[Foreign Policy] #Coup against #Morales or #Democracy in #Bolivia - The Achievements and Mistakes of #Morales 2019-11-1
On November 10, 2019 the President of Bolivia Juan Evo Morales Ayma resigned from the Movement for Socialism (Movimiento al Socialismo/MAS).
Morales (MAS) resignation followed in part heavy demonstrations and riots.
But on closer inspection questionable arguments and evidence are revealed.
Currency reserves grew by an average of 14% between 2008 and 2019. [1,p.4] The minimum wage has been doubled. [1,p.15] Unemployment in the period from 2008 to 2019 fell from 7.7% to 4.4%. [1,p.16] And mineral resources were nationalized. [1,p.3] [1,p.6] [1,p.9] [1,p.10] [1,p.17] [1,p.19]
In 2009 and 2014 Morales (MAS) was re-elected president. For the third term he allowed by a decision of the supreme court. The Supreme Court ruled that his first term of office from 2006 to 2010 would not count due to the constitutional amendment after that. In a referendum in 2016 Bolivia voted against a new constitution which would have allowed the unlimited re-election of the President. [4] [5] [5,archive]
In 2017 the party of Morales (MAS) then went to the supreme court for the abolition of the term limitation and won. Morales (MAS) was thus allowed another term through legal action rather than a referendum. [6] [7]
For a long time various international companies were in competition for mining rights for lithium in Bolivia. In October an agreement was signed between the Bolivian state-owned Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos (YLB) and ACI Systems Alemania GmbH (ACISA) from Germany. This agreement was particularly in that it connected the German economy with its car manufacturers and technology companies with the extensive lithium deposits in the Uyuni salt plains in southwestern Bolivia. [11] [12] [13] [14] [15]
The agreement however drew the wrath of international competition from China or the US and the local population. Morales (MAS) thus saw himself between lucrative tax revenue, jobs and the displeasure of the local population. As a consequence Morales (MAS) issued a decree annulling the agreement on November 3, after the elections but before the change of government. [16] [17] [18] [19] [20]
[1] CEPR: Bolivia’s Economic Transformation: Macroeconomic Policies, Institutional Changes, and Results 2019 Octobre
http://cepr.net/images/stories/reports/bolivia-macro-2019-10.pdf
[2] Bolivia, opposition agree on referendum, Morales term limit 2008-10-20
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gB5oDjsDucD02k7d0na6LgLzUYMg
https://web.archive.org/web/20090215203323/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gB5oDjsDucD02k7d0na6LgLzUYMg
[3] New Bolivia constitution in force 2009-02-07
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7877107.stm
[4] Bolivia passes law to allow Morales to run for fourth term 2015-09-27
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bolivia-presidency/bolivia-passes-law-to-allow-morales-to-run-for-fourth-term-idUSKCN0RQ0SL20150926
[5] Referendo Constitucional 2016 http://52.87.200.145:55/
https://web.archive.org/web/20160305225250/http://52.87.200.145:55/
[6] Bolivian court clears way for Morales to run for fourth term 2017-11-28
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bolivia-politics/bolivian-court-clears-the-way-for-morales-to-run-for-fourth-term-idUSKBN1DS2ZX
[7] Evo for ever? Bolivia scraps term limits as critics blast 'coup' to keep Morales in power 2017-12-03
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/03/evo-morales-bolivia-president-election-limits
[8] Bolivia: The Saudi Arabia of lithium? 2009-02-03
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/bolivia-the-saudi-arabia-of-lithium/
[9] LITHIUM
https://prd-wret.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets/palladium/production/atoms/files/mcs-2019-lithi.pdf
[10] Bolivia holds key to electric car future 2008-11-09
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7707847.stm
[11] Bolivia’s Almost Impossible Lithium Dream 2018-12-03
