The Church Tries Mediation

Weeks ago I wrote that the most likely scenario for a peaceful end to Bolivia’s political crisis would be the Catholic Church stepping forward as a mediator and cajoling the various political actors and movements of the country into a dialogue. This weekend Church leaders have been engaged in an aggressive diplomatic campaign to achieve just that, but it is unclear this morning whether the call for a dialogue will bear fruit.

Church leaders met with President Carlos Mesa and Congressional leaders over the weekend. Reports I have received from those privy to the meetings indicate that Mesa is ready, even eager, to resign. The proposal being floated by Mesa and Church leaders is for the President and the leaders of Congress to resign, triggering a new round of national elections before the end of the year, with the head of the Supreme Court acting as a caretaker President until then.

Some social movement leaders, including MAS and Evo Morales, have agreed to participate in a church-mediated dialogue. Others, most especially those in the altiplano and El Alto have resisted that call up to know. As blockades continue to shut down La Paz and have begun to block land access in and out of Cochabamba as well, the social movements are holding heated internal conversations about how to respond to the call for new elections. The demand by those blockading remains that an Asamblea Constituyente be convened as quickly as possible and that the gas and oil issue be decided there. Whether new national elections will satisfy them as an alternative remains unclear and frankly, I doubt that it will.

I will write more as we are able to get and analyze more news from our sources.