Futile Struggle Against Rising Prices | Inútil lucha contra el alza de precios

Editorial, El Diario:

As there is no effect without a cause, the rising cost of food essential for survival is evident in the country. Firstly, the MAS is the primary culprit behind the increase in the prices of native agricultural products, stemming from the failed agrarian policies of Evo Morales Ayma’s three governments, compounded by massive imports and the expansion of smuggling.

The most significant issue is that MAS governments have caused the abrupt decline in agricultural and livestock production in the western regions of the country, which has deeply driven up prices, disrupted the distribution system, and led to a growing consumption of foreign products, both in quantity and quality.

The agrarian policies sustained by Evo Morales over 15 years as President of the Plurinational State completely disrupted the national economy and caused the current food shortage. Morales’ three administrations, along with Álvaro García Linera, enacted decrees later elevated to law, which remain in effect today.

Currently, food insecurity has reached a worrying level. To address the food deficit, MAS has resorted to costly imports in dollar amounts, fostering smuggling and blaming the crisis on agricultural producers and food vendors in markets and streets. Moreover, official threats against large-scale producers have led to punitive measures, such as halting oil exports or attempting to seize their goods.

Clearly, MAS governments are directly responsible for rising prices due to their misguided agrarian policies. Yet they accuse the victims of this situation—producers and traders—of causing the crisis, while national authorities fail to engage in self-criticism. Worse still, punishing the supposed culprits with draconian sanctions makes it seem as if the perpetrators accuse their victims of the crime.

The government’s approach to combating rising prices is absurd. No matter how many billions of dollars are spent on imports, how many producers and gremials are jailed, or how much smuggling is encouraged, it will not stop the rising costs of wheat, rice, corn, vegetables, fruits, oil, and more.

For the past 20 years, the MAS governments have pursued policies that seem to aim at starving the people. They show no intention of adopting effective measures to lower prices unless the current famine-inducing agrarian policy is repealed. Failure to do so suggests their hands are tied by various pressures.

Leave a comment