Latinnews Archive
Latin American Weekly Report - 5 March 1987
Parties realign for next polls;ADN SPLIT HELPS THE MIR; MNR STRUGGLES TO SURVIVE
The political parties are taking little notice of repeated warnings from the national electoral board that it will be impossible to hold municipal elections this year because of lack of funds. Campaigns and internal reorganisation of parties have continued -- with an eye not only on next December's polls, but more importantly, on the general elections due in 1989.
In late February young party members of the Accion Democratica Nacionalista (ADN) headed by General Hugo Banzer began their US-style election campaign by parading through the streets of Bolivia's cities. The spectacle -- complete with music and dance -- was particularly colourful, say observers, to compensate for the problems facing the party.
Eudoro Galindo, formerly Banzer's number two man in the party and expelled last year, has formed his own party, the Frente Democratico Nacionalista (FDN). An ADN deputy who has joined Galindo, Jose Blechner, tells us that over 10adenistas have followed suit. He says that by mid-year, out of 40 ADN deputies, 15 or more will have left to join to the FDN. Indeed, Galindo is said to control all ADN militants in Cochabamba (his own city), Potosi and Tarija.
ADN party faithfuls, whom Galindo accuses of being bureaucrats and 'collaborators of the (Banzer) dictatorship of the 1970s' (1971-78) are preparing for several sparring matches. For example, Galindo, who during these years was Banzer's main supporter, now wants to blow the dust off a congressional inquiry into Banzer's activities, initiated by the socialist party (PS-1) in 1979.
The acrimony rose when deputy Alfrdo Arce Carpio, congressional leader of the ADN, accused Galindo of being a fascist, and Galindo reminded Arce Carpio that he (Arce) was interior minister in 1972 when Colonel Andres Selich died ass a result of torture inside that ministry. Banzer has said that he has no intention of holding a public debate with Galindo, whom he has termed 'an unknown'. Meanwhile, ADN party members are insisting that Banzer's heart attack last December was not as serious as had been reported, partly to diminish any speculation about the party's future leadership.
The Left
The rupture of the ADN has begun to swell the ranks of the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR) -- mainly with professionals and businessmen. This development has added to the growing distaste of the MIR by the traditional Left, which accuses the MIR of being social democratic, rather than left-wing. The Left saw its 'case' against the MIR reinforced in late February when, in an economic forum, MIR deputy Samuel Doria Medina cast doubt on certain fundamental Marxist dictums (such as on the control of means of production). According to Doria Medina, nothing has changed for peasants since they obtained their own land as a result of agrarian reform (see RA-87-02); imperialism has continued to make its mark with the external debt; no-one in Bolivia controls the means of production.
Conscious of its good prospects in the 1989 polls, the MIR has set about changing its image. Its leader, Jaime Paz Zamora, is now companero jefe (chief comrade) rather thancompanero Jaime. Oscar Eid Franco (former vice-presidential candidate) has been appointed general secretary; Guillermo Capobianco has been made the party's third most important figure, thus ousting Gaston Encinas from the position.
Encinas, though, is expected to continue to be an important figure; he is what is known in Bolivia as amovimientista -- a term originally used by militants in the Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario (MNR). (It means someone who is ideologically strong, and one who uses this strength to remain in power or close to circles of power.)
The MNR limps on
The MNR, headed by Victor Paz Estenssoro, could suffer the same fate of the Central Obera Boliviana (COB), which the present MNR government has done much to tame. Having begun a new era in political and economic policy -- far removed from the revolution of 1953 -- the MNR is in danger of becoming 'outdated'.
But while the MNR movimientistas are down, their are not out. One of them, Edwin Rodriguez, told us that by 1989 the MNR will have divided into seven factions, and those figures who had been overshadowed by Paz Estenssoro (who cannot stand for re-election) will emerge. One is Walter Guevara Arce, who is leader of the MNR faction, Partido Revolucionario Autentico (PRA), and whose recent call for unification of the old MNR has already foundered.
Another is current foreign minister Guillermo Bedregal. Though well funded for a future campaign, he has little personal following. Another potential candidate is Paz Estenssoro's nephew, Jaview Campero Paz, known as el mono tiemo (the tender monkey) given his physical similarity to his uncle (known as el mono). His presence in politics appears mainly a result of family tradition. Other MNR figures said to have presidential ambitions are the present planning minister, Gonzalo Sanchez de Losada, and Vice-President Julio Garrett.
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