From poverty to power - Oxfam-Québec

FROM POVERTY TO POWERCASE STUDYThis process was unexpectedly boosted by the structural adjustmentpolicies of the 1980s, which dramatically reversed three decades of stateintervention and improvements in social rights, and galvanised protestmovements across Bolivia. Following the lead of other social movements,lowland peoples organised a march to the capital La Paz in 1990, which, asone participant put it, ‘demonstrated that the indigenous peoples of theEast exist’. Literally and politically, indigenous people were on the move.The 1990s saw some unorthodox measures within the hard-lineWashington Consensus policies, including a new law that greatly facilitatedparticipation in local government, and an acceleration of agrarianreform, all of which helped boost indigenous movements.In January 1995, the Chiquitanos presented their first legal demandfor title to Monteverde under a new concept, ‘Original CommunityTerritory’. A year-and-a-half later, a second indigenous march wonparliamentary recognition for the concept.Years of tedious legal proceduresfollowed. However, by the time of the third march of indigenouspeoples from the East in 2000, ferment was growing across the country.Privatisation of water services in the city of Cochabamba led to a fullyfledged uprising, which chased the water company from the city andtriggered a wave of protest nationwide.At another march in 2003, the Chiquitanos put forth nationaldemands and established national alliances.‘We met with one of the highlandsleaders,’ recalls Chiquitano leader, now Senator, Carlos Cuasase,‘and we said, “Look brother, you have the same problems that we do, thesame needs.”We agreed not only on [the law to nationalise] hydrocarbonsbut also to defend the rights of indigenous people of both highlandsand lowlands.’After protests toppled President Sánchez de Lozada in October 2003,identity documents became easier to obtain and candidates were allowedto run independently of traditional political parties, which led to majorgains for indigenous peoples in the 2005 municipal elections. InDecember of that year, Bolivia elected Evo Morales as its president. Peoplewho had never before dreamed of serving in high-level posts becameministers. The new foreign affairs minister was an indigenous leader32