February 6, 2006
Center for Contemporary Conflict // Naval Postgraduate School

Abstract:

On December 18, 2005, Evo Morales won 54 percent of the vote in Bolivia's presidential election, outpacing his closest rival by twenty-five percentage points. For a number of reasons, the outcome of this closely-watched election was stunning.

January 20, 2006
Elcano Royal Institute

Abstract:

As Democracy in Latin America points out, after a long period of oligarchic governments and military dictatorships that violently repressed popular demands and systematically violated human rights, almost all countries in the region today have legal mechanisms in place for public participation and political representation, as well as governments elected by popular vote. The same document also emphasises that these accomplishments are a great step forward towards peaceful political cohabitation among Latin Americans. However, twenty-five years after the start of the xe2x80x98transitions to democracy' in Latin America, there has been no end to the criticism of how these #political systems are developing, since they not act in ways that meet the high expectations they once raised. They have not been successful in solving the problems dogging the region and the new concerns raised by capitalist globalisation. This is particularly true in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru, countries that took their first steps towards democracy in the 1980s and now face a number of problems that are putting their accomplishments at risk....

October 27, 2005
United Nations // United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization // Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales

Abstract:

This paper is a reflection on the conditions of poverty being experienced by Bolivian society, as well as on the factors that prevent progress from being made in solving this structural and historical problem. It also analyses the modest results achieved in this regard at a time when democracy is being consolidated and the state is being modernized, although still in an insufficient and much questioned manner. One of its most important conclusions is the lack of a state policy to cope integrally with poverty, as well as the absence of a social pact that asserts the legitimacy of the state in mounting its strategies. Even though poverty may be a necessary condition for stimulating a climate of violence, insecurity and conflict, it is no less true that other important factors must be taken into account, such as, for example, unresolved historical and socio-economic patterns, the quality of democratic governance and its effects on public opinion, as well as those external variables which a precarious, unintegrated, uncompetitive national economy with an enormous deficit in modern technology has difficulty in controlling....

September 26, 2005
United Nations // United Nations Development Programme // Human Development Report Office

Abstract:

This paper first looks at common causes of organised violent conflict in Latin America, paying particular attention to the role of inequality and the transition from discontent to violence. It also considers the potential costs of such conflict. It then examines the potential contribution of dialogue to conflict prevention and resolution. Dialogue is an approach that has recently been promoted widely in the region, primarily because its methodology offers the opportunity to address political inequality while at the same time dealing with other key issues. The final section uses this framework to examine the three cases of Argentina, Bolivia and Venezuela, providing analysis of the nature and causes of current conflicts, and of the impact of dialogue as a conflict resolution tool....

August 23, 2005
Foreign Policy in Focus

Abstract:

The recent crisis that forced the resignation of Bolivia's second president in less than two years stems from a much deeper problem that is plaguing the entire Latin American region: namely, what is best for the people and who decides? Bolivians have watched as their politicians courted Enron and other corrupt foreign corporations, and allowed them to take ownership of the country's most valuable resource - natural gas. As the world's energy giants were logging record profits, the people of Bolivia were becoming poorer, hungrier and more desperate. ...

May 28, 2007
Freedom House

Abstract:

Freedom House welcomes the vote by the United Nations General Assembly to elect Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina for the two open seats for Eastern European States in yesterday's election to the UN Human Rights Council. Belarus, the third candidate for the East Europe vacancies, was defeated in a tight race following a vigorous campaign by numerous human rights organizations and countries opposed to the candidacy of a country with one of the world's most abysmal human rights records.

December 18, 2006
Inventory of Conflict and Environment

Abstract:

As South America's poorest country, Bolivia is especially dependent upon exporting its natural resources abroad. Over the last ten years, natural gas has become a particularly lucrative, as well as controversial, source of income. While free-market reforms implemented in the mid-1980s have allowed the country's economy to grow fairly steadily, they have failed to substantially reduce poverty in Bolivia. Dissolution with the privatization of natural gas among the Bolivian populace has turned violent on more than one occasion, sometimes even forcing government leaders out of office. The controversy over control of this resource is further complicated by the geographic and social divide in Bolivia. The country's natural gas fields are concentrated in the wealthier eastern provinces among businessmen with strong ties to the developed world. Bolivians of indigenous descent make up most of the 30 percent in Bolivia who live on less than one dollar per day. Such inequality has led to seemingly constant protests over control of Bolivia's natural gas. If the issue is not soon resolved peacefully, it threatens to drive the country into civil war. ...

November 17, 2005
International Crisis Group

Abstract:

Conflict history factsheet for Bolivia.

October 3, 2005
Globalsecurity.org

Abstract:

Bolivia's defeat defeat by Paraguay in the Chaco War (1932-1935) marked a turning point for both Bolivia and the Bolivian people. This loss,coupled with a government perceived to be loyal only to the upper class, produced widespread dissatisfaction amongst the working class and farmers of Bolivia. A great loss of life and territory had discredited the traditional ruling classes, while service in the army produced stirrings of political awareness among the indigenous people. From the end of the Chaco War until the 1952 revolution, the emergence of contending ideologies and the demands of new groups dominated the Bolivian political landscape....

October 3, 2005
Globalsecurity.org

Abstract:

Reformist officers, concerned about the decline in popular support for the military since the Barrientos regime, shifted their support to the more radical General Juan José Torres Gonzxc3xa1lez (1970-71), whom current president, Ovando, had dismissed as his commander in chief; the right backed General Rogelio Miranda. The chaos surrounding the overthrow of Ovando highlighted the division in the armed forces. Military officers demanded the resignation of Ovando and Miranda after a failed coup attempt by the latter on October 5, 1970. A triumvirate, formed on October 6, failed to consolidate support. On October 7, as the country moved toward civil war after the COB had declared a general strike, General Torres emerged as the compromise candidate and became president of Bolivia....

