By Antonio Saravia, Vision 360:

The Battle of Good Against Evil

The government of Rodrigo Paz is probably the worst option we could have chosen after MAS.

Rodrigo Paz has more than proven himself to be the worst president we could have elected after MAS. He never had the capacity to carry out the deep economic reforms the country needed and still needs. He did not clean up the bureaucracy and corruption he inherited; on the contrary, his administration became engulfed in large-scale corruption of its own (YPFB, substandard gasoline, Marset’s safes, narco-suitcases, narco-timber, etc.). In general, he never defined a clear direction or vision for the country. His hallmark has been, and continues to be, improvisation.

But the worst came 50 days ago when the COB (which the president revived by allowing it to veto Supreme Decree 5503) and the Evista faction, allegedly backed by drug trafficking interests, decided to blockade the country. Faced with the siege by the agitators, Rodrigo Paz could think of nothing better than to watch from the sidelines as citizens’ rights were violated, repeating like a mantra his plea for dialogue with those demanding his resignation and spreading terror in an effort to disrupt the democratic process. The government did absolutely nothing. It simply bet on public exhaustion.

The public, especially in La Paz, endured heroically—not in support of the president, but out of the conviction that yielding to the agitators’ demands and joining calls for his resignation would mean a return to MAS-era darkness. This was probably the most important lesson of the conflict. Even as conditions for families in La Paz became increasingly difficult and desperate, the determination to resist destabilizing attempts remained firm, and public rejection of the COB and the Evista movement grew exponentially. Rejected, exhausted, and unable to gain public support, the COB and other protest groups eventually gave up after 50 days and agreed to negotiate. Unfortunately, Rodrigo Paz then committed yet another serious mistake.

The COB and its leaders had committed a crime. Blocking roads and leaving an entire city without food, fuel, and even oxygen for hospitals for 50 days is a crime. These individuals were, and still are, criminals. Yet Rodrigo Paz made the grave mistake of accepting them as legitimate interlocutors, shaking their hands, and receiving their list of demands. It was an insult and a slap in the face to all those who had lived in fear for 50 days. Hours later, the country watched in disbelief as an agreement was signed ending the COB-led blockades but confirming the government’s surrender to the authoritarian pressure of the agitators.

In that agreement, the government committed to establishing a legal commission with representatives from both the government and the COB, assisted by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, “for the purpose of securing the release of those detained.” Can you believe it? As if nothing had happened. They held thousands of Bolivians hostage for 50 days, yet the government promised to help free the leaders who had been arrested. Beyond being an unconstitutional interference in the justice system, this is a promise of impunity. It sends a terrible message for the future: go ahead and blockade the country—the government will release you afterward.

The agreement also commits the government not to support or promote “any regulation that criminalizes protest.” This is absurd. Peaceful protest is perfectly legal. Illegal and criminal protest is the kind that infringes upon the rights of citizens who have nothing to do with the dispute. Blocking roads and harming the public is therefore illegal and criminal. The government should not need any special law to clear blockades.

Finally, the agreement obliges the government not to pursue the privatization of public enterprises. This is a straitjacket that essentially eliminates the possibility of closing the fiscal deficit. According to Pópuli data, the government loses around $1.7 billion per year when the deficits of all public companies are combined. If those companies cannot be privatized or otherwise disposed of, closing the fiscal deficit will be impossible. The government also committed to creating working groups to analyze the COB’s remaining demands, including preventing fuel price increases, preventing recourse to IMF financing, preventing the liberalization of basic food prices, and more.

In short, the government signed a shameful agreement that grants impunity to those who committed crimes and abandons the possibility of implementing deep economic reforms. The agreement mortgages the country’s future.

Immediately afterward, however, while the ink on the agreement was still drying, the government surprised everyone by declaring a state of emergency in the early hours of last Saturday. Why did it wait so long? Why did it allow people to suffer defenselessly for 50 days? At first glance, it appears the government waited for the COB and other groups to wear themselves out in order to isolate and expose those clearly aligned with Evo Morales and operating primarily in the Cochabamba tropics. The state of emergency, then, appears to be a declaration of war against Chapare-based narco-terrorism, and that is good news. That is the real battle—the battle of democracy against crime, the battle of good against evil. If the government wages this battle intelligently (hopefully with the assistance and guidance of the DEA), it should end with the arrest of Evo Morales.

The government of Rodrigo Paz is probably the worst option we could have chosen after MAS. Nevertheless, we must all support the state of emergency and stand on the right side in this battle. The time has come. Even if we have the worst captain at the helm, we must defeat narco-terrorism.