A proposal on federalism divides opinions in Bolivia

The proposal of the opposition governor of the eastern region of Santa Cruz, Luis Fernando Camacho, on a plan to promote the process of federalism in Bolivia divided opinions in the country.

The governor of the region considered the economic engine of Bolivia proposed to “discuss” about federalism in the country and announced that he will initiate a process of dialogue and consultations with all regions and municipalities.

“There are departments and regions that want to direct their development themselves, centralism and masism won’t let them. The time has come to discuss a substantive solution and that solution is called federalism, ”said the opposition governor.

Camacho argued that the “masismo”, the party of President Luis Arce “has been hegemonized in the government” and “divides” and “confronts” only to “maintain that power in centralism.”

“That is why we must fight for a substantive, historical solution, where each department, each region, manage their expectations and develop their future,” said Camacho, who was the leader of the Unión Juvenil Cruceñista in 2019.

In addition, he asked the population that marched against the so-called “incendiary” laws in recent weeks in the country to join this approach, which was one of his campaign promises for the Interior.

Last week the former president Evo Morales He proposed in a Sunday program to go to a referendum and hold a Constituent Assembly to debate federalism.

Reactions

This approach generated repercussions from both the ruling party and the opposition, who did not take long to express their opinions regarding Camacho’s proposal.

Bolivian President Luis Arce stated that his party, the Movement for Socialism (MAS), will win the elections “with federalism.”

“The people won the elections in 2006, in the Republican State, we won the elections with the Plurinational State, we won the elections with autonomies and we will win the elections with federalism,” Arce said in his speech at the beginning of the “march for the patria ”in the town of Caracollo.

Similarly, presidential spokesman Jorge Richter told the local network Red Uno that federalism “is not a priority” for the Bolivian government and that it was not part of President Arce’s electoral plan.

Meanwhile, the secretary of the Central Obrera Boliviana (COB), Juan Carlos Huarachi, pointed out that by positioning federalism they are trying to “divide Bolivia.”

For his part, former President Carlos Mesa and leader of the Citizen Community (CC), the country’s main opposition force, emphasized through his Twitter that Morales “wants to use federalism to speed up the electoral process through a Constituent Assembly.”

“I do not believe that Morales, who has been a centralist president, who defended that line of total control and who has told him here are the autonomies on paper, but I am not going to apply them, believe and want there to be federalism,” he said Desk.

The mayors of La Paz and El Alto, Iván Arias and Eva Copa, respectively, indicated that they agree with the debate on federalism, but that at this moment it is not the priority since they should first discuss the fiscal pact.