June 30, 2023, 4:00 AM
June 30, 2023, 4:00 AM
Eduardo Del Castillo lost the confidence of the Legislative Assembly due to a censorship activated on Tuesday by 101 votes against 42. For this reason, President Luis Arce dismissed him yesterday to comply with the constitutional formality and, almost immediately, reinstated him as Minister of Government. The legal operation was similar to the one applied in 2020 by President Jeanine Áñez, when she replaced her ministers Arturo Murillo and Luis Fernando López, who failed their respective interpellations.
In this opportunity, The president’s decision was celebrated by dozens of public officialsthe majority of the government portfolio, but also leaders who sided with Arce.
In fact, before the new swearing in and for most of the day, representatives of organizations and legislators that support Luis Arce took a nosedive against what they called “the new mega-coalition”, a term that they used to disqualify the benches of Comunidad Ciudadana (CC) and Creemos, in addition to the one that supports the return of Evo Morales to power.
The protagonists of these events and specialists in political analysis warned that in this way the head of state broke with the so-called ‘evism’, leaving the MAS in an irreconcilable situation. The same Minister of Public Works, Édgar Montaño, affirmed that his companions “crossed rivers of blood”, a phrase that became popular in 1989 when Jaime Paz Zamora, the leader of the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionario (MIR) agreed to reach the Presidency. with Hugo Bánzer, the soldier who had persecuted him during his dictatorship (1971-1977). The general later founded Acción Democrática Nacionalista (ADN).
Returning to the tensions of the present, President Arce explained last night, during the reinstatement act of his Minister of Government, that he fully adhered to what the Constitution says because issued decree 4974 with which he was dismissed from his duties. But, he also said that there was massive support from social organizations and that for that reason decided to restore it, precisely, with the following decree, 4975.
The Official Gazette of Bolivia uploaded both presidential regulations to its digital system with an interval of just 45 minutes.
“We have listened to the Bolivian people, we have said it and it is not only a mention, not only the organizations that are present here, but through our vice-ministry for Coordination with Social Movements we have been in contact with many organizations, which mostly and forcefully have supported comrade Eduardo Del Castillo”, justified the president.
The president also said that the government portfolio has many pending tasks. To grant legitimacy to this possession, the Government deployed officials inside and outside the Casa Grande del Puebloin addition to other cities on the axis of the country from where they greeted the reinstatement of Del Castillo. A mobilization in his favor has been planned for this Friday in the Santa Cruz Urban Park de la Sierra, according to sources from the Bolivian Police who will guard the demonstration.
In La Paz, this type of mobilization began yesterday and they reached Plaza Murillo, the center of political power in the country, where the Legislative Assembly and the Casa Grande del Pueblo are located. Generally this site is one of the most guarded and the Police prevent any type of protest.
The Confederation of Intercultural Communities of Bolivia took its bases to the front of the old Parliament with harangues and insults against the legislators who censured Del Castillo. The leader of this sectorthere he called on his bases to violently expel those he considered “traitors”, this in allusion to the ‘evistas’.
“We are not willing to continue tolerating personal interests. This instrument is not due to a person, this instrument is due to the social bases and all of us have decided that Lucho (Arce) and David (Choquehuanca) run this country. We urge those legislators who sell out their homeland, shitty defectors, to restore their attitude”, said the leader Alavi.
Hours later, Del Castillo, already restored to office, also pointed to the suspected faction of MAS. “Today, whoever likes it, the leader of the revolution is the president Luis Arce and he is complying, “said the authority.
“The division of assembly members does not reach the people, because it does not allow particular interests, of a person, put an end to their dreams. We are not going to stop because a ‘mega-coalition’ or a person who wants to return to power by betraying the people so wishes. The MAS is not a person, it is the people”, said the authority from the lectern of the Casa del Pueblo, following the discursive axis of the break with former President Morales.
“Let the worthy Bolivian people judge. I hold the minister unconstitutionally and illegitimately censored and ratified responsible for any attempt against my life or physical integrity. The MAS militancy is witness to the threats, lies and attacks against us. The only thing missing was for Del Castillo to show the handcuffs as Arturo Murillo did. The MAS will never give up in its fight against corruption and protection of drug trafficking. As in neoliberal times, the right seeks to attack the political instrument of the people,” Morales replied.
Deputy Héctor Arce, one of those closest to Evo Morales, mentioned that Luis Arce already violated the Constitution and for that reason he can be tried. He also said that if he does not agree with what the Magna Carta establishes “that he propose a constituent assembly and convert the democratic system of government into a monarchical system of government and that they close the Legislature.”
The eighteenth power of the Legislative Assembly, stipulated in Article 158 of the Constitution gives him the power to censure ministers of State and indicates that, as an effect of this decision, it is the “removal of”. The section does not specify terms or conditions.
With this legal basis, Áñez replaced Murillo and López in their positions. It happened between March and April 2020. By September of that year, Eva Copa, as president of the Senate, first sanctioned and then enacted Law 1530 regulating the effects of censorship. The rule granted “a maximum period of twenty-four (24) hours” for the dismissal of the censured minister.
Also prohibited the disapproved authority from returning to any other position of the Executive, in addition to criminal sanctions for non-compliance with these legal procedures. This law was challenged in 2022 by deputy Rolando Cuéllar, one of the political spokesmen for the faction that defends Luis Arce.
The Constitutional Court (TCP) accepted the claim and on April 5 opted to annul it. President Arce took less than 15 days to draft a similar rule. The project requires the dismissal and prohibits the restitution of the censored authority, preserves the rights of officials, eliminates the criminal threat for non-compliance and “precautions the need to reformulate” the public policy observed by the Legislature.
This proposal is sleeping in the Chamber of Deputies and until yesterday had not been submitted to the commission for consideration respective, said Deputy Carlos Alarcón (CC), who is a constitutionalist.
“Bolivia is going through deinstitutionalization. The TCP established in its foundation of ruling 020/2023 that a censured minister cannot immediately access the same position. President Arce recognized his constitutional obligation through a bill that he sent to the Legislative Assembly. How can we trust rulers who don’t even comply with their own acts and their writings?” said constitutionalist José Luis Santistevan.
Meanwhile, Del Castillo left on the shoulders of the Burnt Palace. Public officials crammed the site with banners more against the ‘evistas’ than against the opponents. “They are the ones who have a black plan. The traitors are you they allied themselves with our executioners, with whom they killed more than 30 of our brothers. You are the ones with a black plan,” she snapped.
“That man we saw enter the Palace in 2005 winning with more than 50% of votes, with a backpack full of hope, today, unfortunately, he is a totally changed manIt hurts that every day they say that we are not MAS militants”, he remarked and claimed his space in that party.
