Sucre
wants back title of Bolivian capital
NYT/David
Rochkind
Thousands of President Evo Morales's supporters traveled to
Sucre, Bolivia, by bus and on foot on Monday to denounce the
city's campaign to become the nation's full-fledged capital
again.
By
Simon Romero
SUCRE,
Bolivia: "Welcome," reads a sign greeting
arriving passengers to this sleepy city's airport, which shuts
down its runway at dusk, "to the capital of Bolivia."
Yes, the home of the president, congress, central bank, government
ministries and foreign embassies might be in La Paz, 400 kilometers,
or 250 miles, to the north and with a population four times
that of Sucre's 250,000.
But as residents here attest, many of them recovering from
weeks of street protests and hunger strikes, the sign is correct
- sort of.
Still festering from a civil war in 1899 that stripped the
executive and legislative branches from Sucre and removed them
to La Paz, leaving only the highest courts based here, this
city is pressing ahead with a campaign to become Bolivia's
full-fledged capital again.
Sucre's seemingly quixotic effort to regain what it lost has
evolved into the most pressing crisis facing Evo Morales, the
member of the Aymara indigenous group and former llama-herder
who is Bolivia's first Indian president.
"
We don't sacrifice llamas here, as they do in the altiplano," said
Jaime Barrón, the rector of Sucre's university and a
leader of the city's campaign, in a dig at both Morales's radical
social policies and Aymara traditions in the Bolivian highlands. "We
simply want what was taken from Sucre 108 years ago, allowing
us to develop into the geopolitical center of South America."
That is a lofty goal for this city, whose whitewashed buildings
recall a more genteel time in Bolivian history. For the time
being, Sucre's economy revolves around its university, founded
in 1624, and the high courts. It is also a goal unlikely to
materialize.
One
million protesters recently flooded the center of La Paz
to oppose
Sucre's campaign, reflecting the strength of Morales's
political base. Economists say the costs of transferring the
presidency and legislature to Sucre, which retains the title
of "constitutional capital," would be staggering
for South America's poorest country.
But supporters of Sucre's proposal have already won a victory
of sorts by making their campaign the most polemical project
in an assembly convened here to rewrite the Constitution, distracting
delegates from proposals that would accelerate Morales's challenges
to Bolivia's light-skinned elite.
Concerned about their safety as street protests raged here
last week, delegates to the constituent assembly over the weekend
called a one-month recess. That decision, combined with a court
ruling allowing the assembly to discuss Sucre's campaign, encouraged
protests to be lifted and dozens of students hunger strikes
to start eating again.
"The opposition pulled a rabbit out of a hat with the
demand from Sucre to move the capital," said Jim Shultz,
a political analyst in Cochabamba.
Boosted by majority support for Morales, the assembly was
convened a year ago with dreams of forging measures aimed at
lifting Bolivia's indigenous peoples from centuries of privation
and servitude. Proposals range from rechristening Bolivia with
an indigenous name, Qollasuyo, to allowing Morales to be reelected
indefinitely.
Politicians
in lowland provinces chafe at such ideas, claiming Morales
is a puppet of his closest ally, President Hugo Chávez
of Venezuela. And while eastern Bolivia remains a center for
anti-government groups and talk of separatism, Sucre has become
a flashpoint for efforts to chisel away at the president's
influence.
Outside
the office of Mayor Aydeé Nava, for instance,
hangs a poster depicting Morales in a Nazi military uniform
and using dogs to attack protesters. Nearby at the provincial
government's headquarters, protesters have unveiled a banner
reading, "Government Palace, Bolivia."
This
sentiment runs even to the backpacks of schoolchildren here,
many of
whom have the words "Sucre Full-Fledged
Capital" etched on them. In these actions and others around
Bolivia, Morales's government sees efforts aimed at ousting
him from office.
Pointing to documents obtained by the federal intelligence
service, officials in La Paz last week said a group from Santa
Cruz had elaborated a plan to sabotage the proceedings of the
constituent assembly, stoke regional tension and initiate protests
to topple Morales.
Heightening
fears that Sucre's struggle with La Paz could turn violent,
about 10,000 supporters of the president traveled
here this week to denounce the campaign to transfer greater
administrative authority to Sucre. They chanted, "Death
to those who want to divide the country."
But visions of returning bureaucratic grandeur to Sucre outweigh
concerns over the clashes that could result if this city's
campaign actually gains traction.
"We are the capital of Bolivia," Jhon Cava, president
of Sucre's civic committee, said in an interview, as if this
city had never lost that distinction. "We're reasonable
people here, many things are still on the table." If embassies
wished to remain in La Paz, he added, "That would be their
choice."
Simon Romero is a correspondent
for New York Times in
Latin
American. Petroleumworld not necessarily share these views.
Editor's
Note: This
article originally published on Sept. 14, 2007, by the International
Herald Tribune. Petroleumworld
reprint this article in the interest of our readers. Petroleumworld
reprint this article in the interest of our readers.
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