The peasantry became politically active only after the
1952
Revolution. Previously, much of the Indian peasant
population had
been subjected to a form of indentured service called
pongaje and
had been denied voting rights through a series of legal
restrictions. Pongaje ended with the Agrarian Reform Law
enacted
in 1953. Universal suffrage, in turn, incorporated the
Indian
masses into Bolivian political life.
The MNR established a new type of servitude, however,
by using
the Indian peasant masses as pawns to further the
political
interests of the party. Party bosses paraded peasants
around at
election rallies and manipulated peasant leaders to
achieve
particularistic gain. Some authors have labeled this
system of
political servitude pongaje político, a term that evokes
images
of the prerevolutionary exploitation of the peasantry.
As the MNR surrendered control of the countryside to
the
military, the peasantry came to rely extensively on
military
protection. This reliance enabled the military to forge
the socalled Peasant-Military Pact, through which they promised
to
defend the newly acquired lands of the peasantry in return
for
help in defeating any new attempts to dismantle the
military as
an institution.
With the overthrow of the MNR in 1964, General
Barrientos
buttressed his grip on power by manipulating the
Peasant-Military
Pact. The pact became a mechanism through which the
military coopted and controlled the peasantry. Autonomous peasant
organizations, as a result, failed to emerge.
During Banzer's presidency, the military attempted to
continue
the manipulation of the peasantry. In January 1974,
peasant
demonstrations against price increases culminated in a
bloody
incident known as the "Massacre of Tolata," in which more
than
100 peasants were either killed or wounded. The Tolata
incident
put an end to the Peasant-Military Pact; paradoxically, it
led to
the emergence of a number of autonomous peasant and Indian
organizations that remained active in politics in the late
1980s.
The most significant was the Katarista movement, or
Katarismo,
which embraced political parties and a campesino union.
The
political parties, such as the Túpac Katari Indian
Movement
(Movimiento Indio Túpac Katari--MITKA), were based on an
ideology
rooted in the Indian rebellion that Julián Apaza (Túpac
Catari,
also spelled Katari) led against the Spaniards in 1781
(see State, Church, and Society
, ch. 1). After 1978 the MITKA
succeeded in electing several deputies to Congress.
The union-oriented branch of Katarismo founded the
Túpac Katari
Revolutionary Movement (Movimiento Revolucionario Túpac
Katari--
MRTK). In 1979 the MRTK established the first peasant
union
linked to the COB, known as the General Trade Union
Confederation
of Peasant Workers of Bolivia (Confederación Sindical
Ünica de
Trabajadores Campesinos de Bolivia -- CSUTCB). The
establishment
of this union was a significant development. For the first
time,
an autonomous peasant organization recognized a
commonality of
interests with labor. Many observers noted, however, that
the
campesino movement had never really been accepted by the
COB.
Moreover, the fortunes of the MRTK were tied to those of
its
ally, the UDP.
In the 1980s, Bolivian peasant organizations fared
poorly. MITKA
and MRTK parties performed worse than anticipated in
elections
and were forced to seek alliances with larger parties.
Electoral
reforms in 1980 and 1986 further undermined the capacity
of
peasant political parties to compete in national
elections. The
greatest challenge confronting these movements was the
need to
break the monopoly over the peasantry held in the
countryside by
the traditional political parties.
Background | | Bolivia, named after independence fighter Simon BOLIVAR, broke away from Spanish rule in 1825; much of its subsequent history has consisted of a series of nearly 200 coups and countercoups. Democratic civilian rule was established in 1982, but leaders have faced difficult problems of deep-seated poverty, social unrest, and illegal drug production. In December 2005, Bolivians elected Movement Toward Socialism leader Evo MORALES president - by the widest margin of any leader since the restoration of civilian rule in 1982 - after he ran on a promise to change the country's traditional political class and empower the nation's poor, indigenous majority. However, since taking office, his controversial strategies have exacerbated racial and economic tensions between the Amerindian populations of the Andean west and the non-indigenous communities of the eastern lowlands. In December 2009, President MORALES easily won reelection, and his party took control of the legislative branch of the government, which will allow him to continue his process of change.
