Page Seven / La Paz
The Bolivian Institute of Foreign Trade (IBCE) sees the Santa Cruz development model as the most efficient, amid criticism from the MAS, and one expert considers that it seeks to divert attention by questioning the discussion of this issue.
The IBCE manager, Gary Rodríguez, explained that, in recent years, not only thousands of people, but also companies from the interior of Bolivia continue to move to Santa Cruz, making it the most populated department, the one that grows the most, the one with the best rates social generates.
That is why it is said that Santa Cruz is the locomotive and economic bastion of Bolivia.
“Thank God, we have the Cruceño Development Model study: Factors and values that explain its success, delivered last September by the Society for Geographic and Historical Studies of Santa Cruz (SEGH-SC) and the IBCE, prepared by four professionals, supporting with official and historical data the growth, demographic increase and the socioeconomic advance of the Santa Cruz region ”, he remarked.
According to Rodríguez, when making comparisons between one model or another, it is advisable to see the figures, to give a dispassionate opinion, because the numbers do not lie.
He added that Santa Cruz is a land of opportunities, which does not depend on agriculture or agribusiness, much less on extractive and non-renewable resources (such as mining and hydrocarbons) and much less on the State (like other departments), since its economy is based on private activity of all kinds and on the transformation of renewable resources. “But also, something important: the regional GDP is made up of 50% by economic activities of the tertiary sector, such as commerce, finance, communications, transport, storage, gastronomy, etc. The Santa Cruz development model is so successful that, literally, Santa Cruz is the crucible of Bolivianity, the Bolivia of hope, ”he said.
Former senator Adriana Salvatierra pointed out that it is difficult to find a precise definition of the Santa Cruz model, since the IBCE classifies it as a mixture of values, actors, natural resources, human resources, productivity and institutions.
According to the former legislator, at the time they tried to convince public opinion that the problem of ghost items was a problem of resentment, nepotism and family ties, the product of the mistakes of former mayor Angélica Sosa.
“But she built a scheme from where she involved many institutions of Santa Cruz public life with the phantom items. From there, the development model of Santa Cruz is challenged, when one sees practices of a clientelistic nature that border on the legitimization of illicit profits, but that are oiling a machine for the reproduction of political and economic power in Santa Cruz, ”he declared on radio. Fides in the program El Café de la Mañana.
The analyst Alberto Bonadona argued that, if the model is to be questioned from this case, what should be done is to question the viability of the entire economy, because in the past there has always been corruption.
In the analyst’s opinion, this political debate of models only seeks to avoid a deep discussion about the economic reactivation that is not observed. The government’s social economic model is also criticized because it depended on the boom in commodity prices.
Success and growth
Defending • The former director of the BCB Ángel Banegas said that the development model of Santa Cruz is based on entrepreneurship, innovation and productivity. The private sector is the foundation of development and the public sector appears to be the problem, he added.
Institutionality • Banegas considers that there is corruption when there are no institutionalized positions and on merit, but there is free discretion of the municipal, departmental or central government in turn. It must be chosen by proficiency exams.
