In Bolivia, South America’s poorest country, voters approved a new constitution that would enact land reform, promote indigenous people’s rights, give Evo Morales (the current president) more power and allow him to run for a second term. The many indigenous groups in Bolivia backed the new constitution and exit polls show that it was approved with 60 support. It will give the large indigenous population more political influence and it recognizes their spiritual practices and languages. The constitution grants autonomy to 36 indigenous areas and to opposition-controlled states. Morales also hopes to use the constitution to increase state control over national resources including gas reserves, agricultural land and the mining industry. This would enable him to tackle the social inequalities that have plagued Bolivia. In a separate ballot, about 80 percent of voters agreed to limit future landholdings to 12,000 instead of 24,000 acres. The opposition argues that the constitution was created to increase Morales’ power as it now enables him to stay in power until 2014. Other critics oppose the constitution’s acceptance of freedom of religion and accuse Morales of being anti-Catholic and sympathetic to the indigenous spiritualities and religions. Furthermore, many wealthy landowners fear that Morales will break up their large landholdings.
Posted by: wuworldnews | February 2, 2009
