The Failure of Leaders

Manfred Reyes Villa and Evo Morales were both in Cochabamba yesterday, but didn't manage to find time to meet with one another. Too bad.

Reyes Villa snuck back into town to meet with his aides at the five star Hotel La Colonia and announced to the press that even though he was in town, he still isn't governor. He said he would leave those duties in the hands of the interim governor for at least a couple of more weeks while he focuses instead on holding Evo Morales responsible for the violent events of last week. "I can't just come back like nothing happened," he told Los Tiempos.

Meanwhile, Evo was across town for an "evaluation" of last week's events, at the regional headquarters of the cocaleros union. While here he also announced a modification of his call for a new national process to allow voters to recall elected officials – presidents, governors and mayors. Without entering into specifics Evo declared that there should be some form of "special treatment' for those elected with a majority of more than 50%. Coincidently, Evo won a year ago with 53% of the vote and Manfred with 47%.

There are many people who love to claim that everyone on the other side – the campesinos who came to the city to oppose Manfred and the city residents who took to the streets to defend him – was paid to be there. I walked the lines personally last week and talked to many people on both sides. They were there, on both sides of the line, because they believed in what being there meant.

That said, it is also reasonable to say, that those on the streets (and the families affected who weren't in the streets) were caught in a political power play that none of them asked for and which Manfred and Evo created. Manfred decided to shift his ambitions from governing Cochabamba to trying to get into the national game by saying he had the authority to convene a re-vote on autonomy. He had to know that would provoke a militant response in a region that had already voted soundly the other way, but he did so anyway. Evo, I think, could have pulled the plug on the occupation of the city center and blockades of the roads, if he had chosen to. That is not the same thing as calling for it (which it seems he did not) but it is still a hand in events.

The issues of political power at hand in Bolivia at this moment are important. I am not disputing that. But both Manfred and Evo bear responsibility for letting the conflicts involved become bloody battles in the streets that took a huge human toll. Neither seems to be taking the role of peacemaker right now either.

That seems funny to me. Because right now I think being a peacemaker is not only what Cochabambinos need their leaders to be, I bet it also makes for smart politics.