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-12-03/bolivia-s-almost-impossible-lithium-dream
[12] Big lithium riches lure first-time miner to Bolivia’s salt flat 2018-12-03
https://www.mining.com/web/big-lithium-riches-lure-first-time-miner-bolivias-salt-flat/
[13] Germany secures access to world’s second-largest lithium deposit 2018-12-12
https://www.mining.com/germany-secures-access-worlds-second-largest-lithium-deposit/
[14] Se crea empresa mixta para producir derivados y baterías de litio en 4 años 2018-12-13
https://www.lostiempos.com/actualidad/economia/20181213/se-crea-empresa-mixta-producir-derivados-baterias-litio-4-anos
[15] Bolivia And ACI Systems Alemania Team Up To Industrialise Lithium 2019-10-11
https://industryeurope.com/bolivia-and-aci-systems-alemania-sign-partnership-agreement-/
[16] Decree annulled on Bolivian-German lithium deal 2019-11-04
https://www.electrive.com/2019/11/04/decree-annulled-on-bolivian-german-lithium-deal/
[17] Bolivien stoppt Lithium-Projekt mit deutscher Firma 2019-11-04
https://p.dw.com/p/3SPgV
[18] Bolivien - Lithiumprojekt mit deutscher Firma gestoppt 2019-11-04
https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/lithium-abbau-bolivien-101.html
[19] Bolivia walks away from lithium project with German company 2019-11-05
https://www.updatemining.com/2019/11/05/bolivia-walks-away-from-lithium-project-with-german-company/
[20] Bolivia scraps joint lithium project with German company 2019-11-05
https://lithium-news.com/2019/11/05/bolivia-scraps-joint-lithium-project-with-german-company/
The Achievements of Morales
The administration of Morales (MAS) is characterized by a great economic boom and offers little cause for criticism. In the period from 2006 to 2013 alone the GDP increased by 50%. This growth was twice as large as in the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean. Poverty dropped from 60% to 35% and extreme poverty from 27.7% to 15.2%. [1,p.3] [1,p.7] [1,p.17]Currency reserves grew by an average of 14% between 2008 and 2019. [1,p.4] The minimum wage has been doubled. [1,p.15] Unemployment in the period from 2008 to 2019 fell from 7.7% to 4.4%. [1,p.16] And mineral resources were nationalized. [1,p.3] [1,p.6] [1,p.9] [1,p.10] [1,p.17] [1,p.19]
The Mistakes of Morales
When Morales (MAS) was elected president in 2006 while the constitution did not allowed a re-election. In a referendum in 2009 Bolivia voted for a new constitution which among others allowed the one-time re-election of the president. [2] [2,archive] [3]In 2009 and 2014 Morales (MAS) was re-elected president. For the third term he allowed by a decision of the supreme court. The Supreme Court ruled that his first term of office from 2006 to 2010 would not count due to the constitutional amendment after that. In a referendum in 2016 Bolivia voted against a new constitution which would have allowed the unlimited re-election of the President. [4] [5] [5,archive]
In 2017 the party of Morales (MAS) then went to the supreme court for the abolition of the term limitation and won. Morales (MAS) was thus allowed another term through legal action rather than a referendum. [6] [7]
The Lithium
Bolivia has above average reserves of lithium which is necessary for battery production. According to current information Argentina has 14.8 million tonnes, Bolivia 9 million tonnes, Chile 8.5 million tonnes, Australia 7.7 million tonnes, China 4.5 million tonnes, Canada 2 million tonnes Mexico 1.7 million tons, in the Congo 1.3 million tons and Russia and Serbia each 1 million tons. Morales (MAS) has also favored the mining by local rather than foreign companies. In addition Morales (MAS) has already bend to appeals from local residents near mines. [1,p.3] [1,p.6] [1,p.9] [1,p.10] [1,p.17] [1,p.19] [8] [9] [10]For a long time various international companies were in competition for mining rights for lithium in Bolivia. In October an agreement was signed between the Bolivian state-owned Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos (YLB) and ACI Systems Alemania GmbH (ACISA) from Germany. This agreement was particularly in that it connected the German economy with its car manufacturers and technology companies with the extensive lithium deposits in the Uyuni salt plains in southwestern Bolivia. [11] [12] [13] [14] [15]
