The MAS campaign recently released some childhood photos of its Presidential candidate, Evo Morales. These photographs were published to Yahoo! Photos by Reuters. The one that stands out (pictured below) really captures the essence of next month’s elections. For the first time ever, an indigenous Bolivian citizen is on the verge of capturing the Presidency of the Republic of Bolivia.
In the middle of rural Orinoca in the Department of Oruro, 17 year-old Evo (in blue) timidly poses with his mother, father, brother and others from his family. On that day, surely in a million years, Evo would never imagine himself leading in the polls of an election, nearly three decades later. That picture places things in perspective and reminds us of the possibilities of different groups of Bolivians.
Like me, Tuto Quiroga and Samuel Doria Medina are minorities in Bolivian society. No one in my family wears polleras (skirts typical of campesina women). No one in my family works as an empleada (domestic house worker). No one in my family is discriminated against because of our last name (a luxury not afforded to members of a Mamani or Choque family).
This forgotten class of people, which makes up a large bulk of Bolivia’s population, would not believe beyond their wildest dreams that he/she would have a legitimate opportunity to become President of the country. I remember the clichéd phrase that schoolchildren from the U.S. are always told, “you could become President someday.” I’d be willing to bet little Evo’s teacher never uttered that phrase to him or any of his classmates. Sadly this is the pattern of marginalization throughout society.
That’s what this election is all about – counterbalancing this inequality.
While I haven’t always agreed with Evo’s tactics or use of rhetoric, any objective-minded person must admit that something must fundamentally be altered in the country. The only option for the left is far from perfect, but it resonates with a large part of the electorate and even with growing numbers of middle class, including many from my family in Cochabamba. That is why he is polling so high, because the old ways haven’t made a significant dent in these divisions.
Unfortunately, there has not been an effort by the middle class to reach out to the poorest of our Bolivian brothers and sisters. Even though many of the middle class still are not entirely on stable economic footing, there is a social safety net provided by the family structure is still a lot more than most count on. Those with the power have never been eager to share with others. The mess in Congress by the lame duck politicians are proof of this – they wanted to delay the elections as long as possible because it was the easiest job they ever loved.
These fundamental differences and wedges within Bolivian society will not diminish as long as we stay the course with the status quo. Trickle-down economic policies and a society that concentrates power and wealth in the hands of a select few won’t alter the fate of hundreds of thousands of Bolivians who have been left out. Will it be expropriating land from anyone who is not a member of an indigenous group? No way, although some want voters to believe that’s the country’s future.
It’s easy for us to criticize Evo because we don’t face the same life that many in Bolivia contend with everyday. If the traditional political parties had improved lives during their times in office, then would Evo Morales even be where he is?
More pictures after the jump.
Comments (7)
Eduardo: You said you come from the middle class that oppressed Evo. Did you ever see this happen? I would assume no one in your family ever did it. Who are these bad people who did then? And what did they do?
I don’t want to read too much into your post, but to me it sort of sounds like you have 1960s white liberal guilt such as we saw in that era in the U.S. Whitey Bad Blacky Good was about the sophistication of it in those days.
To me, this is sort of a false blaming of whites as class oppressors, group guilt. It seems too simple.
I fear it’s easy to blame certain ‘kulak’ classes for certain social ills, but I have always heard that the problem in Bolivia is complex and cultural, as much a product of isolationism of the Indians and shifts of populations to urban areas, as it is implicit discouragement from whites. Is there rabid open discrimination? Or just lack of opportunity?
The other thing is, there is the immigrant factor, that of more competitive cultures settling in the east, leaving the Indians comparatively unable to compete and creating jealousy and a sense of oppression. And sometimes they really do hunker down and form cliques. How real is that factor as a creator of a perception of oppression? Immigrants, no matter who they are, don’t have it easy. They work incredibly hard. I wonder if the fact that some get rich makes the other residents wonder if they are oppressors or jealous of them – the Jews know all about this kind of jealousy. Are the immigrants the oppressors? Who really are the oppressors and how did they oppress and did you ever see any of it? I don’t have a good sense of this.
And if they really truly are oppressors, how is the best way to punish them? Is it taking away all their wealth? Is it chasing them out? Is it discriminating against them? None of this sounds like a good idea, particularly if they are proven wealth creators. What are your thoughts?
I wouldn’t necessarily call it guilt, rather an awareness of how fortunate I am and that I have it easy compared to most. I’ll never know what it’s like to walk in the shoes (when they have shoes) of a campesino, so that is why I don’t pretend I can speak for them. All I can do is discuss things from my perspective. The entire employer/employee dynamics are difficult to come to terms with, and many justify this by saying that they are providing a job for someone, which is true. But far too many take advantage of the situation knowing that they cannot find an alternative. Why not follow the law and provide social benefits and limit working hours within reason? Many go back to the argument that a difficult job is better than nothing and that the workers should be grateful for even having a job.
A rich Indian will always still be an Indian, that’s the thing that doesn’t change. There is a Mamani Trucking company in the U.S., it would be financial ruin to have the same name in Bolivia. Who creates that? It certainly is not the campesino that creates that type of discrimination.
The Aymara in the Altiplano have the right to continue to live as they wish. They should be the ones who are allowed to create their own autonomous community, as they are a homogenous group of people, not Santa Cruz, which is undoubtedly a heterogenous group of people. Mainstream Santa Cruz is no different than mainstream Cochabamba or La Paz.
