Division in Political Attitudes in Bolivia
Division in Political Attitudes in Bolivia
In Latin America, most countries suffer of repeated economic crises, unacceptable levels of poverty and increasing levels of inequality, as Judith Teichman mentions in her work “Redistribute Conflict and Social Policy in Latin America”, and Bolivia is no exemption. All the problems the country has gone through reflect in the political instability since 1982, when the military dictatorship leaded by General Luiz Garcia Meza ended (Luis Garcia Mesa Tejada, 2010). Since then, Bolivia has elected many different Presidents, who have completely different visions of the future for Bolivia, which might be a cause for the low capacity Bolivia has.
In this paper I will describe the different political attitudes the population of Bolivia has, and how it has created different types of political parties in the country. Coming from Bolivia, and having lived there for 18 years, I was able to see the inequalities among the Bolivia population, and how discrimination toward indigenous people has created a divided community in the country. Many times, indigenous people are often looked down upon and treated not as well as people with white skin and nice clothes. The inequalities in Bolivia are immense, with the indigenous majority (62% of the population) (The World Bank, 2010), and with most of the population living in poverty (75% of indigenous, and 54% of non-indigenous). Also, the elite group in Bolivia accounts for only 10% of the population, and consume 22 times more than the poor in Bolivia (The World Bank, 2010). These factors created the need for representation for the poor and indigenous majority in Bolivia and gave rise to the MAS political party, which represents the poor and indigenous population of Bolivia. Also, because of the MAS running to represent the poor, a political party called Plan Progress for Bolivia of PPB was created in 2007, to represent the elite society, and the middle class. Inequalities in Bolivia and lack
In Latin America, most countries suffer of repeated economic crises, unacceptable levels of poverty and increasing levels of inequality, as Judith Teichman mentions in her work “Redistribute Conflict and Social Policy in Latin America”, and Bolivia is no exemption. All the problems the country has gone through reflect in the political instability since 1982, when the military dictatorship leaded by General Luiz Garcia Meza ended (Luis Garcia Mesa Tejada, 2010). Since then, Bolivia has elected many different Presidents, who have completely different visions of the future for Bolivia, which might be a cause for the low capacity Bolivia has.
In this paper I will describe the different political attitudes the population of Bolivia has, and how it has created different types of political parties in the country. Coming from Bolivia, and having lived there for 18 years, I was able to see the inequalities among the Bolivia population, and how discrimination toward indigenous people has created a divided community in the country. Many times, indigenous people are often looked down upon and treated not as well as people with white skin and nice clothes. The inequalities in Bolivia are immense, with the indigenous majority (62% of the population) (The World Bank, 2010), and with most of the population living in poverty (75% of indigenous, and 54% of non-indigenous). Also, the elite group in Bolivia accounts for only 10% of the population, and consume 22 times more than the poor in Bolivia (The World Bank, 2010). These factors created the need for representation for the poor and indigenous majority in Bolivia and gave rise to the MAS political party, which represents the poor and indigenous population of Bolivia. Also, because of the MAS running to represent the poor, a political party called Plan Progress for Bolivia of PPB was created in 2007, to represent the elite society, and the middle class. Inequalities in Bolivia and lack
Cited: Luis Garcia Mesa Tejada. (2010). Retrieved November 23, 2012, from Millard Public Schools: http://mps.mpsomaha.org/mnhs/Drummond/Dictator%20Genome%20Project/Database/Luis%20Garc%C3%ADa%20Meza%20Tejada.pdf Antunnes, A BBC News. (2010, May 1). Bolivia nationalises three private electricity firms. Retrieved November 23, 2012, from BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8656106.stm BBC News BBC News. (2012, May). Bolivia nationalises Spanish-owned electricity firm. Retrieved November 24, 2012, from BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-17916573 Ibaibarriaga, M International IDEA. (2011, October 5). Voter turnout data for Bolivia. Retrieved November 23, 2012, from International IDEA: http://www.idea.int/vt/countryview.cfm?id=29 Kohl, B PPB-CN. (2009, August). Plan De Gobierno. Retrieved November 23, 2012, from Organo Electoral Plurinacional: http://www.oep.org.bo/PadronBiometrico/comunicacion/programas/APPB_APB.pdf Salman, T The World Bank. (1999). Reforming Bolivia’s Private Sector. Retrieved November 24, 2012, from The World Bank: http://lnweb90.worldbank.org/oed/oeddoclib.nsf/DocUNIDViewForJavaSearch/3C74C62A894671D5852567FC0058AC95/$file/192precis.pdf The World Bank