|
Location | | Central South America, southwest of Brazil
|
Area(sq km) | | total: 1,098,581 sq km land: 1,083,301 sq km water: 15,280 sq km
|
Geographic coordinates | | 17 00 S, 65 00 W
|
Land boundaries(km) | | total: 6,940 km border countries: Argentina 832 km, Brazil 3,423 km, Chile 860 km, Paraguay 750 km, Peru 1,075 km
|
Coastline(km) | | 0 km (landlocked)
|
Climate | | varies with altitude; humid and tropical to cold and semiarid
|
Elevation extremes(m) | | lowest point: Rio Paraguay 90 m highest point: Nevado Sajama 6,542 m
|
Natural resources | | tin, natural gas, petroleum, zinc, tungsten, antimony, silver, iron, lead, gold, timber, hydropower
|
Land use(%) | | arable land: 2.78% permanent crops: 0.19% other: 97.03% (2005)
|
Irrigated land(sq km) | | 1,320 sq km (2003)
|
Total renewable water resources(cu km) | | 622.5 cu km (2000)
|
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural) | | total: 1.44 cu km/yr (13%/7%/81%) per capita: 157 cu m/yr (2000)
|
Natural hazards | | flooding in the northeast (March-April)
|
Environment - current issues | | the clearing of land for agricultural purposes and the international demand for tropical timber are contributing to deforestation; soil erosion from overgrazing and poor cultivation methods (including slash-and-burn agriculture); desertification; loss of biodiversity; industrial pollution of water supplies used for drinking and irrigation
|
Environment - international agreements | | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Marine Life Conservation
|
Geography - note | | landlocked; shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake (elevation 3,805 m), with Peru
|
Population | | 9,775,246 (July 2009 est.)
|
Age structure(%) | | 0-14 years: 35.5% (male 1,767,310/female 1,701,744) 15-64 years: 60% (male 2,877,605/female 2,992,043) 65 years and over: 4.5% (male 193,196/female 243,348) (2009 est.)
|
Median age(years) | | total: 21.9 years male: 21.3 years female: 22.6 years (2009 est.)
|
Population growth rate(%) | | 1.772% (2009 est.)
|
Birth rate(births/1,000 population) | | 25.82 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
|
Death rate(deaths/1,000 population) | | 7.05 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)
|
Net migration rate(migrant(s)/1,000 population) | | -1.05 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)
|
Urbanization(%) | | urban population: 66% of total population (2008) rate of urbanization: 2.5% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)
|
Sex ratio(male(s)/female) | | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.79 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
|
Infant mortality rate(deaths/1,000 live births) | | total: 44.66 deaths/1,000 live births male: 48.56 deaths/1,000 live births female: 40.57 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
|
Life expectancy at birth(years) | | total population: 66.89 years male: 64.2 years female: 69.72 years (2009 est.)
|
Total fertility rate(children born/woman) | | 3.17 children born/woman (2009 est.)
