Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07LAPAZ2251
2007-08-16 20:09:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy La Paz
Cable title:
MAS MOVES TO SQUASH CAPITAL ISSUE
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UNCLAS LA PAZ 002251
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON BL
SUBJECT: MAS MOVES TO SQUASH CAPITAL ISSUE
UNCLAS LA PAZ 002251
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON BL
SUBJECT: MAS MOVES TO SQUASH CAPITAL ISSUE
1. (SBU) On August 15, Constituent Assembly members from the
ruling party Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) submitted a
resolution removing from the agenda of the Constituent
Assembly the issue of where Bolivia's capital should be
located. Voting in a block with opposition members
representing La Paz, the MAS members passed the resolution by
simple majority, 134 votes out of 234. Opposition members
without ties to La Paz declared the decision illegal, because
it did not receive a two-thirds majority of the vote.
Supporters of the capital's move to Sucre (in Chuquisaca
Department) took to the streets in protest and have declared
a 24 hour strike. In the sometimes-violent protests, two
reporters were harassed while La Paz Constituent Assembly
members hid in government buildings for safety. Opposition
politicians are planning a hunger strike.
2. (SBU) The MAS's handling of the vote on the
capital--pushing through the MAS agenda with no compromise
and no two-thirds majority--is raising further concerns about
the role of the Constituent Assembly and whether it has any
chance of achieving its goals. The head of the main
opposition party Podemos's delegation in the Constituent
Assembly stated that the MAS is trying to "definitively bury
the Assembly" while the chief of the National Revolutionary
Movement, a smaller opposition party, warned that the
Assembly "is on the brink of hell, on the brink of the
abyss."
GOLDBERG
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON BL
SUBJECT: MAS MOVES TO SQUASH CAPITAL ISSUE
1. (SBU) On August 15, Constituent Assembly members from the
ruling party Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) submitted a
resolution removing from the agenda of the Constituent
Assembly the issue of where Bolivia's capital should be
located. Voting in a block with opposition members
representing La Paz, the MAS members passed the resolution by
simple majority, 134 votes out of 234. Opposition members
without ties to La Paz declared the decision illegal, because
it did not receive a two-thirds majority of the vote.
Supporters of the capital's move to Sucre (in Chuquisaca
Department) took to the streets in protest and have declared
a 24 hour strike. In the sometimes-violent protests, two
reporters were harassed while La Paz Constituent Assembly
members hid in government buildings for safety. Opposition
politicians are planning a hunger strike.
2. (SBU) The MAS's handling of the vote on the
capital--pushing through the MAS agenda with no compromise
and no two-thirds majority--is raising further concerns about
the role of the Constituent Assembly and whether it has any
chance of achieving its goals. The head of the main
opposition party Podemos's delegation in the Constituent
Assembly stated that the MAS is trying to "definitively bury
the Assembly" while the chief of the National Revolutionary
Movement, a smaller opposition party, warned that the
Assembly "is on the brink of hell, on the brink of the
abyss."
GOLDBERG