The agreement however drew the wrath of international competition from China or the US and the local population. Morales (MAS) thus saw himself between lucrative tax revenue, jobs and the displeasure of the local population. As a consequence Morales (MAS) issued a decree annulling the agreement on November 3, after the elections but before the change of government. [16] [17] [18] [19] [20]
[1] CEPR: Bolivia’s Economic Transformation: Macroeconomic Policies, Institutional Changes, and Results 2019 Octobre
http://cepr.net/images/stories/reports/bolivia-macro-2019-10.pdf
[2] Bolivia, opposition agree on referendum, Morales term limit 2008-10-20
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gB5oDjsDucD02k7d0na6LgLzUYMg
https://web.archive.org/web/20090215203323/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gB5oDjsDucD02k7d0na6LgLzUYMg
[3] New Bolivia constitution in force 2009-02-07
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7877107.stm
[4] Bolivia passes law to allow Morales to run for fourth term 2015-09-27
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bolivia-presidency/bolivia-passes-law-to-allow-morales-to-run-for-fourth-term-idUSKCN0RQ0SL20150926
[5] Referendo Constitucional 2016 http://52.87.200.145:55/
https://web.archive.org/web/20160305225250/http://52.87.200.145:55/
[6] Bolivian court clears way for Morales to run for fourth term 2017-11-28
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bolivia-politics/bolivian-court-clears-the-way-for-morales-to-run-for-fourth-term-idUSKBN1DS2ZX
[7] Evo for ever? Bolivia scraps term limits as critics blast 'coup' to keep Morales in power 2017-12-03
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/03/evo-morales-bolivia-president-election-limits
[8] Bolivia: The Saudi Arabia of lithium? 2009-02-03
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/bolivia-the-saudi-arabia-of-lithium/
[9] LITHIUM
https://prd-wret.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets/palladium/production/atoms/files/mcs-2019-lithi.pdf
[10] Bolivia holds key to electric car future 2008-11-09
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7707847.stm
[11] Bolivia’s Almost Impossible Lithium Dream 2018-12-03
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-12-03/bolivia-s-almost-impossible-lithium-dream
[12] Big lithium riches lure first-time miner to Bolivia’s salt flat 2018-12-03
https://www.mining.com/web/big-lithium-riches-lure-first-time-miner-bolivias-salt-flat/
[13] Germany secures access to world’s second-largest lithium deposit 2018-12-12
https://www.mining.com/germany-secures-access-worlds-second-largest-lithium-deposit/
[14] Se crea empresa mixta para producir derivados y baterías de litio en 4 años 2018-12-13
https://www.lostiempos.com/actualidad/economia/20181213/se-crea-empresa-mixta-producir-derivados-baterias-litio-4-anos
[15] Bolivia And ACI Systems Alemania Team Up To Industrialise Lithium 2019-10-11
https://industryeurope.com/bolivia-and-aci-systems-alemania-sign-partnership-agreement-/
[16] Decree annulled on Bolivian-German lithium deal 2019-11-04
https://www.electrive.com/2019/11/04/decree-annulled-on-bolivian-german-lithium-deal/
[17] Bolivien stoppt Lithium-Projekt mit deutscher Firma 2019-11-04
https://p.dw.com/p/3SPgV
[18] Bolivien - Lithiumprojekt mit deutscher Firma gestoppt 2019-11-04
https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/lithium-abbau-bolivien-101.html
[19] Bolivia walks away from lithium project with German company 2019-11-05
https://www.updatemining.com/2019/11/05/bolivia-walks-away-from-lithium-project-with-german-company/
[20] Bolivia scraps joint lithium project with German company 2019-11-05
https://lithium-news.com/2019/11/05/bolivia-scraps-joint-lithium-project-with-german-company/
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