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UNCLAS LA PAZ 000717 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ECON KPAO BL
SUBJECT: SANTA CRUZ: MAY 4 AS A PANACEA 
 
REF: A) La Paz 638  B) LA PAZ 670 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: During a March 26-28 visit to Santa Cruz, American 
Presence Post officer found the city surprisingly calm and 
optimistic, although individual Santa Cruz citizens are outraged. 
They cite an increasingly long list of grievances and complaints 
against the central government, and they are putting all their 
energy and hopes into the May 4 referendum on the draft autonomy 
statute.  Expectations among the population are high, and civic 
leaders recognize that hand-in-hand with the get-out-the-vote 
campaign they must dampen expectations for what will happen on May 
¶5.  Nonetheless, they hope a resounding "yes" vote will mark the 
beginning of a new negotiation (difficult though it will be) with 
the Morales administration which will result in restructuring the 
system of government in Bolivia.  End summary. 
 
Hitting Where it Hurts 
---------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Santa Cruz citizens have reached the boiling point after a 
series of recent moves by the central government designed to hit 
where it hurts most: their wallets.  The March 19 decree forbidding 
exports of cooking oil, an industry central to Santa Cruz's economy 
(reftels), were seen as a direct attack not only on the business 
owners, but on small producers, transportation workers, and factory 
employees; in all 16 sectors of the economy.  Since the decree 
violates both market principles and common sense (hurting Bolivia's 
economy and trade balance as a whole), Crucenos are convinced it is 
merely a punishment for resistance to the government's socialist 
vision.  The only escape valve on this pressure cooker is the May 4 
vote on Santa Cruz's autonomy statute. 
 
¶3. (U) As the government imported Argentine rice to resell at 
subsidized prices, Santa Cruz rice producers asked why the 
government didn't buy the product directly from them.  Now that the 
rains have stopped and the roads are again navigable, local rice 
prices have dropped below those of the government's Argentine rice, 
which sits in warehouses. 
 
¶4. (U) Strikes to protest the government ban on agricultural exports 
have been peaceful and controlled.  Prefect (Governor) Ruben Costas 
called March 31 for the strikes to be lifted.  He expressed his 
intention to participate fully in the dialogue of reconciliation led 
by the Catholic Church (after May 4), but at the same time called 
for a huge pro-autonomy rally and march on April 2 to demonstrate 
the unity of purpose in Santa Cruz. 
 
Will the Real Indigenous Leaders Please Stand Up? 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶5. (SBU) APP met with indigenous leaders representing the five 
communities native to Santa Cruz.  The Prefecture has designated ten 
percent of income from the mining, forestry and hydrocarbons sectors 
exclusively for development in indigenous communities, and created 
an office to administer the funds under the leadership of a 
Chiquitano.  With USAID assistance, these indigenous leaders and 
their communities have drafted prioritized development plans, and 
they also serve as non-voting representatives in the regional 
council. Under the autonomy statute, which they had a hand in 
drafting, each indigenous community will have its own representative 
(with voting rights) in the regional council, in addition to 
representatives elected per district.  This will result in double 
representation for indigenous citizens. 
 
¶6. (SBU) These leaders are opposed to Evo Morales' vision for 
indigenous communities.  One pointed to the difference between 
"indigenism," which he defined as reciting poetry and telling 
legends about noble races suffering for 500 years, and "indianism" 
which meant fighting for your rights and your interests.  He said 
the government seemed obsessed with the former, while Santa Cruz 
indigenous leaders were working on the latter. 
 
¶7. (SBU) They are particularly worried that their communal lands 
will be divided or taken away if the government's draft constitution 
is passed.  They are even more worried that the land will then be 
given to "colonizers" from the altiplano who they believe live less 
in harmony with the land.  (Note: These migrants are usually 
indigenous Aymara or Quechua.)  They point for example to the 
environmental destruction caused by coca cultivation and the 
resulting natural disasters.  As coca has never been an important 
element in Eastern indigenous cultures, they are completely opposed 
to the incursion of coca in their protected areas and communal 
lands. 
 
