Bolivians faced the unwieldy task yesterday of turning their historic referendum over the Andean nation's natural gas reserves into real policies to tighten state control over the industry.
The referendum, seen also as a vote of confidence in President Carlos Mesa, essentially asked Bolivians if they wanted to increase state participation in the impoverished nation's energy industry and export the gas abroad.
Mesa, who was installed nine months ago after his predecessor was kicked out by an Indian revolt, declared victory in the referendum late on Sunday, saying the country had backed each of his proposals.
PHOTO: AP
Early results appeared to support his claim, with the National Electoral Court's Web site showing a majority of Bolivians in support of his proposals with nearly 8.5 percent of the voting stations counted.
Unofficial counts by state and private television also showed Mesa had come out ahead in what analysts say is a vote that will lend his government legitimacy in a country increasingly divided between the rich elite and the millions of poor Indians who make up the majority of its 8 million people.
But political analysts say the referendum's questions have been phrased so ambiguously that interpreting them and enacting legislation presents another challenge for the 50-year-old leader.
Mesa has no formal political support in a Congress known for its internal squabbling.
"This is undoubtedly a victory for Mesa. But the government has only overcome its first obstacle. Now these referendum proposals must go to Congress and that will be another battle. The difficulties may have just begun," said Jorge Lazarte, a political analyst.
Fury at a US$5 billion plan to export gas via Chile, Bolivia's historical enemy, lay behind a siege of the capital by Indian groups in October in which dozens of protesters were killed. The violence led to the ouster of pro-Washington president Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada.
Mesa, his replacement, called the referendum to appease Indians, who made nationalization a rallying cry of October's revolt. He turned the election into a vote of confidence.
Defeat in the referendum would have forced him from office and plunged Bolivia, with a history of coups, into civil unrest.
The referendum was seen as the best of the worst by foreign investors, given that a "no" vote would have plunged Bolivia into chaos. Foreign companies will have to deal with stronger state controls and higher taxes.
Oil companies with operations in Bolivia include Brazil's Petrobras, Spain's Repsol, France's Total and Britain's BG and BP.
The vote may come as a relief to Washington, which feared that more unrest in Bolivia, the world's third-largest source of coca leaf used to make cocaine, could lead to more drug smuggling from an Andean region where there is growing indigenous anger at "gringo imperialism."
The vote could also send a political signal across Latin America, where democratic leaders from Argentina to Peru face voter backlash after a decade of market reforms that many argue have benefited foreign firms and the rich.
LANDMARK CASE: ‘Every night we were dragged to US soldiers and sexually abused. Every week we were forced to undergo venereal disease tests,’ a victim said More than 100 South Korean women who were forced to work as prostitutes for US soldiers stationed in the country have filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Washington of abuse, their lawyers said yesterday. Historians and activists say tens of thousands of South Korean women worked for state-sanctioned brothels from the 1950s to 1980s, serving US troops stationed in country to protect the South from North Korea. In 2022, South Korea’s top court ruled that the government had illegally “established, managed and operated” such brothels for the US military, ordering it to pay about 120 plaintiffs compensation. Last week, 117 victims
‘HYANGDO’: A South Korean lawmaker said there was no credible evidence to support rumors that Kim Jong-un has a son with a disability or who is studying abroad South Korea’s spy agency yesterday said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s daughter, Kim Ju-ae, who last week accompanied him on a high-profile visit to Beijing, is understood to be his recognized successor. The teenager drew global attention when she made her first official overseas trip with her father, as he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Analysts have long seen her as Kim’s likely successor, although some have suggested she has an older brother who is being secretly groomed as the next leader. The South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) “assesses that she [Kim Ju-ae]
In the week before his fatal shooting, right-wing US political activist Charlie Kirk cheered the boom of conservative young men in South Korea and warned about a “globalist menace” in Tokyo on his first speaking tour of Asia. Kirk, 31, who helped amplify US President Donald Trump’s agenda to young voters with often inflammatory rhetoric focused on issues such as gender and immigration, was shot in the neck on Wednesday at a speaking event at a Utah university. In Seoul on Friday last week, he spoke about how he “brought Trump to victory,” while addressing Build Up Korea 2025, a conservative conference
China has approved the creation of a national nature reserve at the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島), claimed by Taiwan and the Philippines, the government said yesterday, as Beijing moves to reinforce its territorial claims in the contested region. A notice posted online by the Chinese State Council said that details about the area and size of the project would be released separately by the Chinese National Forestry and Grassland Administration. “The building of the Huangyan Island National Nature Reserve is an important guarantee for maintaining the diversity, stability and sustainability of the natural ecosystem of Huangyan Island,” the notice said. Scarborough
RSS