The honest way would be “more sustainable”

The survey by the government of Evo Morales in the case of TIPNIS

by Dr Muruchi Poma*

The government of Evo Morales in Bolivia is doing everything possible in order to reach the 69 communities of TIPNIS (Isiboro Sécure National Park and Indigenous Territory) and to question them if they agree with the construction of a highway across this National Park. Contrary to this, the residents of the park oppose this survey and – in order to demonstrate their opposition to the road construction – they twice went on foot more than 500 km in less than a year, and now they are looking for legal channels. The government is in favor of the survey, and the residents are against it. That is what we can perceive at first glance. However, this is a false perception. Our interpretation of this reality shows the opposite. Let us take a closer look.
The indigenous people of TIPNIS already marched 22 years ago. This march made history. In August 1990, the people resorted to these means and called for “land and dignity”. After a self-sacrificing march from Beni to La Paz for more than one month and over a distance of 500 km, the neoliberal government of Paz Zamora was forced to declare the National Park Isiboro Sécure an indigenous territory (later known as TIPNIS). This is the area where the indigenous marchers live. Since that time, the Isiboro Sécure National Park has been classified as indigenous territory.
In reality, this march was a historic event because it reversed the process of assault on indigenous territories in the east of Bolivia, their acquisition and distribution. The message was clear: On the one hand, the reclamation of their lands and territories and on the other, the recapture of political, economic and cultural rights by the indigenous people. By the march of 1990, the process of change had begun which was consolidated in 2006 by the government of Evo Morales, but came to a standstill later on.
In contrast to this social process, the character of the TIPNIS Park has other roots; they are more of western origin. They took greater care of the protection of the trees than of lifecycles, among which the human lifecycle is exceedingly important. Twenty-five years earlier (in 1965), this park was declared a national park and thereby it belongs to the sixty protected areas that occupy 20% of the area of Bolivia, home to 17 of 36 indigenous peoples.1
TIPNIS is situated in the heart of Bolivia, in the south it borders on the Chapare area of coca production, and in the north is situated the catchment area of approved timber companies. Bolivia is one of the countries with the richest biodiversity in the world, and with a surface 14 times as large as Berlin TIPNIS reflects this natural diversity with 402 registered species of flora and 714 of fauna.
It is well known that “TIPNIS is the heart of Bolivia's water reserves, and with the size of its reserves of fresh water it ranks 5th in the world”.2 This fact underlines its national importance and depicts all arguments as absurd that the Bolivians are nothing but the guardians of the tree population in the world. If the Bolivians do not protect their groundwater resources, they will be the first ones who suffer from the irreparable consequences of the destruction of this ecological zone of water production. The final destruction of the trees and the humidity in this zone due to the absence of clouds passing over the Altiplano and falling as rain can have disastrous consequences, experts say. It seems that the government Linera-Morales does not have the slightest intention to heal this “lung” of TIPNIS, suffering from “cancer”, but that it will rather sound the death knell for it. The large landowners in Santa Cruz annually lumber 250,000 hectares of forest. Linera plays down his promise by saying that “only” 200 hectares of forest will get lost by the highway he wants to build through the TIPNIS.

The indigenous organizations of TIPNIS

The people, who have always been living on the territory of the TIPNIS, belong to the peoples of the Mojenos, Chimanes, Yuquis, Yuracares and Trinitarios. It is estimated that around 15,000 inhabitants live in 69 municipalities. They are organized in the associations TIPNIS and Sécure and the Indigenous Council of the South (CONISUR) and they all belong to the Confederation of the Indigenous People of Bolivia (CIDOB).
It took the leaders and members of these organizations much effort to regain their rights. One year after the historic march, the Bolivian Parliament is forced to sign the International Labour Organization Convention 169 Concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries (Law No 125 of 11 July 1991). After 16 years, although still under the conditions of a strong presence of the oligarchy of landowners in the east of Bolivia in parliament, the parliament is forced to accept the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Law No 3760, dated 13 November 2007). We can still watch the President of the CIDOB, Adolfo Chávez, being brutally beaten by the thugs of the landowners, accidentally broadcasted by the Bolivian television, and only because he defended the adoption of the new Constitution of Bolivia, which was accepted by a referendum of the Bolivian people in 2008.

