Download Locations

• Open CRS (User submitted)

Summary

Bolivia has experienced a period of political volatility with the country having six presidents since 2001. Evo Morales, an indigenous leader and head of Bolivia's coca growers' union, and his party, the leftist Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), won a convincing victory in the December 18, 2005, presidential election with 54% of the votes. Early in his term, President Morales moved to fulfill his campaign promises to decriminalize coca cultivation, nationalize the country's natural gas industry, and enact land reform. Those policies pleased his supporters, but complicated Bolivia's relations with foreign investors and the United States. Since President Morales took office, Bolivians have become increasingly divided over the issues of constitutional reform and regional autonomy. A constitutional reform process began in mid-2006 and concluded in late 2007 when the Constituent Assembly (CA) passed a draft constitution without the presence of opposition delegates. Efforts by the Catholic Church, the Organization of American States (OAS), and neighboring governments have failed to ease tensions over the reform process between the MAS government in La Paz and the opposition. Whereas plans for a national referendum on constitutional reforms have stalled, four departmental referendums on autonomy have been held, despite the lack of congressional approval for them to be convened. A national recall referendum is scheduled for August 10, 2008 on whether President Morales, the vice president, and the prefects (departmental governors) should remain in office. U.S. interest in Bolivia has primarily centered on its role as a major cocaproducing country. U.S.-Bolivian relations have been strained by the Morales government's unorthodox drug policy; ties with Venezuela and Iran; and its nationalization measures. Bolivian officials have worked closely with the United States on drug interdiction efforts, but U.S. officials have asserted that excess coca cultivation remains a problem in Bolivia. In 2007, tensions flared when Bolivian authorities complained that some U.S. assistance was going to support opposition groups trying to undermine the MAS government. The U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia was called back to Washington for consultations on security issues in mid-June 2008 after protesters surrounded the U.S. Embassy in La Paz demanding the extradition of former president Gonzalo S�nchez de Lozada and his ex-defense minister. The two have been charged in Bolivia with responsibility for civilian deaths that occurred during protests in September and October 2003. Bolivia received $122.1 million in U.S. assistance in FY2007, including $66 million in counternarcotics assistance. In FY2008, Bolivia received an estimated $99.5 million, including roughly $47.1 million in counternarcotics assistance. The FY2009 request for Bolivia is for $100.4 million, not including P.L. 480 Title II food aid. In February 2008, Congress voted to extend trade preferences for Bolivia, along with Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, under the Andean Trade Preferences and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA) through the end of December 2008. The 110th Congress is likely to consider what level of foreign assistance Bolivia should receive in FY2009, and whether its existing trade preferences should be extended.

XML