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Crisis Subsides in Bolivia but Tensions Persist

By Carin Zissis

As violent clashes die down in Bolivia, concern remains over deep political differences between supporters and opponents of President Evo Morales. Meanwhile, the unrest coincided with a diplomatic tit-for-tat involving Bolivia and Venezuela against the United States.

Following violent protests in Bolivia in recent days, South American leaders met in Chile Monday in an effort to help restore calm. Heads of state from the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) converged in Santiago to address the country’s deep political ruptures. Clashes between opponents and supporters of Bolivian President Evo Morales claimed roughly 30 lives and spurred a declaration of martial law in the northern department of Pando. Violence subsided on Sunday and a peaceful compromise between Morales and the opposition appeared to be in the works.

As the Cochabamba-based Democracy Center noted, Argentine President Cristina Kirchner urged action to help diffuse the crisis, warning it could devolve into a situation similar to the violent coup of Chilean President Salvador Allende in Chile that occurred 35 years ago this past week. The conflict not only demonstrates the deep divisions in a country where several departments have voted for autonomy, but also coincides with a diplomatic tit-for-tat involving Bolivia and ally Venezuela against the United States.

Morales won a landslide victory in an August recall vote, yet many of his strongest opponents—including in the energy-rich lowland states—also maintained control. Differences over Morales’ plans for wealth distribution through energy reforms and his government’s intentions of holding a referendum on a new constitution mark a deepening rift that led to violence last week. Leopoldo Fernandez, governor of the remote Pando department, blamed the Morales administration for the violence while the government in turn accused Fernandez of hiring Peruvian and Brazilian mercenaries. Meanwhile, attacks on a natural gas pipeline in Tarija state affected the flow of gas shipments to neighboring Brazil and could cost approximately $100 million in damage.

As the crisis unfolded, Morales expelled U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia Philip Goldberg, accusing the envoy of conspiring against the Bolivian government and supporting separatist movements. The U.S. State Department responded by ousting Goldberg’s Bolivian counterpart in Washington. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez then chose to expel his country’s U.S. Ambassador Patrick Duddy to show solidarity for Morales and amid accusations of U.S. plans to assassinate him. (Honduras also elected to postpone accreditation of an U.S. ambassador.) The U.S. State Department issued a statement denying involvement by Washington envoys in conspiracies against Venezuela and Bolivia.

Chávez’s decision comes as U.S.-Venezuelan relations appear to hit a new low. Foreign Policy’s Passport blog covers Chávez’s strongly worded dismissal and referred to the standoff as a “minor crisis.” As an AS/COA analysis explains, Caracas’ dismissal of the ambassador came a day after two Russian bombers landed in Venezuela on a training mission. Chávez also unveiled plans with Moscow to conduct joint exercises in the Caribbean before the end of the year. In another play in the back-and-forth between Washington and Caracas, the U.S. Treasury Department linked two senior Venezuelan officials and former Minister Ramon Rodríguez Chacin with financial support of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

Chávez also threatened Venezuelan military intervention in Bolivia in the case that Morales were overthrown—an assertion that the New York Times says irritated Bolivian military leaders.

An op-ed in the Guardian notes that, as South American leaders come together in Chile, the Bolivian crisis and attempts to keep the country from disintegrating serve as UNASUR’s first set off challenges since the 12-country organization formed in April. After the meeting in Santiago, Morales returns to Bolivia and is expected to sign a compromise with opposition leaders. Still, as the Wall Street Journal's John Lyons reported from Santa Cruz, “[W]hile the negotiations may serve to cool tempers in the short run, few here showed much confidence they will resolve Bolivia's simmering standoff.”

In a recent AS/COA interview, Florida International University’s Eduardo Gamarra commented about Bolivia’s deep political rifts.

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