|
Nationality | | noun: Bolivian(s) adjective: Bolivian
|
Ethnic groups(%) | | Quechua 30%, mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian ancestry) 30%, Aymara 25%, white 15%
|
Religions(%) | | Roman Catholic 95%, Protestant (Evangelical Methodist) 5%
|
Languages(%) | | Spanish 60.7% (official), Quechua 21.2% (official), Aymara 14.6% (official), foreign languages 2.4%, other 1.2% (2001 census)
|
Country name | | conventional long form: Plurinational State of Bolivia conventional short form: Bolivia local long form: Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia local short form: Bolivia
|
Government type | | republic; note - the new constitution defines Bolivia as a "Social Unitarian State"
|
Capital | | name: La Paz (administrative capital) geographic coordinates: 16 30 S, 68 09 W time difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) note: Sucre (constitutional capital)
|
Administrative divisions | | 9 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Beni, Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, La Paz, Oruro, Pando, Potosi, Santa Cruz, Tarija
|
Constitution | | 7-Feb-09
|
Legal system | | based on Spanish law and Napoleonic Code; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; the 2009 Constitution incorporates indigenous community justice into Bolivia's judicial system
|
Suffrage | | 18 years of age, universal and compulsory (married); 21 years of age, universal and compulsory (single)
|
Executive branch | | chief of state: President Juan Evo MORALES Ayma (since 22 January 2006); Vice President Alvaro GARCIA Linera (since 22 January 2006); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government head of government: President Juan Evo MORALES Ayma (since 22 January 2006); Vice President Alvaro GARCIA Linera (since 22 January 2006) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a single five-year term; election last held 6 December 2009 (next to be held in 2014); note - per the new constitution, presidents can serve for a total of two consecutive terms election results: Juan Evo MORALES Ayma elected president; percent of vote - Juan Evo MORALES Ayma 64%; Manfred REYES VILLA 26%; Samuel DORIA MEDINA Arana 6%; Rene JOAQUINO 2%; other 2%
|
Legislative branch | | bicameral Plurinational Legislative Assembly or Asamblea Legislativa Plurinacional consists of Chamber of Senators or Camara de Senadores (36 seats; members are elected by proportional representation from party lists to serve five-year terms) and Chamber of Deputies or Camara de Diputados (130 seats; 76 members are directly elected from their districts [7 or 8 of these are chosen from indigenous districts] and 54 are elected by proportional representation from party lists to serve five-year terms). elections: Chamber of Senators and Chamber of Deputies - last held 6 December 2009 (next to be held in 2015) election results: Chamber of Senators - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - MAS 26, PPB-CN 10; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - MAS 89, PPB-CN 36, UN 3, AS 2
|
Judicial branch | | Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (judges elected by popular vote from list of candidates pre-selected by Assembly for six-year terms); District Courts (one in each department); Plurinational Constitutional Court (five primary or titulares and five alternate or suplente magistrates elected by popular vote from list of candidates pre-selected by Assembly for six-year terms; to rule on constitutional issues); Plurinational Electoral Organ (seven members elected by the Assembly and the president; one member must be of indigenous origin to six-year terms); Agro-Environmental Court (judges elected by popular vote from list of candidates pre-selected by Assembly for six-year terms; to run on agro-environmental issues); provincial and local courts (to try minor cases)
|
Political pressure groups and leaders | | Bolivian Workers Central or COR; Federation of Neighborhood Councils of El Alto or FEJUVE; Landless Movement or MST; National Coordinator for Change or CONALCAM; Sole Confederation of Campesino Workers of Bolivia or CSUTCB other: Cocalero groups; indigenous organizations (including Confederation of Indigenous Peoples of Eastern Bolivia or CIDOB and National Council of Ayullus and Markas of Quollasuyu or CONAMAQ); labor unions (including the Central Bolivian Workers' Union or COB and Cooperative Miners Federation or FENCOMIN)
|
International organization participation | | CAN, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, Mercosur (associate), MIGA, MINUSTAH, MONUC, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNASUR, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
|
Flag description | | three equal horizontal bands of red (top), yellow, and green with the coat of arms centered on the yellow band note: similar to the flag of Ghana, which has a large black five-pointed star centered in the yellow band; in 2009, a presidential decree made it mandatory for a so-called wiphala - a square, multi-colored flag representing the country's indigenous peoples - to be used alongside the traditional flag
|
Economy - overview | | Bolivia is one of the poorest and least developed countries in Latin America. Following a disastrous economic crisis during the early 1980s, reforms spurred private investment, stimulated economic growth, and cut poverty rates in the 1990s. The period 2003-05 was characterized by political instability, racial tensions, and violent protests against plans - subsequently abandoned - to export Bolivia's newly discovered natural gas reserves to large northern hemisphere markets. In 2005, the government passed a controversial hydrocarbons law that imposed significantly higher royalties and required foreign firms then operating under risk-sharing contracts to surrender all production to the state energy company. In early 2008, higher earnings for mining and hydrocarbons exports pushed the current account surplus to 9.4% of GDP and the government's higher tax take produced a fiscal surplus after years of large deficits. Private investment as a share of GDP, however, remains among the lowest in Latin America, and inflation remained at double-digit levels in 2008. The decline in commodity prices in late 2008, the lack of foreign investment in the mining and hydrocarbon sectors, and the suspension of trade benefits with the United States will pose challenges for the Bolivian economy in 2009.
