Four of Bolivia's Wealthiest Regions Declare Autonomy in Protest of New Constitution

The new constitution would increase the power of Bolivia’s indigenous majority. But four of Bolivia"s wealthiest regions have declared autonomy in protest of the plans. The four lowland provinces contain much of Bolivia’s natural resource wealth and most of its large natural gas deposits. In Santa Cruz, tens of thousands of people marched to celebrate their self-declared “autonomy.” They object to the new constitution which would redistribute wealth to the poorer highland areas of Bolivia.

President Evo Morales opposed the autonomy move and has vowed to defend Bolivia"s unity, saying "We"re not going to let anyone divide Bolivia." All the legislation has to be submitted to referendums that are expected to take place early next year.

Jim Shultz, executive director of the Democracy Center in Cochabama, Bolivia. He writes a blog on Bolivia that can be found at Democracyctr.org. He joins us on the line from Cochabamba.

Related Links

• Jim Schultz's blog