Autonomy is the Solution to All of Bolivia's Problems

Well, maybe not. Autonomy is certainly a great thing in theory. The Popular Participation Law was created by Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada in order to provide greater decision-making abilities to local communities. However, in practice, concentrating public funds into a system without any real checks and balances, will only lead to events similar to what happened in Ayo Ayo. It's not to say that every situation will lead to the extreme and brutal act of killing the mayor, but rather, the funds are still concentrated in the hands of the few, and that there will always others envious who want to be one of the few to control hundreds of thousands of dollars.

So when 100,000 Cruceños peacefully assembled Wednesday in Santa Cruz asking for increased autonomy, I couldn't help to think that many are misled by the organizers' motives and unaware that autonomy will not be the solution to the country's problems, unless real meaningful changes in the public bureaucracy takes place. If and when these regional autonomies are created, they will suffer the same fate as the current system, where a select few, likely political parties will control all of the power and funds, making it a smaller-scale representation of a top-down national government.

The populist nature of the assembly, led by the Comite Pro Santa Cruz and other similar business organizations, are attempting to place all of the blame on an external factor, namely the centralized state government. Sure, they are certainly part of the blame because corruption and mismanagement are often used as synonyms for any government institution.

Included in the 11 points of the "June Agenda" were calls for greater autonomy, the ability to work and live in peace, and an end to poverty. These are things that the entire country wants, not only Santa Cruz. Too often the middle and working classes are held hostage by the radicalized sectors who do not represent the majority of Bolivians.

President Carlos Mesa welcomed this assembly, as an expression of a democratic exercise. He has repeatedly stated that regional and local autonomies are ultimately part of his plan for the country. However, the Comite Pro Santa Cruz issued an ultimatum to Mesa that these changes must be accomplished by December.

The president of the Comite, Ruben Costas, who did most of the speaking, couldn't resist taking a cheap shot at migrants reminding them that even though that they are welcome, that they should remember to work in peace, follow the law and respect the Orient's customs. That's an excellent reminder to ALL Bolivians, not just migrants.

This continues the trend for many in Santa Cruz to blame the migrant for all of the ills of that city. Placing the entire blame on an external threat is the easy way out. Sure, this type of centralism not only hurts Santa Cruz, but the entire country. Electing Departmental Prefects instead of having them appointed by the President would be great, however, the Prefect and his political party will still distribute all of the public sector jobs to party loyalists and unqualified individuals, which will still leave the same problems.

Notably absent from this assembly were the indigenous populations of the region. A leader representing the Moxos in Beni said that the civic leaders are driven by political interests and are attempting to challenge the government for their own benefit.

Again, as other marches that took place in La Paz and Cochabamba, many workers were obligated to attend under threat of an imposed fine. Many had no idea why they attended the march. A survey conducted by the Santa Cruz daily El Deber found that 25% of the attendees did not know what the march was for that they were told by their employers to attend.

Autonomy and local governments are a great thing in theory. However, before calling for these changes, perhaps there should be a 100,000 person strong march calling for a revamping of the public sector bureaucracy, which would have more of a positive effect on reducing poverty. Only then, would these autonomies have the meaningful effect that many are misled to believe that they will.