|
GDP (purchasing power parity) | | $43.38 billion (2008 est.) $40.88 billion (2007 est.) $39.08 billion (2006 est.) note: data are in 2008 US dollars
|
GDP (official exchange rate) | | $16.6 billion (2008 est.)
|
GDP - real growth rate(%) | | 6.1% (2008 est.) 4.6% (2007 est.) 4.8% (2006 est.)
|
GDP - per capita (PPP) | | $4,500 (2008 est.) $4,300 (2007 est.) $4,200 (2006 est.) note: data are in 2008 US dollars
|
GDP - composition by sector(%) | | agriculture: 11.3% industry: 36.9% services: 51.8% (2008 est.)
|
Labor force | | 4.454 million (2008 est.)
|
Labor force - by occupation(%) | | agriculture: 40% industry: 17% services: 43% (2006 est.)
|
Unemployment rate(%) | | 7.5% (2008 est.) 7.5% (2007 est.) note: data are for urban areas; widespread underemployment
|
Population below poverty line(%) | | 60% (2006 est.)
|
Household income or consumption by percentage share(%) | | lowest 10%: 0.5% highest 10%: 44.1% (2005)
|
Distribution of family income - Gini index | | 59.2 (2006) 44.7 (1999)
|
Investment (gross fixed)(% of GDP) | | 18% of GDP (2008 est.)
|
Budget | | revenues: $8.039 billion expenditures: $7.5 billion (2008 est.)
|
Inflation rate (consumer prices)(%) | | 14% (2008 est.) 8.7% (2007 est.)
|
Stock of money | | $3.998 billion (31 December 2008) $3.032 billion (31 December 2007)
|
Stock of quasi money | | $6.339 billion (31 December 2008) $4.729 billion (31 December 2007)
|
Stock of domestic credit | | $5.433 billion (31 December 2008) $4.759 billion (31 December 2007)
|
Market value of publicly traded shares | | $NA (31 December 2008) $2.263 billion (31 December 2007) $2.223 billion (31 December 2006)
|
Economic aid - recipient | | $582.9 million (2005 est.)
|
Public debt(% of GDP) | | 45.2% of GDP (2008 est.) 46.3% of GDP (2007 est.)
|
Agriculture - products | | soybeans, coffee, coca, cotton, corn, sugarcane, rice, potatoes; timber
|
Industries | | mining, smelting, petroleum, food and beverages, tobacco, handicrafts, clothing
|
Industrial production growth rate(%) | | 10.6% (2008 est.)
|
Current account balance | | $2.015 billion (2008 est.) $1.984 billion (2007 est.)
|
Exports | | $6.448 billion (2008 est.) $4.49 billion (2007 est.)
|
Exports - commodities(%) | | natural gas, soybeans and soy products, crude petroleum, zinc ore, tin
|
Exports - partners(%) | | Brazil 60.1%, US 8.3%, Japan 4.1% (2008)
|
Imports | | $4.641 billion (2008 est.) $3.24 billion (2007 est.)
