Massive Political Upheaval in Bolivia Signals the Decline of U.S. Influence in Latin America

[Judi Lynn]

Massive Political Upheaval in Bolivia Signals the Decline of U.S. Influence in Latin America
By Benjamin Dangl, AlterNet.
Posted October 24, 2008

After months of street battles and political meetings, a new draft of the Bolivian constitution was ratified by Congress on October 21. A national referendum on whether or not to make the document official is scheduled for January 25, 2009.

"Now we have made history," President Evo Morales told supporters in La Paz. "This process of change cannot be turned back...neoliberalism will never return to Bolivia."

If the constitution is approved in the January referendum, a new general election will take place in December of 2009.

Leading up to Congress's approval, Morales participated in sections of a march from Caracollo in Oruro to La Paz, a distance of over 100 miles and involving an estimated 100,000 union members, activists, students, farmers and miners.

The march took place to pressure opposition members in Congress into backing the constitution and referendum. When marchers arrived in La Paz they packed the center of the city to historic levels. Some media outlets said the march, which stretched 15 kilometers, was the longest one ever in the capital.

More:
http://www.alternet.org/audits/104349/massive_political_upheaval_in_bolivia_signals_the_decline_of_u.s._influence_in_latin_america/