Waging Peace: Bolivia

Go to: Monitoring Elections | Andean-U.S. Dialogue Forum | Conflict-Management Training | Strengthening the Media Sector To Promote Peace and Stability | Promoting the Right of Access to Information 

Background

As one of the poorest countries in the hemisphere, Bolivia's attempt to transform its democracy represents one of the most important sociopolitical processes in Latin America today.  Though some important steps toward changing power sharing and relations have been made, many challenges remain, including issues of regional autonomy and decentralization, indigenous autonomy, decriminalization of coca leaves, presidential influence on democratic institutions, and government-media relations.

Many different identities based on history, territory, and ethnicity have formed a collective multiethnic and pluricultural country with various worldviews, often leading to conflicts over economic integration, globalization, and control of natural resources. These problems have been exacerbated by a political culture that often takes political and social demands to the brink of conflict.

With demands from social movements for immediate distribution of government resources, the political culture, and a government overwhelmed by growing conflicts, Bolivia finds itself forced to focus on day-to-day crisis control rather than long-term planning and change. It is in this context that the Bolivian government asked for the Carter Center's assistance to create the mechanisms, develop skills, and generate spaces needed to increase tolerance, inclusion, and, ultimately consensus to develop coexistence between social groups and an inclusive political system.

Monitoring Elections

In January 2009, the new constitution was approved by 60 percent through a national referendum. The Carter Center accompanied the process with the deployment of a small mission of short-term observers who monitored the overall transparency, impartiality, and integrity of the process.

Elections for president, vice president, and members of the Plurinational Legislative Assembly were held on Dec. 6, 2009, followed by departmental and municipal elections on April 4, 2010. In the process leading up to the elections, the country created a new biometric voter registry aimed at increasing security, guaranteeing citizens' rights, and stimulating voters' political participation. Read full text >

Election Reports

View Carter Center election reports for Bolivia >

Andean-U.S. Dialogue Forum

The Carter Center and International IDEA initiated a dialogue forum between the five Andean countries (Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia) and the United States in 2010.  The purpose of the Andean-U.S. Dialogue Forum, an 18-month series of dialogue sessions held in both the United States and the Andean region, was to:

• Identify a common agenda for the six countries,
• Address misperceptions and misunderstandings between countries,
• Propose innovative solutions to problematic issues, and
• Explore the possibility of bilateral dialogues between pairs of countries with tense relations within the forum.

Between February 2010 and June 2011, the members of the Andean-U.S. Dialogue Forum met four times in Atlanta, Ga.; Lima, Peru; and Washington, D.C.

Read more about The Carter Center/International IDEA-sponsored Andean-U.S. Dialogue Forum >

Conflict-Management Training

The Center has worked since 2007 to build capacity for conflict management by providing comprehensive training to government officials from different levels of the national administration as well as to subnational dependencies and other social and political actors. The Carter Center aims to broaden spaces, enhance capacities, and increase political will for dialogue and tolerance.

In January 2008, The Carter Center signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Institute for Agrarian Reform (INRA) to provide technical assistance to establish and strengthen a conflict transformation unit and institutional policies to be applied during daily activities. Under the agreement, workshops and training in conflict management tools have been given to INRA functionaries in all nine departments of Bolivia. Read full text >

Strengthening the Media Sector To Promote Peace and Stability

In Bolivia, private media outlets play a key role in informing the public. There are approximately 150 television channels, between 900-1,200 radio stations, 30 print publications, 12 news agencies, 300 community radio stations, and a large number of online blogs and websites. There are also two state-owned radio stations, one television channel, one news agency, one newspaper, and a network of rural radio stations.

The relationship between President Morales and the media has grown increasingly tense since his election in 2005.  This relationship was exacerbated by the enactment of an anti-racism law that proposes controversial sanctions for the media if material deemed racist is published or disseminated.  The media were found to report sensationalized versions of political developments, sometimes interpreting statistics to support news reports with a bias.  Thus, there is a clear need for the media to improve its practices to inform the public about relevant developments in a constructive and professional manner to prevent the emergence and escalation of conflicts and to promote peace and stability in Bolivia. Read full text >

Promoting the Right of Access to Information

A free flow of information can serve to underpin the democratic transformation and help advance citizen participation, development, and socio-economic rights. The Carter Center has worked in Bolivia since 2003 to support the establishment of an access to information culture. The Center has collaborated with the government to increase its capacity by providing expertise on archiving and records management best practices and by training civil servants on access to information. The Center supported the establishment and implementation of a voluntary openness strategy, piloted by select ministries and agencies, which allowed the government to demonstrate their commitment to transparency more immediately and to learn valuable lessons to be applied once the comprehensive law was passed.

Additionally, The Carter Center worked with Bolivia's government, Congress, and civil society to support the drafting of an access to information law that met emerging international standards, sharing its international experiences and exchanging ideas with local actors while recognizing that an access to information law must be formulated and disseminated in a manner appropriate to local circumstances. The Center provided observations on the draft law upon request of the Bolivian government. To strengthen the involvement of civil society in the drafting process, the Center helped create a forum for dialogue among key stakeholders and published guidebooks that were widely distributed and served to inform the debate. Read full text >