Carlos Mesa, Evo Morales, and a Divided Bolivia (2003—2005)

Abstract

During the short-lived government of Carlos Mesa (October 17, 2003—June 6, 2005), Bolivian society was intensely divided along the lines of class, race, and region. Out of this context, two social blocs emerged: a left-indigenous bloc, constituted by worker and peasant organizations based in La Paz, Cochabamba, Oruro, Potosí, and Chuquisaca, and an eastern-bourgeois bloc, constituted by groups representing agro-industrial, financial, and petroleum capital in the Departments of Santa Cruz, Tarija, Pando, and Beni. The Movimiento al Socialismo (Movement Toward Socialism—MAS) party and fractions of the middle class were oscillating forces that belonged to neither side. Mesa attempted to play a mediating, Bonapartist role between the social blocs but ultimately failed, and his government collapsed. Thus the stage was set for Evo Morales’s successful bid to become the country’s first indigenous president in the elections of December 2005. Understanding this decisive interval in Bolivian history is crucial for fully coming to terms with the reformist character of the Morales government today. The nonrevolutionary trajectory of the MAS administration since 2005 should not have come as a surprise given the extensive collaboration between Morales and the neoliberal regime of Mesa directly prior to the former’s ascent to office.