The previous survey

But what rights had the Indians gained not only in the east but in the whole of Bolivia? The joint ownership of their territories must be implemented not only in theory but also in practice. One year after the introduction of the new constitution for the multiethnic state of Bolivia, President Evo Morales personally gave the property title to the inhabitants of the TIPNIS.3 There is no doubt that all of these laws intend state intervention in any project. The inhabitants have the “right to a prior mandatory consultation by the State, in good faith and mutual consent”.4 When reading these laws, you may believe that the interests of the indigenous people are protected by law. It must be said “were protected”, for now they are no longer protected. The law remains frozen in the legal text. It is politics trampling law with contempt in practice.
A fact occurred in this process of change which gets to the bottom of the current involvement. In 2008, the government of Morales and Linera awarded the contract for the construction of a highway amounting to 332 million US dollars to a Brazilian company (OAS Ltda. Brazil), without first asking the “homeowners”. Not only the construction company, but also the investor is from Brazil. Although the contract was cancelled only on 9 April 2012 by the Bolivian government, that fact does not mean that – after the aforementioned survey has been carried out – the same funding sources will not be charged again. The truth is that the road is vital to the agricultural and livestock industries of Brazil, particularly in Rondonia. They are interested in the Asian market. Currently, to get there, they have to use their ports on the Atlantic and make a circumnavigation of the globe to get to China, for example. If the road through the TIPNIS were built, they would have to cover only 1,450 km to reach the ports in the Pacific. This is why Brazil does everything possible for this road to be built.
However, this situation does not explain why the Bolivian government has avoided questioning the inhabitants of TIPNIS first. There are reasons that may explain this negligence. We see: the road was divided into three sections. There is a section in the north of TIPNIS (part of the Beni Department), a section in the centre in the largest part of TIPNIS, and a section in the south, which is part of Chapare in the Department of Cochabamba, where Evo Morales has its strongest support. On closer inspection we have to realize that both the construction of the northern and the southern part of the road had started as early as 2011.
Of course, the coca producers of Chapare have a special interest in this road in order to better reach unsettled regions of TIPNIS. This is a suspicion that makes sense. On the one hand there is a great demand for land by the coca growers. On the other hand, the new constitution (see Article 399), prevents every opportunity to get hold on the large landowners’ estates. There seems to be no alternative for the coca growers than to grab the indigenous communities’ land. These arbitrary attacks will increase with the construction of the road, despite the intention of the government to punish this offense.
But let us return to our consideration why no survey was conducted. It is possible that Evo Morales and his colleagues thought they did not need the consent of the TIPNIS inhabitants for the construction of the road (Part 2 from Villa Tunari to San Ignasio de Moxos) just as they had not needed for Part 1 and Part 3, because they hold the absolute majority in parliament and they hold governmental power. Since Evo Morales considers himself the President of the Indigenous Peoples, he had certainly believed that they would blindly trust him. But we must also take into consideration the lack of executive laws to carry out a survey. Only the March of Indigenous People forced the Bolivian Parliament to adopt such laws.
When everything with respect to the road construction seemed to have been done, the inhabitants of TIPNIS called for the 8th march together with the National Council of the Ayllu and Marka of Qollasuyo (CONAMAQ), which represents the indigenous people of the Altiplano and the valleys. At first, the government did not take much notice of the march, but then it realized the enormous popularity it gained. Police forces stopped the marchers near the village Chaparina. This intervention made the march even more popular. On 24 October 2011 there was no other alternative for Evo Morales’ government than to adopt the Law No 180, which prohibits the construction of the road and renders TIPNIS untouchable.
There is no doubt that Morales, Linera and his colleagues were in a bad position. Days later, they foamed with rage. As TIPNIS is now untouchable, they proceed against the foreign investors there. Even the breeding of lizards by the locals in TIPNIS will not be spared. On 11 November 2011 the environmental license for the tourist trader Untamed Angling SA was withdrawn. The company had built holiday cabins in TIPNIS from local natural materials. The tourists were flown in from Santa Cruz by helicopter. The exclusiveness of this tourism was known. Undoubtedly the residents also benefitted by work and income. The residents were not dependent on public assistance. But instead of taking care for the indigenous people to benefit more by this kind of tourism the government rather destroys every means of income. It really is a paranoid attitude to call for foreign investors on the one hand – as is the case with lithium mining – but prohibit foreign, non-extractive investments.

