Bolivia opposition calls national strike against the ‘mother law’: what and who is behind the mobilization?

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Leaders of the Bolivian opposition called for a national strike this Monday, in a new protest to demand the repeal of the Law on the national strategy to fight the legitimization of illicit profits and the financing of terrorism.

Summoned by right-wing groups in opposition to the Luis Arce government, employers from the transportation, trade and health sectors have called for a nationwide strike to demand the repeal of the so-called “mother law.” According to the National Confederation of Bolivian Union Workers Executive Secretary Francisco Figueroa, unless the Executive repeals the law, the strike will be indefinite.

The government criticized the organizers for not objecting to the law while it was under discussion and for now promoting these protests, as Arce celebrates his first year in office. In addition, it warns that paralyzing economic activities could result in the loss of US$112 million per day.

OPPOSITION TO THE LAW

In August this year, the Bolivian Parliament passed the controversial Law 1386, which, among other points, establishes that the national strategy to fight money laundering and financing of terrorism “may be adjusted by the Executive by means of a supreme decree,” after consideration and approval by the council governing the issue.

This provision, established in article 7 of the law, has been one of the most challenged by unions, as they consider that it grants the Executive discretionary powers to amend the law, without the validation of Congress.

For the strike’s organizers, the regulation is “copied” from countries such as Venezuela, and would allegedly result in “poverty and begging” in Bolivia, as conservative Civic Committee of Potosinista chairman Juan Carlos Manuel, said last October.

As usual, the Bolivian right-wing claims that Arce’s political decisions are partly influenced by the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who has become the preferred enemy of conservative sectors in the Andean country.

Along these lines, opposition Creemos party deputy Erwin Bazán last week stated that the Executive’s goal is to “destroy the private sector” and lead Bolivia towards “a ‘Venezuelanization’ of the economy, towards a ‘Cubanization’ of the country.”

WHO IS BEHIND THE STRIKE?

The Arce government has indicated that the Pro Santa Cruz Civic Committee, one of the main promoters of the coup d’état against Evo Morales in 2019, would be behind the call for the indefinite national strike.

Bolivia’s Minister of Public Works, Services and Housing Edgar Montaño pointed out that the Civic Committee together with other organizations “that took power by force” in 2019, would have used the recent processing of the law approving the 2021-2025 Economic and Social Development Plan (PDES) as an excuse to call for these protests.

“I want to warn the Civic Committee and its coup sectors that, for each day of strike, Bolivia loses US$122 million and the department of Santa Cruz alone loses US$32 million,” Montaño said last Thursday at a press conference.

In addition to rejecting Law 1386, the Federation of Professionals of Santa Cruz expressed its dissatisfaction with the processing of Law 342 and the PDES, because it would allegedly strip the departmental and municipal governments and universities of their to planning, financing and execution powers

The latter was rejected by the Ministry of Public Works. The Minister recalled that the Bolivian Constitution establishes that the State defines economic policy and national planning, so “absolutely nothing is being violated.”

Arce’s government has warned that the real intention of the strike by far-right groups is to destabilize the Andean country. “What they are seeking is to divide and weaken our social organizations in order to plunder our wealth,” said Vice President David Choquehuanca.

Bolivia’s Vice Minister of Communication Gabriela Alcón stressed that the strike will affect people who earn “their bread” on a daily basis. “Once again the anti-patriotic far-right seeks to damage our beloved Bolivia with a strike,” Evo Morales tweeted Friday.

“They do not recognize the efforts of brother President Luis Arce, who together with the working people, strives every day to recover and strengthen the economy. The strike will destroy jobs,” Morales added.

WHERE WILL MOBILIZATIONS TAKE PLACE?

On Wednesday, October 3, Pro Santa Cruz Civic Committee chairman Rómulo Calvo announced a nationwide indefinite strike, a call that was quickly denied in the following days.

“It is not true,” clarified Oruro Civic Committee representative Cecilio Pérez about the call. In addition, the spokesman criticized that instead of vindicating the needs and economic development projects of the departments, the committees turned everything into “politics.”

“This strike is damaging health – because of the Covid-19 pandemic – and the country’s economic recovery. It is being politically driven for the country not to move forward,” Pérez said.

Major mobilizations against the Arce government are expected in the department of Santa Cruz, currently governed by far-right opposition leader Luis Fernando Camacho. This is a territory strongly influenced by the Civic Committee.

ROLE OF THE CIVIC COMMITTEE

Camacho was chairman of the Civic Committee and one of the main promoters of the coup against Morales, as well as one of the figures who supported the subsequent self-proclamation of Jeanine Áñez.

Just a month after the coup, Camacho appeared in a social media video openly admitting that his father had reached an agreement with the army and the police to join his coup strategy against Morales.

As a result of the violence in the streets and after pressure from the high command of the Armed Forces, Morales was forced to resign from the Presidency of Bolivia on November 10, 2019, and went into exile in Mexico to safeguard his life.

It is within this context that Arce’s government Ministers refer to the destabilization attempts by the Civic Committee and other organizations. During the announcement of the indefinite strike, Calvo, the president of this right-wing civil organization, declared in a press conference: “This may be Bolivians’ last ’round'”.