BOLIVIA: MAS divisions deepen as Arce defies Morales
Thank you for reading LatinNews' chosen article from the Latin American Weekly Report, produced since 1967. The full report can be accessed here: Latin American Weekly Report - 6 July 2023
Bolivia’s ruling left-wing Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) is being consumed by an internal power struggle that is threatening to rend the party asunder. Tensions between the MAS faction loyal to the government led by President Luis Arce and the faction that backs former president Evo Morales (2006-2019) have been building for a long time. Morales has openly accused cabinet ministers of complicity in corruption and drug trafficking, but on 28 June his party loyalists, known as Evistas, went beyond rhetoric to action, voting with the right-wing opposition to censure the interior minister, Eduardo Del Castillo. Arce responded defiantly, removing Del Castillo in accordance with legislative procedure before promptly re-appointing him. Rather than snuffing out dissidence, his reaction is more likely to inflame internal tensions.
Evistas joined legislators from the right-of-centre opposition Comunidad Ciudadana (CC) and right-wing Creemos to sink the interior minister by a resounding majority of 101-44 in a no confidence vote in the legislative assembly on 28 June. They criticised his handling of a police corruption case involving cars stolen in Chile and resold in Bolivia. President Arce paid lip service to the outcome of the vote by issuing a decree removing Del Castillo but in his next breath issued a new decree re-appointing him to the post.
Arce appears to be calculating that his move will deter opponents from censuring any further cabinet ministers. But the preparedness of Evistas to work with the right-leaning opposition could expose the weakness of Arce’s government, and his action is likely to provoke a reaction from Morales, who has shown no sign of being ready to back down. Morales decried Del Castillo’s re-appointment as unconstitutional and tantamount to “defending corruption and drug trafficking”. In a dramatic turn, he added that he would hold the censured minister responsible for “any attempt on my life or my physical integrity”.
Morales also said his supporters in the MAS had been suffering “threats, lies and attacks”, but would not hesitate in its campaign against government officials complicit with corruption and drug trafficking. Morales could up the ante by moving to censure more ministers or start blocking bills the Arce administration urgently needs to push through the legislature amid Bolivia’s current economic travails. This could lead to an irrevocable schism in the MAS. Amid the mutual recriminations of betrayal, Del Castillo said that the Morales who had entered the presidential palace with an electoral mandate and a “backpack full of hope” in 2006 was now a “totally changed man”, leaving Arce as the sole leader of the “Bolivian revolution”.
Morales, who is determined to return to power in 2025, is manoeuvring to consolidate his power base. Using his position as MAS party president, Morales has called a national convention for 3-5 October with the aim of stopping the party’s “shift right” and to elect a new leadership committee, over which he is bidding to preside.
Morales said that Arce and Vice President David Choquehuanca would be invited to attend the convention. But as Morales holds the government responsible for abandoning the party’s ideological principles and the “shift right”, they might prefer to stay away, not least because it will be held in Lauca ?, in the central-west department of Cochabamba, Morales’ political stronghold.
领英推荐
Press closure
Página Siete, Bolivia’s only remaining opposition newspaper, announced it was closing down immediately after 13 years, and as a result of economic difficulties and what it called political persecution. Former president Carlos Mesa (2003-2005) tweeted that the closure was a loss for democracy, a loss for independent journalism, and a loss for citizens of the country.
Thank you for reading the chosen article from our Latin American Weekly Report. For access to LatinNews’?full portfolio of reports, you are very welcome to sign up for a?14-day free trial.
Articles in this issue: