Bolivia: A History of Class Struggle
By: Jordan Miller
Tags: Bolivia, Socialism, Class Struggle, Imperialism, Evo Morales

Bolivia’s history, like much of the Global South, has been plagued with imperialist intervention, coups, and military dictatorships. Also, like much of the Global South, Bolivia has historically been a hotbed for socialist organizing, mobilization, and revolution. Bolivia is a nation that is rich in natural resources such as lithium and coca. Naturally, this is highly attractive to multi-national corporations and imperialists the world over. These material conditions set the stage for a long history of class struggle in Bolivia.

In 1964 the president of Bolivia Victor Paz Estenssoro was overthrown in a military coup. He was given the choice between going to “the airport or the cemetery” meaning he had a choice between exile or execution. He chose exile.

This coup was led by the Vice President, General Rene Barrientos Ortuno, and aided by the CIA and the Pentagon.

The United States became concerned over the power of the miner’s unions in Bolivia when they went on strike in 1963.

The miners had their own radio station and militia, they opposed the military, and they were seen as more radical than the president. In 1952 an armed popular revolt by the miners defeated the military and achieved their goal of nationalizing the mines. This was a victory for the Bolivian Proletariat.

In order to combat the power of the people’s militias, and because of American pressure, Pax strengthened the Bolivian Army and under American guidance launched a civic action program to improve the state and the military’s image.

After the overthrow of Paz, Barrientos rose to power. The CIA contributed thousands of dollars to help Barrientos become elected. Additionally, there was an alleged shooting attempt on Barrientos’ life in 1964. Shortly after there were several other alleged attempts on his life which he allegedly survived. This is all highly suspicious and also convenient as it gave Barrientos the reputation of being a sort of hero, helping him win popular support.

Barrientos ordered military invasions of the mining camps. He ordered miners’ salaries to be cut by 50%. His administration’s policies earned him the scorn of the Bolivian Left. In 1967 Che Guevara attempted to mobilize the Bolivian workers in a guerilla uprising. This ultimately failed. Guevara was captured by the Bolivian government in 1967 and was executed. His famous last words being “Go on, shoot coward. You will only kill a man. You can not kill an idea.” These words would prove in time to be prophetic.

Che Guevara

The 70s and 80s marked a period of military dictatorships in Bolivia. During this time the trade unions lead the struggle for Democracy during a time of right-wing authoritarian rule. In the mid-90s the Movement for Socialism (MAS) emerged. This was the political wing of the Bolivian land workers union.

In 2002 Bolivia held general elections for the first time since 1982. In that election, Gonzalo “Goni” Sanchez of the National Revolutionary Movement (MNR) won the election with 22.46% of the vote. Evo Morales of MAS came in second place with 20.94%.

A major issue in this election involved natural gas which is an abundant resource in Bolivia that capitalists sought to exploit. President Goni struck deals with international companies and exported the product. This undermined the local economy and hurt Bolivians, who took to the streets in protest.

Groups of labor unions lead by Morales confronted the police and military. This led to an incident known as “Black October” which caused 19 civilian deaths.

MNR leadership as well as the military withdrew their support for Goni, who then resigned his post and fled the country. Carlos Mesa Gilbert, the vice-president of Goni became the new president of Bolivia.

Mesa called for a national referendum regarding the issue of how national gas should be exported. This was a legally binding, single-issue ballot. Morales lead a protest against this referendum since neither option on the ballot was an adequate choice. After months of protests, Mesa resigned.

Evo Morales

In 2005, Morales and MAS won the general election in a landslide with 54% of the vote. Morales was the first indigenous president in a nation cursed with the plague of racism. Some consider Morales to be the Americas greatest president. The mid-2000s brought a “pink tide” across Bolivia- MAS took steps to implement major socialist reform.

MAS and Morales nationalized many of Bolivia’s resources and restored rights to the indigenous population. The 2010 Law of Mother Earth gave constitutional rights to nature. Morales declared “Either capitalism dies or mother earth dies”.

Morales and his administration lost some of its support when his agenda became accompanied by resource extraction and development. Morales made plans to build a highway through protected land. This was met with protest, and Morales later conceded this was a mistake. Morales also lost support as he struggled to curtail Big Agriculture.

In the 2019 Bolivian general elections, there were irregularities with reporting of results, but Evo Morales has won. After 32 days of protests, Morales was forced to resign from the presidency. Some would consider this to be a public uprising but others, especially on the revolutionary Left would call it nothing short of a coup.

This new regime failed to effectively combat the Covid-19 pandemic. The regime purchased non-working respirators, they had no national plan of action and did not provide sufficient Personal Protective Equipment to prevent the spread of the virus. As of October of 2020, Bolivia has 14,000 cases of Covid-19 and 8400 deaths. An estimated one million Bolivians fell into poverty under the regime’s rule.

In 2020, MAS candidate Luis Acre Catora was elected by 52 percent and MAS won majority seats in both chambers of legislation. This victory was celebrated by the Left across Latin America.

The coup regime had tried to prevent the people of Bolivia from democratically electing MAS candidates by bringing bogus criminal proceedings against MAS leadership. The regime delayed the elections amid the pandemic and lockdowns, but under pressure from below as people protested an election date was secured. In the weeks before the election police and military flooded the streets. Regardless, the people of Bolivia showed up on election day and democratically chose the Movement for Socialism. Morales declared “We’ve recovered our democracy.”