The manipulated survey

The law prohibiting the construction of the road allows the government to gain time. Morales has only now been torn out of his lust for power and understands that a survey is necessary. But his attitude is not honest: He does not want the survey to bring about a decision as to whether the road is built or not, but simply to justify its construction. They speak of a “preliminary survey”, but in reality it is a survey afterwards. This is contrary to the constitution. Actually, the government would have to work to ensure that the constitution is amended. However, they do not, but their followers (CONISUR) started a march from Chapare to La Paz for the enforcement of a survey. They require the construction of the road and ask to be consulted about it. In February 2012, parliament passed the Act No 222 with the intention to conduct the “preliminary survey”. And now the government and its supporters present themselves as defenders of the constitution. The show is perfect.
In contrast to that, the TIPNIS inhabitants organized the IXth march. On 18 June 2012, six days prior to their arrival in La Paz, the Constitutional Court declared the “conditional constitutionality” of law 222 and the other law 180 as unconstitutional. The conditional conformity refers to the agreement between the adversaries. Thus, the new court of 2011 misses out on the chance to be an independent instrument of the constitutional state. Nonetheless, in the term “agreement” (Spanish: concertación), the indigenes of the ninth march see the chance of having a dialogue with the parliament and the executive authority.
Meanwhile, the IXth march reached La Paz on 24 June. The grand reception of October 2011 does not repeat. It becomes a defeat. They do not achieve the abolition of law 222. They do not realize that the state machinery for the said preliminary interview is in full swing. While they were marching, Evo Morales and his supporters from Chapare were in the TIPNIS all that time, giving away laptops, cell phones, outboard engines and other goods. This was to bribe the residents who stayed at home. Also, the leaders of the IXth march were accused by the government of being the henchmen of imperialism, because Adolfo Chávez of the CIDOB held out a hand to the Santa Cruz Governor and other large landowners. It was also clearly evident that the Catholic Church was behind the march. Many of whom had supported March VIII were deterred from joining in. There is strong indication that even the police revolt of mid-June was labeled as part of the conspiracy of the ones marching against the government.
When the marchers arrived in La Paz, Evo Morales was on tour, as all too often. Even after his return, he was not prepared to get in contact with the leaders of the IXth march. Linera and his ministers took the same stand. Instead, the government continued to follow the path of splitting the indigenous people. Thus, the indigenes from Chapare and CONISUR (Evo Morales’ loyalists) were brought to La Paz, where they staged a “monologue”. They approved of the survey and made the request for constructing the road. Thereafter, the march IX-participants decided to return to their communities in TIPNIS in order to put up resistance to the survey. Parallel to that they filed a motion in protection of the constitution with the court in Sucre, in order to achieve compliance with all legislation. They argue that the survey protocol is totally unknown to them. The court rejected the motion. The government ministers made clear that they would talk to the TIPNIS communities. They will most likely question them until the citizens finally surrender and agree to the construction. One has to realize that those who are in favor of the road construction are the same who carry out the survey. At that, one should know that the participants of the IXth march are probably also in favor of the road construction; however, they do not wish the road to run across the center but alongside the edge of the park. The peak of the government’s impertinence had been reached when a lawsuit was filed against the leaders of the IXth march.5
The Morales government may have roads built anywhere in the country. Yet, it may neither trample on the constitution nor on laws. It moves within the wake of lawlessness and abuse of power and, even worse, it sows hatred amongst the indigenes. In this, it does the same as colonialism and neo-colonialism have always tried to do. What the government is trying to combat is becoming its own instrument.

The text was translated from Spanish by Andrea Roscher-Muruchi.

(Translation Current Concerns)

1    Cf. Dittmann, Wencke. Starke Gesellschaft – Schwacher Staat. Entwicklung der Bevölkerungspartizipation am Schutzgebietsmanagement in Bolivien. Dissertation. Leipzig, September 2010, p. 33f
2    Cf. Prada Alcoreza, Raul. En Torno al TIPNIS http://www.amigo-latino.de/indigena/noticias/newsletter_07_11/461_09EntornoalTIPNIS_rp.html  (accessed 21.09.2011)
3    Cf. “Request for the protection of the Constitution” by Fernando Vargas Mosua. The document is dated 27.07.2012.
4    Cf. Constitution of Bolivia, Art. 30, No 15.
5     See: http://www.laprensa.com.bo/ciario/actualidad/bolivia/20120809/el-gobiero-inicia-juicios-por-la-consulta_31265_49998,html
(accessed 13.08.2012)

*    Dr Muruchi Poma is Bolivian of indigen origin. He is the author of the book “Evo Morales. Die Biografie”, Militzke-Verlag Leipzig, 2007