That is the question probably being most asked in Bolivia at the moment.

The area of Santa Cruz wants to hold a referendum on 4th May to decide on whether to become an autonomous region. About 1 million people will be voting, there’s just one problem: President Morales considers the referendum to be illegal.

There are many areas of the world that would like become more independent, but this area around Santa Cruz is not a simple matter of traditional boundaries or a separate culture. In a way, a lot of the problem is down to wealth.

Quite simply: much of the area has, and the rest of the country does not.

Santa Cruz is lower lying than the rest of Bolivia, so things grow there much easier. There are natural resources such as gas underground. And most importantly: there are foreign investments in the local industry, made easier by the good international connections to the relatively modern airport.

If Santa Cruz was to become independent, it would not have to share these resources with the rest of Bolivia, and that rest would suffer as a result.

Without the income that is generated by the area, the rest of Bolivia would probably become poorer – with less exports, less resources and damaged connections to the outside world.

One might almost says “let them get on with it” and create two countries, both with their own level playing fields, but one being much richer than the other. It reminds me of calls within Germany to separate the two halves of the country again, effectively to “rebuild the wall”.

Somehow I don’t think a referendum on that is likely in Germany just yet.  And somehow I’m wondering if President Morales will let the one in Santa Cruz go ahead.

We’ll find out next week…

After reading about the dustcart being sent to Bolivia, I read today in Business News Americas that the Bolivian government is investing large sums of money in waste collection, although the article does not exactly say where the improvements are to be made.

Water and sewage services are to be improved as well.

Did you know that the pipes taking the sewage out of the buildings are so thin, that you have to put used toilet paper into a rubbish bin rather than town the toilet itself? It’s something that takes getting used to…

Pipes being laid in Sucre, July 2000

There were riots in Sucre last weekend with reports suggesting that at least 3 people were killed.

The UK Foreign Office had warned of disturbances, but demonstrations can easily occur in Bolivia. I’ve seen pictures of the riots in Sucre and these are on a different scale – especially when you hear that there have been fatalities.

Correo del Sur even shows pictures of riot police and tear gas today. So what’s it all about?

Well, when President Evo Morales was elected, he promised to reform the constitution to give more rights to indigenous people. As it happens, the draft of the new constitution has two points that are causing unrest in the country, and neither have anything to do with his election promise.

The first I have already written about – moving the seat of Government back to Sucre. This would make Sucre the sole capital of Bolivia.

The second, and this is what appears to have caused the riots, is that President Morales could be indefinitely re-elected.

After introducing a lot of reforms, such as reducing the President’s pay, on first glance this does look like it is going in a new direction. Even if there are other countries where the President can be re-elected as often as they care to stand for office, other limit this and whilst there is probably something to be said for both systems, I am suspicious of someone who wants to change the law in this way for their own benefit.

Bolivia has seen enough dictators in it’s past who clung on to power (only to be promptly displaced by a new regime). Even if this law is on a democratic basis, it doesn’t seem to be sending the right message to the people!

Bolivian truckers and farmers are facing problems with their businesses as a result of fuel reforms, according to this article on the BBC News website, and they are blaming President Evo Morales and his reforms.

They say that the reforms, which included nationalising refineries last year, have cause shortages at the pumps. Hence a trucker cannot get enough diesel for one day’s work and farmers cannot get enough to run their machines.

One theory is that the fuel is so cheap, that it is being smuggled our of the country. The report claims that armed border guards are not trying to prevent this, whilst fuel is having to be imported from Venezuela to meet demands (or not, as the case my be).

A petrol station in Sucre – without the queues – in July 2000

In the past, Bolivia has benefited from pipelines exporting resources such as gas to other countries in South America.

What has gone so terribly wrong, that it is now unable to provide enough fuel for it’s own people? The knock-on effects are simple – if a farmer cannot harvest his crops and a trucker cannot deliver the produce then it is only a matter of time before there are shortages throughout the country in the shops and markets. At that point it will be traders and consumers who also start to suffer…