May 2, 2006
Guardian

Abstract:

Bolivia's president took a big step towards nationalising his country's gas and oil industries yesterday, ordering troops to occupy gas fields and threatening to evict foreign companies unless they agreed to surrender ownership to the state. Evo Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president who was elected last December after years of unrest, sent a dramatic signal of his intent to foreign oil giants operating in the country, including Britain's BG and BP. "The time has come, the awaited day, a historic day in which Bolivia retakes absolute control of our natural resources," Mr Morales said in a speech at a natural gas field operated by a Brazilian company. After he spoke, a soldier unfurled a Bolivian flag at the top of the installation....

December 4, 2006


Abstract:

IDH is a secular, apolitical, non-profit Bolivian NGO that strives to improve the overall health of Bolivia's population through the promotion of: Social and preventative medicine; Gender equality; Human rights; Improved health education services; Cultural, socio-political, and economic research; Environmental protection.

October 14, 2005
College of Wooster

Abstract:

Despite the centrality of state action to an understanding of state-society contentious interaction, disaggregated data on repression and accommodation is either poor or nonexistent. PIWAR investigates the causes and consequences of state tactics (repression and accommodation) and opposition activity in post-revolutionary states in four post-revolutionary states: Bolivia (1952-1964); Cuba (1959-1971); Iran (1979-1991); Nicaragua (1979-1991).

June 16, 2011
RAND Corporation

Abstract:

Colombia currently accounts for the vast bulk of cocaine produced in Latin America. In 2009, the country produced 270 metric tons (MT) of cocaine, making it the principal supplier for both the United States and the worldwide market. Besides Colombia, Peru and Bolivia constitute two additional important sources of cocaine in Latin America. In 2009, these two countries generated enough base material to respectively yield 225 and 195 MT of refined product.

Between 60 and 65 percent of all Latin American cocaine is trafficked to the United States, the bulk of which is smuggled via the eastern Pacific/Central American corridor. The remainder is sent through the Caribbean island chain, with the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Haiti acting as the main transshipment hubs. In both cases, Mexico serves as the main point of entry to mainland America, presently accounting for the vast majority of all illicit drug imports to the United States....

August 20, 2010
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development // Development Co-operation Directorate

Abstract:

In recent years, there has been increased interest in understanding how donor interventions in situations of fragility and conflict can contribute tot he processes of statebuilding. While external actors cannot determine the outcome of those processes, they can target their assistance to support positive statebuilding dynamics. Donors must ensure that they "do no harm" and consider both the intended and unintended consequences of their interventions. This publication fills an important knowledge gap by addressing two fundamental questions: what are the negative impacts that donor interventions can have on statebuilding; and what measures should donors adopt to avoid negative impacts on statebuilding processes? Do No Harm argues that the challenges of statebuilding are such that donors must develop a sophisticated understanding of political processes, patterns of state-society relations and sources of legitimacy in the countries where they are oeprating. Based on an extensive literature review and on six country case-studies (Afghanistan, Bolivia, the Democratic Republic of Congo [DRC], Nepal, Rwanda and Sierra Leon), Do No Harm offers a valuable addition to our knowledge on statebuilding in situations of fragility and conflict....

July 15, 2010
Centre for Research on Inequality, Human Security and Ethnicity

Abstract:

This Overview summarises the key findings and policy challenges identified by the CRISE research programme in its evaluation of three Latin American countries. The case studies selected were the three countries with the largest indigenous populations in proportionate terms: Bolivia, Guatemala and Peru. The underlying research challenge was to understand the role of horizontal or group inequality in overall acute inequality in the countries studied, and the relevance of group inequality to political violence. The paper shows that horizontal inequalities (HIs)—political, social, economic and cultural— are deeply embedded in two of these countries, Guatemala and Peru, and have played a significant role in terrible political violence. They remain severe; indeed, political HIs have worsened in some respects with the legacy of violence and repression. In Guatemala and Peru, the pervasiveness of embedded prejudice and ways of thinking make even good policy initiatives non-functional. In Bolivia, meanwhile, an exceptional set of political and geographical circumstances has, over many decades, resulted in political accommodation mechanisms that have avoided widespread violence and led to a genuine improvement in political HIs....

March 16, 2010
Governance and Social Development Resource Centre

Abstract:

This study is concerned with analysing the routes in and out of political violence in selected countries – Bolivia and Peru, Tajikistan and Yemen - within Latin America, the Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EMAD) regions. The study explores the following key issues: the importance of multiple and hybrid identities as the basis of claims, forms of empowerment and supporting citizenship; the extent to which tendencies to violence around these claims are rooted in processes of exclusion and identity with deepening economic, social and political inequalities; pathways to dialogue and the political space within which both political violence and ways forward emerge; and the links between social cohesion, identity politics and pathways out of political violence. The study cautions against the tendency to identify particular identity groups with extremist or terrorist violence....

March 11, 2010
Department for International Development

Abstract:

Addressing discrimination, inequality and human rights is a core challenge of the state-building and peace-building process. It is at the centre of the negotiation of state–society relations and is a process rife with contradictions and tensions. Donors thus have a responsibility to address discrimination within their support to peacebuilding and state-building. The first section of this paper sets out what we understand by discrimination, drawing on human rights principles and DFID’s conceptualisation of social exclusion as systematic disadvantage which results from discrimination. The second section explores why discrimination matters in contexts of fragility, conflict and violence. The third section sets out how DFID and other donors can address discrimination as part of efforts to support peace-building and state-building. The paper concludes with a summary of key lessons....