By Sebastián Ochoa
After a hurried but successful passage through the Chamber, the Gold Law project was stopped in the Senate, where it must attend to the proposals and demands of the opposition to the Government of Luis Arce, as well as of legislators of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS), loyal to former President Evo Morales.
Months ago, a debate was opened within the MAS in the Plurinational Legislative Assembly between those who support Morales and those who follow the current president.
Now, the loyalists rejected the proposed law of the Executive Branch because – they argue – it grants too much power to the Central Bank of Bolivia (BCB) to decide the destiny of the gold reserves of the national treasury.
In the face of the rejection of part of his bench, Arce’s legislators obtained the support of some opposition deputies of Comunidad Ciudadana (CC) and Creemos, which are now questioned by the leadership of these parties.
MAS congressman Gualberto Arispe explained to Sputnik that “this non-renewable resource, so important for Bolivians, has to be well cared for, well administered.”
“And in the regulation sent to us, it was established that the BCB disposes of Bolivians’ reserves of its own free will.”
“In that sense, our proposal was clear: in Articles 1 and 9, it should be indicated that the Legislative Assembly will authorize the BCB’s actions on gold,” Arispe added.
AMAZONIAN GOLD BOOM
In recent years, gold exploitation has grown, mainly in Amazonian rivers.
The actions of the extractive companies – often without the corresponding authorizations – include the use of mercury, which affects the indigenous communities that depend on the now-contaminated fish for food.
In 2022, gold sales accounted for 22% of Bolivian exports, with a turnover of US$3.003 billion.
This metal came first on the podium, relegating gas sales to second place.
But gold does not leave reasonable taxes for the Bolivian State.
For the volume traded in 2022, only US$70 million were left for the country.
“The representatives of the Bolivian people must take care of this important treasure,” said Arispe.
The treatment of this regulation highlighted the friction within the MAS, which former President Morales made public more than once.
“The so-called ‘renovating deputies’ [or Arcistas, as Arce’s branch is called] allied themselves with the two political forces of the right, CC and Creemos.”
“We regret this shameful fact for the history of MAS: allying with our eternal enemies of this process of change, only to achieve an objective they had planned,” mentioned Arispe.
He also explained that Article 9 of the Gold Law project states, “after four months, they will bring us information.”
“They will only inform us after the BCB does whatever it wants with our gold.”
UNCERTAINTY IN THE SENATE
The Gold Law proposal entered the Senate on April 26.
From the Arcista line, they requested that the procedure be dispensed to speed up the vote, but this motion was rejected by the opposition and parliamentarians loyal to Evo Morales.
One day later, the differences within the ruling party were apparently put aside.
Senator Andrónico Rodríguez, close to Morales, declared to the press this April 27 that “in the MAS bench, at least, all agree and agree that this bill must be approved (…)”.
And he assured that next week the MAS in plenary would approve this proposed regulation.
Senator Andrea Barrientos, from CC, celebrated that they could avoid the approval without the further procedure of the Gold Law.
“The institutionality of the Chamber of Senators must be respected. We oppose any attempt at dispensation.”
“We are glad to be for it not to have been approved and for it to be dealt with in the regular procedure since it is so important for the country”, she stated in a press conference.
According to the regular procedure, “the commission has up to 10 working days to submit a report.
Then the following week, the project can be dealt with the respective reports, with the presence of the Minister of Economy in the committee and the plenary, with the necessary information to move forward”.
The CC senator acknowledged that “the sale of our gold bullion is not bad. It is bad that they want to use it for current expenses.”
“They have never said what they want the money for”.
And she added:
“We have to define how we will organize the resources, how much we will receive.”
“They want to sell their grandmother’s jewels to pay the peguita (employment) of party militants.”
“That is not good for Bolivia.”
“It is kicking the imminent crisis that is hitting us a year and a half from now.”
With information from Sputnik