or idle land to
rural communities. Bolivian officials estimated that as much as 20 million
hectares (49 million acres) of land might be redistributed. The measure
generated massive street demonstrations both for and against. The congress
considered the measure just as the Catholic Church in Bolivia issued a survey
showing that 90 percent of the nation’s land is owned by only 50,000 families.
No comments:
Post a Comment