|
Imports - commodities(%) | | petroleum products, plastics, paper, aircraft and aircraft parts, prepared foods, automobiles, insecticides, soybeans
|
Imports - partners(%) | | Brazil 26.7%, Argentina 16.3%, US 10.5%, Chile 9.5%, Peru 7.1%, China 4.8% (2008)
|
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold | | $7.722 billion (31 December 2008 est.) $5.318 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
|
Debt - external | | $5.931 billion (31 December 2008) $5.385 billion (31 December 2007)
|
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home | | $5.998 billion (31 December 2008)
|
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad | | $NA
|
Exchange rates | | bolivianos (BOB) per US dollar - 7.253 (2008 est.), 7.8616 (2007), 8.0159 (2006), 8.0661 (2005), 7.9363 (2004)
|
Currency (code) | | boliviano (BOB)
|
Telephones - main lines in use | | 690,000 (2008)
|
Telephones - mobile cellular | | 4.83 million (2008)
|
Telephone system | | general assessment: privatization begun in 1995; reliability has steadily improved; new subscribers face bureaucratic difficulties; most telephones are concentrated in La Paz and other cities; mobile-cellular telephone use expanding rapidly; fixed-line teledensity of 7 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular telephone density slighly exceeds 50 per 100 persons domestic: primary trunk system, which is being expanded, employs digital microwave radio relay; some areas are served by fiber-optic cable; mobile cellular systems are being expanded international: country code - 591; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2008)
|
Internet country code | | .bo
|
Internet users | | 1 million (2008)
|
Airports | | 952 (2009)
|
Pipelines(km) | | gas 4,883 km; liquid petroleum gas 47 km; oil 2,475 km; refined products 1,589 km (2008)
|
Roadways(km) | | total: 62,479 km paved: 3,749 km unpaved: 58,730 km (2004)
|
Ports and terminals | | Puerto Aguirre (inland port on the Paraguay/Parana waterway at the Bolivia/Brazil border); Bolivia has free port privileges in maritime ports in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Paraguay
|
Military branches | | Bolivian Armed Forces: Bolivian Army (Ejercito Boliviano, EB), Bolivian Navy (Fuerza Naval Boliviana, FNB; includes marines), Bolivian Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Boliviana, FAB) (2009)
|
Military service age and obligation(years of age) | | 18-49 years of age for 12-month compulsory military service; when annual number of volunteers falls short of goal, compulsory recruitment is effected, including conscription of boys as young as 14; 15-19 years of age for voluntary premilitary service, provides exemption from further military service (2009)
|
Manpower available for military service | | males age 16-49: 2,295,746 females age 16-49: 2,366,828 (2008 est.)
|
Manpower fit for military service | | males age 16-49: 1,666,697 females age 16-49: 1,906,396 (2009 est.)
|
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually | | male: 108,304 female: 104,882 (2009 est.)
|
Military expenditures(% of GDP) | | 1.9% of GDP (2006)
|
Disputes - international | | Chile and Peru rebuff Bolivia's reactivated claim to restore the Atacama corridor, ceded to Chile in 1884, but Chile offers instead unrestricted but not sovereign maritime access through Chile for Bolivian natural gas and other commodities; an accord placed the long-disputed Isla Suarez/Ilha de Guajara-Mirim, a fluvial island on the Rio Mamore, under Bolivian administration in 1958, but sovereignty remains in dispute
|
Electricity - production(kWh) | | 5.495 billion kWh (2007 est.)
|
Electricity - production by source(%) | | fossil fuel: 44.4% hydro: 54% nuclear: 0% other: 1.5% (2001)
|
Electricity - consumption(kWh) | | 4.665 billion kWh (2007 est.)
|
Electricity - exports(kWh) | | 0 kWh (2008 est.)
|
Electricity - imports(kWh) | | 0 kWh (2008 est.)
|
Oil - production(bbl/day) | | 51,360 bbl/day (2008 est.)
|
Oil - consumption(bbl/day) | | 60,000 bbl/day (2008 est.)
|
Oil - exports(bbl/day) | | 10,950 bbl/day (2007 est.)
|
Oil - imports(bbl/day) | | 6,172 bbl/day (2007 est.)
|
Oil - proved reserves(bbl) | | 465 million bbl (1 January 2009 est.)
|
Natural gas - production(cu m) | | 14.2 billion cu m (2008 est.)
|
Natural gas - consumption(cu m) | | 2.41 billion cu m (2008 est.)
|
Natural gas - exports(cu m) | | 11.79 billion cu m (2008)
|
Natural gas - proved reserves(cu m) | | 750.4 billion cu m (1 January 2009 est.)
|
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate(%) | | 0.2% (2007 est.)
|
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS | | 8,100 (2007 est.)
|
HIV/AIDS - deaths | | fewer than 500 (2007 est.)
|
Major infectious diseases | | degree of risk: high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever vectorborne diseases: dengue fever, malaria, and yellow fever water contact disease: leptospirosis (2009)
|
Literacy(%) | | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 86.7% male: 93.1% female: 80.7% (2001 census)
|
Education expenditures(% of GDP) | | 6.4% of GDP (2003)
|