Bolivians Organize National Strike Against Socialism

Bolivia entered its third day of a “national strike” against the socialist government there on Thursday, demanding the revocation of a law that opposition members say allows President Luis Arce to rule by decree.

Bolivia has experienced significant political turmoil since longtime leader Evo Morales fled the country in 2019 after the Organization of American States (OAS) found evidence of fraud fueling his unconstitutional “re-election” late that year. Morales – a far-leftist who, as president, ran the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) party – insisted that the voluntary departure from the country of himself and his most senior ministers somehow represented a U.S.-orchestrated “coup” against his government.

The flight of every MAS member in the chain of command resulted in a conservative senator, Jeanine Áñez, assuming the presidency. Áñez vowed to organize elections as quickly as possible and did a year later, abstaining from participating in the election herself. MAS candidate Luis Arce, the current president, won that election, resulting in the near-immediate arrest of Áñez on “coup” charges and the return of Morales to the country.

The “national strike” that began this week – organized by civil society groups, business organizations, drivers, and unions – is in response to legislation known formally as “Law 1386” or the “National Strategy of Struggle Against the Legitimization of Illicit Gains and Funding of Terrorism.” Protesters say they have nothing against the stated goal of the law, instead of objecting to Article 7 of the text, “The National Strategy … can be adjusted by the Executive Power at the central level of the state through Supreme Decree.”

Protesters say the article allows Arce to rule by decree entirely, as he can change the text of the law to say whatever he would like it to without legislative power supervision.

Nearly every major city in the country has experienced nationwide protests against the law as of Thursday, among them Santa Cruz, Tarija, Cochabamba, La Paz, Oruro, and Chuquisaca. One of the largest protests occurred in the city of Potosí, where a 22-year-old man allegedly counter-protesting died; government officials said he exhibited damage consistent with a fall from a high place.

The Civil Committee of Potosí (Concipo) organized a rally giving Arce’s government 24 hours to abolish Law 1386 and any other “damned anti-constitutional, anti-democratic laws” the socialists attempted to implement. The group called Arce and his government “racist” and declared the president and Vice President David Choquehuanca personae non grata in the city. They also called for the governor of the regional government to resign.

Arce responded to the protests on Tuesday by calling for socialists to assemble en masse and silence the opposition.

“We have to get organized … we will defend our process because we beat them at the ballot, we beat them on the field and they want to rip from us what they couldn’t take from us at the ballot with their mobilizations,” Arce reportedly said, claiming that “right-wing” groups were attempting to recreate the 2019 “coup” against Morales, which in reality was the prevention of a dictatorship.

“The right deceives, the right lies, they lie all the time because they have no arguments,” Arce said, according to Bolivian newspaper Página Siete. “All they want and all they are looking for is impunity for what happened in 2019 with the coup. That’s all they want and they are looking for excuses.”

The Lone Peasant Workers’ Union Federation of Santa Cruz, a union with ties to MAS, threatened protesters to stop the national strike within 48 hours on Wednesday, apparently a response to Arce’s calls for mobilization.

“As country people, we will demand respect one way or another,” Marco Miranda, the head of the union, said at a press conference. The group called for socialists to flood the streets to prevent legitimate anti-government protests.

Multiple Bolivian newspapers reported police repression against the national strike assemblies, which have been mostly peaceful. On Tuesday, the newspaper Jornada reported violent repression of protests in four different cities, including the use of tear gas despite no signs of violence against women protesters. The newspaper, citing information from Spanish news service EFE, noted that police appeared to directly intervene to prevent protesters from assembling in Santa Cruz while socialist mobs “moved throughout the city to violently lift blockades and confronting, with blows, those who participated in the strike.”

Socialists engaging in violence at the protests also reportedly resulted in attacks on journalists.

The violence recalls similar behavior by MAS supporters in 2019 in defense of Morales, who abandoned them to flee to Mexico. Socialist mobs organized in major cities to prevent assemblies in support of the new government, chanting violent slogans like “here we go, civil war.” Morales opponents reported widespread violence by socialists against them at the time and the Áñez government found evidence that Morales himself was encouraging it. In audio published by her government, a voice alleged to be Morales urged a union leader in late 2019 to blockade cities in an attempt to starve Bolivian citizens into demanding his return to power.

“Brother, don’t let food into the cities,” Morales instructed.

Last year, Áñez also revealed evidence that socialists targeted hospital oxygen supplies, attempting to block trucks carrying oxygen from reaching Chinese coronavirus patients.

The Arce government arrested Áñez in March on “coup” charges that are dubious given that, as a high-ranking senator, the Bolivian constitution demanded she assume the presidency when she did, given the abandonment of the country by MAS officials. Áñez attempted a hunger strike at the time and has since seen a significant decline in her mental health that culminated in a suicide attempt in August. She has yet to receive due process.