Andean Information Network - Bolivian Constitutional Referendum Analysis: An Overview

Andean Information Network - Bolivian Constitutional Referendum Analysis: An Overview

There will soon be a vote on the new constitution in Bolivia, January 25. It is a long time in coming and it has not been an easy task. Blood has been shed. I can not really offer a good analysis. But it should be pointed out that on either side (to the right and to the left) there has been criticism. Some think it goes too far, some that it does not go far enough. It is very complex and so it may take years to see how it actually changes life in Bolivia. Unless there is a last minute surprise (stay tuned, this IS Bolivia.....) it will pass with a modest margin. After that it is not clear what happens and today there were varying interpretations of "what happens next?" Some say that the congress will be dissolved others say no, that is impossible. So, as is usual in any socially derived change from the population base, there will be some potential for turmoil.

This source, Andean Information Network, leans a little to the left. In that sense it is aligned with politics at the national level in Bolivia. Keep watching this blog over the next few weeks and months and years as we see how the voting goes and subsequently how the new constitution is applied. But most importantly, let us see if it makes a fundamental difference in bringing Bolivia further along in social and economic development compared to the rest of the world. Much of the new constitution is oriented towards righting past wrongs perpetrated against the indigenous majority. That is very important. But as Soren Kierkegaard said "We learn from the past, but we live in the future."