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Mayo 18, 2005
To Govern in Bolivia
As Boz notes, it is usually not a good sign to see Bolivian news in the English language media. More often than not, it means that rough waters are ahead.
This article in today's Miami Herald quotes something from the President of the Congress, Hormando Vaca Diez, who signed into law the new Hydrocarbons Law. He had some harsh criticisms for Mesa, who chose to remain neutral on the issue. (Bold - my emphasis)
Senate President Hormando Vaca Díez had no qualms about criticizing the president in an address to a joint session of Congress, where in his dual role as president of the body he formally signed the measure into law.
''To govern is to make decisions even if the people don't understand the reasons behind it,'' Vaca Díez said, adding that Mesa could have prevented the rising political uncertainty and protest marches of the past 10 days if he had just signed the bill into law.
In a country where alternate sources of media are rare, in Bolivia there is a greater need for public information. Undoubtedly groups on both sides are being misinformed and led astray by propaganda. It is hard to wade through all of these voices in your ear to see what really is taking place. How many people on the street could tell you what all the articles in this law really means? Will oil companies really pack up and leave or is it a bluff? Some have criticized Mesa's apparent fondness for talking on television or speaking, but he must continue to talk directly to the Bolivian people to let them know what he is thinking and his rationale.
Ironicallly, he did not do this yesterday afternoon. He allowed his Minister, Jose Galindo to announce his decision. However, late last night Mesa addressed the country and laid out his ambitious plan "Bolivia - Productiva y Solidaria", in a sort of State of the Union Part II, with specific quantative goals for the next two years. He chose not to revisit his rationale for not signing nor veto-ing the Law. He said that his position was laid out completely last March. There are a lot of interesting proposals in Mesa's speech, which I hope to write about soon.
Posted by eduardo at Mayo 18, 2005 03:43 PM
Comments
My problem w/ Mesa's behavior's that he keeps propping himself up w/ popular appeals. He seems to think of himself as a philosopher king, w/ little or no need for an elected parliament. That's dangerously authoritarian. Mesa's speech is also troubling because he's now appealing directly to people to rally around him AGAINST parliament. Reminds me of Fujimori, Chavez, Menem, and a host of other "delegative democrat" leaders in the Peron/Vargas tradition.
Posted by: miguel at Mayo 18, 2005 05:19 PM
Vaca Diez is just upset he had to sign the law and thus take part of the blame.
I also think Miguel (Ciao!) is right. Mesa is dangerously approaching the authoritarian lable. I also think, Mesa is a lot smarter than people give him credit for. He has been able to keep his popularity and spread the blame among the executive and the legislative. Now, that that strategy will keep on working, I don't know. It depends on how much smarter he is, I guess.
Posted by: Miguel (MABB) at Mayo 19, 2005 04:23 AM