CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY INAUGURATION

UNCLAS LA PAZ 002139

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON BL
SUBJECT: CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY INAUGURATION


1. (SBU) Summary: Bolivians celebrated their independence and the
inauguration of the Constituent Assembly August 6 in Sucre.
Festivities included introduction of all 255 Assembly members,
speeches by President Morales and Vice President Garcia Linera, a
parade of Bolivia's indigenous communities, and a soccer game
featuring Morales. President Morales told the Constituent Assembly
that its role is a revolutionary "refoundation" of a new Bolivia
through an entirely new constitution, feeding the ongoing debate
about limits on the Assembly's power. While the political
opposition has criticized Morales' statements, most Bolivians are
euphoric about the Assembly's inauguration, and hope the Assembly
will build consensus based on the interests and views of all
Bolivians. End summary.


2. (SBU) Bolivians celebrated their independence and the
inauguration of the Constituent Assembly August 6 in Sucre. Cuban
Vice President Carlos Lage and lower-level delegations from Chile,
Argentina, Brazil and South Africa were in attendance. GOB
officials summarily blamed the opposition for causing several
regional leaders, including Argentine President Kirchner, Paraguayan
President Duarte, and Brazilian President Lula, to reverse their
previous decisions to attend, ultimately leading to Venezuelan
President Chavez' last-minute cancellation as well. In addition to
the official events, Bolivia's indigenous communities paraded around
central Sucre, and the day's events were topped off by an early
evening soccer game featuring Morales wearing a jersey with "Evo" on
the back. Morales scored a goal.


3. (SBU) Following the introduction of the Constituent Assembly's
255 representatives, Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera
congratulated Bolivia's indigenous for "reclaiming their place in
society not with bullets, but with votes and words" via the
Assembly. He said Bolivia's strength is its "communitarian
capacity," from which the rest of the world could learn. The Vice
President decried "colonial centralism" as damaging to the country
and, as an apparent gesture toward eastern Bolivia, urged the
Assembly to adopt a form of decentralization that would not
undermine the nation at large. Garcia Linera implored the
Constituent Assembly to dialogue, debate and find points of
agreement for the good of the Bolivian people. Critically, Garcia
Linera spoke of the new constitution's role as implementing
"equality," not equality of opportunity.


4. (SBU) President Morales spoke next, highlighting Bolivia's "black
history" of discrimination and the "looting of natural resources."
He called on the Assembly to refound and "de-neoliberalize" Bolivian
society. Morales argued that the indigenous, victimized throughout
history, had never dominated, discriminated or exploited anyone. He
singled out National Unity party leader and constituent assembly
representative Samuel Doria Medina as someone who had exploited the
indigenous, but said he is still welcome to participate in the
Assembly.
Morales lauded the participation and representation of all Bolivians
in the Constituent Assembly process.


5. (SBU) In Morales' speech, he referred to the Constituent Assembly
as "original" and "all powerful," implying its ability to close
government institutions and feeding the ongoing debate about limits
on the Assembly's power. (Note: In the past few weeks, MAS
officials have charged that the Assembly's powers should be
"original," as if the country were being founded for the first time.
Under this type of assembly, the constitution is written as if
there were no previous constitution and the state powers cease to
exist while the assembly is in session (in theory, because they have
not yet been created). A "derived" assembly, on the other hand,
means the representatives' power is based on the existing
constitution and all state powers continue to operate while the
assembly is sitting. The central debate surrounding the Constituent
Assembly is whether it is "original" or "derivative," with MAS
followers describing it as the former and most opposition using the
latter term. Legal scholars assert that the enabling legislation
implicitly provides for a derivative assembly, and discount the MAS'
calls for an original assembly as a political tactic. End note).


6. (SBU) Comment: The political opposition has criticized Morales'
statements and the MAS' heavy hand in Assembly preparations.
However, most Bolivians are euphoric about the Assembly's
inauguration, and hope that when the Assembly begins deliberations
on August 15 it will build consensus based on the interests and
views of all Bolivians. We expect considerable debate between
opposition and government about the limits of Constituent Assembly
power, particularly given the ambitions of Morales and his MAS
party, as demonstrated by at least one draft we've seen of the
constitution (see septel). The absence of regional leaders at the
inaugural ceremony for the Constituent Assembly demonstrates just
how isolated the Morales government has become in South America.
Rather than a conclave of leftist presidents as originally
conceived, the ceremony underscored how little support there is in
the region for Morales' brand of leftism. End comment.

GREENLEE