An incomplete message on Bolivia Day

The presidential message of the Day of the Fatherland is one of the most important communicative events of the year for Bolivians. It is expected to know what the president will say, not only as a report on the management, but above all because of the country project that he announces. Luis Arce Catacora’s message was eminently economic, as expected, and avoided crucial issues that are the ones that most concern citizens at this time.

The president put emphasis on indicators such as poverty reduction, economic growth, low inflation, trade surplus, reduction in unemployment. He highlighted the economic model that is based on what he calls import substitution industrialization and the incentive to domestic demand. In this sense, he stated that Bolivia will be an international benchmark for the management of its public finances.
Although he did not abound, as in his 2021 message, in allusions to the alleged coup d’état, he did not fail to compare the current reality with that of the transition government of Jeanine Áñez. As usual, he attributes the ills of the country to that government management as if it had not been tainted by the impact caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Beyond the economic references already mentioned previously, the presidential message did not bring anything new. He also did not mention crucial issues such as the Population and Housing Census, projected for 2024, which generates discomfort in regions that see it as an urgent need and ask that it be carried out in 2023. There is a 48-hour strike in doors in Santa Cruz and the The leadership of the Census Promotion Committee waits for a government signal to initiate dialogue and seek agreements, but it is as if the warning did not exist, as if Santa Cruz were nothing for the country and for the State.

And that vision was also evident in the message from Vice President David Choquehuanca, who made a list of the history before and after the constitution of Bolivia, omitting the native peoples of the east and all the contribution of this part of the country in history. .

The president also did not mention issues of concern such as the increase in surplus coca crops or the growing violence that stems from drug trafficking activities. It is as if Luis Arce had glasses that hide from his sight a cancer that is eating away at society.
In the same way, the president does not take into account that there is a serious situation of subjugation of agricultural properties, especially in the department of Santa Cruz. Conflicts over land are violently displacing indigenous peoples from their territorial spaces. He has also avoided the presence of armed groups that invade properties, threaten policemen, prosecutors, judges and journalists as if they had a shield of impunity.

Luis Arce remarked that he won at the polls with more than 55% of the Bolivian votes and no one can refute that. What is needed now is for him to recognize that he is president of the entire country and not just one part of it. For once he spoke of governing through dialogue, but that statement remains a simple statement while there are regions and sectors that fail to be heard by him and while public policies benefit some to the detriment of others.

President Luis Arce left little flavor in his presidential message. Bolivians want a government for all, in which there is joint work with respect for differences. It is not that difficult and it is the only possible formula to ensure that the country is on the right track.