Bolivia: Why is the right calling for a national strike and who is behind it?

Opposition leaders in Bolivia called for a ‘national strike’ for this Monday, in a new protest to demand the repeal of the Law on the national strategy to combat the legitimation of illicit profits and the financing of terrorism.

Employers of the transport, commerce and health sector, summoned by the right-wing groups that oppose the Government of Luis Arce, have called for the paralysis of activities throughout the country so that the so-called «mother law» is repealed. According to the executive secretary of the National Confederation of Union Workers of Bolivia, Francisco Figueroa, if the Executive does not repeal the law, they will go on an indefinite strike.

The Government, for its part, has reproached the convenors who did not object to the law while it was under discussion, but now promote these actions, just when Arce completes one year in office. Likewise, they warn that the paralysis of economic activities could cause the loss of 112 million dollars a day, explains a report by Nazareth Balbás for RT.

Why are they against the law?

In August of this year, the Bolivian Parliament approved the controversial norm, known as Law 1386, which, among other points, establishes that the national strategy to combat money laundering and terrorist financing “may be adjusted by the Executive Branch of the central level through a supreme decree”, after consideration and approval of the council that governs the matter.

This provision, established in article 7 of the law, has been one of the most questioned by the unions, because they consider it grants discretionary powers to the Executive to modify the norm, without counting on the validation of Congress.

For the organizers of the strike, the regulations are «copied» from countries like Venezuela, so it would supposedly bring «misery and mandicancy» to Bolivia, as the president of the conservative Potosinista Civic Committee, Juan Carlos Manuel, said last October.

As is customary, the Bolivian right alleges that Arce’s political decisions are in some way influenced by the Venezuelan government led by President Nicolás Maduro, who has become the favorite enemy of the conservative sectors of the Andean country.

Along these lines, the opposition deputy of the Creemos political party, Erwin Bazán, asserted last week that the Executive’s objective is to “pulverize the private economy” and lead Bolivia towards “a ‘Venezuelanization’ of the economy, and towards a ‘Cubanization’ of the country».

Who is behind the strike in Bolivia?

The Arce government has indicated that the Pro Santa Cruz Civic Committee, one of the main promoters of the coup against Evo Morales in 2019, would be behind the call for an indefinite national strike.

The Minister of Public Works, Services and Housing of Bolivia, Edgar Montaño, pointed out that the Civic Committee together with other organizations «that took power by force» in 2019, are using as an excuse the recent processing of the law that approves the Plan of Economic and Social Development (PDES) 2021-2025, to convene these mobilizations.

«I want to warn the Civic Committee and its coup sectors that, for every day of unemployment, Bolivia loses 122 million dollars and only the department of Santa Cruz, 32 million dollars», Montaño said last Thursday at a press conference.

Along with the rejection of Law 1386, the Federation of Professionals of Santa Cruz expressed its annoyance at the processing of another law, which is Law 342 and the PDES, because it would supposedly take away from the departmental and municipal governments and from the universities, the planning and financing faculties and execution of their plans.

The latter was denied by the Ministry of Public Works. The head of the portfolio recalled that the Bolivian Constitution establishes that the State defines economic policy and national planning, so «absolutely nothing is being violated».

The Arce government has warned that the true intention of the strike, by extreme right-wing groups, is to destabilize the Andean country.

«What they are seeking is to divide and weaken our social organizations to plunder our wealth», said Vice President David Choquehuanca.

Meanwhile, the Vice Minister of Communication of Bolivia, Gabriela Alcón, stressed that the strike will affect people who, on a daily basis, earn «their daily bread».

«Once again, the extreme anti-homeland right wing sector seeks to harm our beloved Bolivia with a strike», wrote  Evo Morales in a message posted on Friday on his Twitter account.

“They do not recognize the efforts of Brother President Luis Arce, who together with the working people, strives every day to recover and strengthen the economy. The strike destroys employment», added the Bolivian leader.

Where will the mobilizations take place?

On Wednesday, October 3, the president of the Pro Santa Cruz Civic Committee, Rómulo Calvo, announced an indefinite strike with a national scope, a call that was quickly denied in the following days.

«It is not true», clarified the representative of the Civic Committee of Oruro, Cecilio Pérez, on the claimed ‘national strike’ call. In addition, the spokesman criticized that instead of vindicating the needs and economic development projects of the departments, the committees turned everything into «politics».

“This strike harms health – due to the covid-19 pandemic – and the economic reactivation of the country. It is being managed politically so that the country does not advance», said Pérez.

In the department of Santa Cruz, where the extreme right-wing opponent Luis Fernando Camacho currently governs, major mobilizations are expected against the Arce government. It is a territory with strong influence from the Civic Committee.

The role of the Bolivian Civic Committee

Camacho was president of the Civic Committee and one of the main promoters of the coup against Morales, as well as one of the figures who supported the subsequent self-proclamation of Jeanine Áñez.

Just a month after the coup, Camacho appeared in a video posted on social networks, where he openly admitted that his father had reached an agreement with the Army and the Police to join his coup strategy against Morales.

As a result of the violence in the streets and after pressure from the high command of the Armed Forces, Morales was forced to resign from the Presidency of Bolivia on November 10, 2019, and went into exile in Mexico to save his life. .

It is in this context that the Arce government ministers refer to the destabilization attempts by the Civic Committee and other organizations. During the announcement of the indefinite strike, the president of this right-wing civil organization, Calvo, declared at a press conference: «This may be our last ‘round’ of us, the Bolivians».