Raul Penaranda

Raúl Peñaranda covers Bolivia for GlobalPost. He is a well-known Bolivian journalist and political analyst. He was the first Bolivian to obtain a Nieman Fellowship at...

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Raul Penaranda's Notebook:

January 26, 2009 11:12 ET

Bolivia has a new constitution, but remains a divided country

Bolivia has a new constitution!

Sixty percent of the population voted in favor of the new charter which grants full political rights to the important indigenous population of this landlocked country, which is the poorest in South America.

The new constitution will also strengthen state control over natural resources and most economic activity.

Also, it permits President Evo Morales, an indigenous Indian and a socialist, to seek another term. Previously a second term was prohibited.

According to the new legal document, "community justice", which indigenous groups have followed for centuries, is now officially recognized. Indian communities will have also the right to receive a greater share of royalties on gas and oil exports and minerals produced on or beneath their lands. It's unclear how those rights will be apportioned between the more than 30 ethnic groups that represent at least 60 percent of the population.

Despite the new constitution, Bolivia remains a divided country, both geographically and ethnically. The 60 percent of the voters who approved the new constitution come primarily from the Andes Mountain region, where the Indian population is concentrated.

Those who opposed the constitution, and who oppose Morales in general, are concentrated in Bolivia's lowlands near the Pacific Ocean, where important agro-industrial companies are located and where the population is dominated by white and mixed race groups.

The approval of the constitution is widely viewed as good news for everyone who wants a better and just Bolivia.

January 20, 2009 12:45 ET | Updated: January 20, 2009 12:53 ET

Conflicted inauguration emotions

I woke up this morning with my head full of the rumors about the Bolivian referendum of next Sunday. Thinking of that, I turned on the TV at 7 a.m., and then remembered the Obama inauguration. Many Bolivian TV channels had reports on about the “huge” challenges that the Obama presidency will face. All the reports were positive about Obama. 

I got to my office (an international foundation related to democracy) and I read the newspapers. Despite the fact that Bolivia is in the last week of an attention-grabbing campaign over whether to approve or reject the new constitution — which would allow for the reelection of socialist President Evo Morales — all the major dailies had Obama's inauguration as a cover story.

Later, a couple of young volunteers asked permission to enter the room where the big TV is located to watch the inauguration. I noticed that they both had Coke cans. But soon, an unexpected debate began among the staff.

"It's only a show," said one lawyer in his 40s. “The U.S. is always going to be an empire that will crush every country in the world that opposes its policies."

Many agreed. A young woman said that she would prefer “watch anything instead of the empire's show.” In the end, about an hour before the inauguration itself, eight people (including me) went to the big TV room to watch the historic moment. The other six didn't. 

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