¶8. (SBU) The indigenous leaders working with the prefecture resent 
the image of Morales as the indigenous face of Bolivia.  However, 
they admit that there are many Morales supporters in their 
communities, and MAS party activists are campaigning hard against 
the autonomy statute and in favor of the draft constitution.  (Media 
reports April 1 said that a different group of indigenous leaders 
had declared their respective communities autonomous in line with 
the vision of the draft MAS constitution.)  Nonetheless, they are 
convinced that the majority of Santa Cruz indigenous community 
members favor departmental autonomy. 
 
¶9. (SBU) The indigenous leaders said their most immediate need is 
for financial resources to travel to their communities and campaign 
for the statute.  They feel used and abused by leaders of the Civic 
Committee (a group of civic associations at the forefront of the 
autonomy movement), saying the Civic Committee is quick to parade 
them as pro-autonomy indigenous representatives, but does not give 
them the resources needed to do the job that is expected of them 
(campaign in their communities). 
 
Decentralization: It's Catching On 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) APP met with the local branch of the citizen watchdog 
"Social Control Mechanism" (ref C), the Association of 
Municipalities of Santa Cruz (AMDECRUZ), and several private 
citizens and civic leaders.  All are waiting anxiously for May 4, to 
express at the ballot box their frustration with the increasing 
centralism not only of the Morales government, but of other 
institutions.  Martha Lazo Suarez, who used to form part of the 
national civic watchdog group "Social Control Mechanism" explained 
that she had returned to Santa Cruz because she wanted to be at the 
vanguard, shaping the model for the future political system in 
Bolivia.  She said the prefecture has been completely open and 
cooperative with her office's requests and demands, and that after 
May 4 the hope was to further decentralize and train citizens at the 
municipal level to serve the anti-corruption whistle-blower 
function.  Only then could corruption be reduced and citizens have 
more faith in their local officials. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Likewise, AMDECRUZ leaders explained that municipal 
associations had been created first in each of Bolivia's nine 
Departments.  Those nine organizations, in order to share 
information and lobby for their interests, had formed an association 
at the national level.  However, the umbrella group had become a 
centralized beast that did not distribute resources fairly.  Another 
of AMDECRUZ's complaints was that the government was distributing 
hydrocarbons taxes (IDH) based on the average price of oil and gas 
in 2006, not the real prices in 2007, and therefore owed hundreds of 
thousands of dollars to the municipalities and prefects. 
 
Other APP Outreach Activities 
----------------------------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) To date, APP has met with the largest five of Santa Cruz's 
14 universities: 
 
--Gabriel Rene Moreno Autonomous University, the public university 
--Private University of Santa Cruz (UPSA), an institution founded by 
the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce with an emphasis on business and 
technical fields 
--Private Technological University (UTEPSA) 
--Catholic University 
--Nur University, based on Bahai principles 
 
All are eager for increased relations with the United States, 
including speaking engagements by APP and other embassy officers, 
both in the capital city and in provincial branches.  Though we are 
maintaining a low profile through May 4, we are setting the stage to 
meet the APP goal of increased outreach to the Embassy's target 
audiences -- indigenous and youth. 
 
Comment: 
------- 
 
¶13. (SBU) "We just have to make it to May 4," is the common refrain 
which follows complaints from Santa Cruz citizens.  Local leaders 
are wary that the government has a surprise up its sleeve to try to 
stop the referendum, but they are determined it will take place no 
matter what, and confident that Santa Cruz citizens will approve the 
autonomy statute with a resounding "SI!"  However, leaders are also 
aware that May 4 is the beginning of a process, not the end.  So far 
the government's public stance has been one of denial: to declare 
the referendum illegal and ignore the phenomenon that is taking 
place. 
 
¶14. (SBU) Leaders are aware there will be no immediate solutions 
starting May 5, and the situation may indeed get worse before it 
gets better.  They realize that along with the "yes" campaign, they 
must dampen expectations and convince citizens to be patient while 
the autonomy process moves forward.  Leaders are also pleased that 
the government agreed to mediation by the Catholic Church, although 
they do not expect any dialogue to produce results until after May 
¶4.  While they are determined that the new "dialogue" will not 
derail the autonomy vote, they know that negotiating with the 
government is the only way to shape Bolivia afterwards.