A Presidential Decree

Here’s the latest. Last night late President Carlos Mesa took to the national airwaves once again with a new announcement (no, not another resignation threat). Mesa announced an official presidential decree calling for a special national election next October, to simultaneously elect delegates to a Constituent Assembly (Asamblea Constituyente) and decide the issue of regional autonomy. With that, he then called on the Catholic Church to bring the fighting parties of the country together in a negotiation for peace.

So, what does that mean?

On the one hand, it puts the President, after far too long a delay, squarely into the camp declaring that the political solution at hand is to throw the debate over the nation’s future (including oil and gas) squarely into the hands of the Constituent Assembly. On the other hand, it is so late that the social movements now blocking a majority of Bolivia’s highways seem convinced that it is a trick to get them to go home.

First, for constitutional reasons beyond my comprehension, the decree is probably illegal. Second, the decree would have to be approved by the Congress which seems uninterested in doing so and which really can’t even meet because it is besieged by protests. Third, it is unclear exactly what the autonomy elections really mean. Can a region like Santa Cruz vote for autonomy and win it even if the rest of the nation votes no?

Social movement leaders here in Cochabamba told the press this morning that they will increase their road blockades and other pressures starting Monday, demanding a commitment to a Constituent Assembly they can count on.