Spectacles of Autonomy and Crisis: Or, What Bulls and Beauty Queens have to do with Regionalism in Eastern Bolivia

Abstract

washington universit y, st. louis r e s u m e n La caída del neoliberalismo en Bolivia abre espacios tanto para los movimientos sociales progresivos e indígenas como para los nuevos proyectos elitistas. Este artículo examina una expresión del "nuevo urbanismo" en la ciudad y región oriental de Santa Cruz donde un movimiento elitista y "cívico" propone la "autonomía" como respuesta al creciente poder indígena-popular y nacionalista. Este nuevo urbanismo se expresa mediante una gama de espectáculos culturales-desde carnaval hasta formas de violencia privada-y responde a una crisis del poder social, político y económico de la elite tradicional. El espectáculo es una táctica para la visualización del poder en el contexto de incertidumbre territorial e institucional y la perdida, frente a la democracia popular, de espacios de control sobre el aparato estatal por parte de la elite regional. Utilizando la imagen del migrante andino o "kolla" como símbolo de la amenaza del estado central, esta táctica de visualización del poder en el caso de Santa Cruz se vuelca hacia la racialización del espacio público y de los derechos a su ocupación, y a la defensa de jerarquías, símbolos e instituciones sociales en decadencia. Como el espectáculo no resuelve las fracturas provocadas por la crisis de poder, ni silencia a los desafíos a la hegemonía cruceña, el regionalismo de elite depende también del uso selectivo de la violencia privada y pública. El artículo intenta trascender enfoques etnográficos locales para visualizar nueva articulaciones trans-locales mediante las cuales el presente y futuro del estado boliviano es actualmente re-imaginado y disputado.

The Indigenous State: Race, Politics, and Performance in Plurinational Bolivia

“…These elite leaders articulated their interests through a political movement demanding regional autonomy, meaning a system in which departments have the ability to tax, legislate, and make decisions about development projects, free from the oversight of La Paz. In the process, they mined long-term popular regional resentments against La Paz and racist fears (Gustafson 2006). I discuss this in greater detail in chapter 5.…”

“…The highlands' rich deposits of zinc, silver, tin, and other minerals were once Bolivia's economic mainstay, but since the mid twentieth century, the center of economic activity has shifted to the lowlands, where agribusiness elites raise cattle and grow soy beans, sunflowers, and sorghum for the global market. This large-scale agrarian production has involved the usurpation of new lands and resources and the funneling of wealth from the periphery to urban centers (Gustafson 2006).…”

“…In Santa Cruz, the Autonomy movement led by the Civic Committees was accompanied by a thinly disguised racial campaign. Civic leaders argued that Andean migrants were invading their city, taking land and economic opportunities from local people (Fabricant 2009;Gustafson 2006). Elites openly asked how Morales, an uneducated Indian, could be the president.…”

Migrants’ Voices

“…1 Despite these recent efforts at social inclusion, the focus on regional autonomy within local civil society reinforces the long-standing tensions between highlanders and lowlanders. In particular, campesinos of Andean origin in MAS strongholds of rural Santa Cruz such as San Julián and Yapacaní have been condemned as "usurpers" and "invaders" through their efforts to claim land, which are viewed as threatening the region's health and wealth (Urioste and Kay, 2005;Gustafson, 2006). The notion of "invasion" is also used in urban Santa Cruz, where collas are linked to criminality (Prado et al, 2005), poor hygiene and sanitation (Arias, 2009), and "illegal" occupation of public and green spaces (Blanchard, 2006;Ruiz, 2009).…”

Evo Morales at the Crossroads: Problematizing the Relationship between the State and Indigenous Movements in Bolivia

“…MAS didn't manage to win the two-thirds necessary to carry any decision within the constitutional assembly, being therefore forced to confront a harsh opposition by the right and the eastern elite leaders (Postero 2007). The latter catalyzed their consensus and opposition strategy around the demand for regional autonomy rooted in racist fears and long-term popular regional resentments against La Paz (Gustafson 2006). Civic leaders used a racist counter-discourse to mobilize its social bases, triggering episodes of violence and provoking the paralysis of the assembly's work during seven months.…”