The worst examples I saw of this dynamic was in the apartment building I lived in Cochabamba. I was on the board of directors and saw the condescending attitude held by many towards the cleaning staff, their own domestic servants and the grounds crew. They talked to them as if they were animals. Workers cannot defend themselves for fear of being fired, because the campesino always seems to be on the losing end. We almost had a mutiny in the building because the cleaning lady asked for an additional .25 cents per day, which would be an additional $1.50 per family per year. I try to hold myself to higher standard, and I truly try to treat everyone regardless of class the same. Not to sound self-righteous or anything, but I really am not the norm in Bolivia.
I think it’s unfair to boil this down to “jealousy”. What do you say to a campesino when they are working on a large estate? No matter how hard you work, no matter how much you save – you’ll never live in a house like this? Again, I’ll never be on the receiving end of that, so how am I to judge? We take it for granted in the U.S., which is one of the great things about this country. An immigrant can come here regardless of whether he/she is an Indian and can succeed here. There is no guarantee of that in Bolivia.
I hope an environment of “punishment” does not arise from all of this. I do feel defensive when all mestizos or middle class Bolivians are generalized with the ones that truly capitalize on these class divisions. But yes, it is uncomfortable to talk about this and admit that the playing field must be leveled. Unfortunately it’s not in the self-interest of many Bolivians to see the playing field on equal footing, so that is why the social movements are so powerful. It just takes a bit of political will to make these changes, but too many are only looking out for themselves at the expense of others.
Once again Eddie, thanks for the perspective you bring to both life in the US, Bolivia, and in general. If more people would take the time to sincerely try and “walk in someone elses shoes” positive change would happen much more frequently.
Very interesting post. Very telling pictures. I am impressed to see Evo dressed as a PM.
I agree with you that things are not equal in Bolivia. And that somewhat has to be done. In fact, somewhat is being done, as we speak. However, the vision Evo has for Bolivia is short sighted and idealistic. I think, it will do very little to right all those wrongs pestering the country. Plus, one thing is for sure, becoming buddies with Hugo will detract any gains he has achieved so far for his movement and his people.
Hugo Chavez is becoming a dictator (or he already is). He has drawn Evo into his “bolivarian” plan. I find Evo’s friendship with him very disturbing.
If Evo becomes president and lets Hugo dictate policies (through money and friendship), the democratic process in Bolivia is doomed. That would be very sad, in my opinion.
Although I agree that Bolivia needs a drastic change, Evo won’t provide any worthwhile change. I agree 100% with MABB’s comments. But I can understand why the campesinos would support Evo, they have absolutely nothing to lose.
I believe discrimination and marginalization of the lower class by the white/upper class has led to this situation. While I was in the Banco Santa Cruz central office building in downtown Cochabamba, a humbled campesino woman was asking the military officer if she could enter the bank. I wondered why she needed to ask? Is it ingrained in her mind that she is not part of Bolivian city society and needed to ask permission to enter a bank?
Comments expressed in the blog are very interesting. I might add that one of the cornerstones of the indigenous movement´s ideology in Bolivia is the idea of the rural community and its precapilistic economic reality. The basic idea is that this precapitalistic model of organisation has found its way into the mainstream economy. More than 70% of the jobs available in the cities are created by small entreprenours, a lot of them from indigenous origins. The interesting thing is that this people (street vendors, artisans) are very well organized and for the most part are the ones who participate in the big
demostrations and are more politically activ.The indigenous population that lives in the cities (specially in El Alto) reproduces the territorial organisation that they used to have in its places of origin. They do that because is the only way they have to survive.The individualistic tendencies give place to more urgent communal needs. As a social group I think they tend to disregard the presence of the State by trying not to pay taxes (common theme among the street vendors) or rebelling against the services providers (remember the war for the water in Cochabamba and El Alto). My point is that, if you do not have a State that can make its own citizens respect or at least tolerate its institutions you cannot have a viable capitalistic economy. People are not stupid. They tend to do what works for them. The capitalist system based on liberal values won´t work in Bolivia (at least in the occidental part) because the people here argue the very legitimacy of the State. It doesn´t matter how many elecctions you may hold. At this moment in time the only organisations with real power are the ones of the neiboorhoods (in El Alto) and the peasant´s Tradeunions in the High plateu and the valleys. Exclusion, racism and discrimination are only the tip of the iceberg. The problem here is how do you perceive the State. If the future government (Evo or Tuto) tries to enforce the idea of the “modern society” with the “rule of law”, “freedom of choice”, “democracy” without making an effort to incorporate the notions that are important to the indigenous peoples such as territory, control over the natural resources and the constitutional assembly they are headed for a big dissapointment and the country is going to be in state of turmoil for a while.
The very same things have been said about Chavez. They are nowhere near the truth in Venezuela. We venezuelans have had presidents of every region and “skin color”. The Accion Democratica party, for example, was a party of the masses, with a center-left platform.
Yes, the poor in Venezuela deserve a better turn. But populism, authoritarianism and “socialism of the XXI century” have nothing to do with opportunity and prosperity. It is the politics, not the skin color, that matters.
Have a look at Venezuela today and have some chutzpah to say that the situation of the poor, and of the country in general, has improved with Chavez’s tenure.