Bolivian dictator buys votes
A CORRESPONDENT in
La Paz for the Swedish
Fourth Internationalist paper Internationalen sent the following dispatch on March 30 describing the presidential election campaign in the Andean country.
JOHAN ERIKSSON
IKE A GHOST from the past, he appears on the TV screen once eveallocated their resources as Bolivia. Only 21% of loans are used productively. Between 1971 and 1984, capital flight amounted to $677 million.
The bourgeois government headed by Victor Paz that came into office in 1985 has continued General Banzer's new freeenterprise economic policy. Every year, the Paz government has faithfully paid $300 million on the foreign debt. The austerity policy begun by Banzer has been continued. The poor are taking the consequences, and the social effects are dreadful.
### Inflation massively outstrips wage rises
Mining, the heart of Bolivia's economy, has been largely privatized. One hundred and twelve mines have been closed, and 100,000 workers have lost their jobs since 1985. In the same period, consumer prices have risen 269%, while wages have gone up on the average only by 15% a year. According to the Bolivian labor confederation, the COB, the average wage — about $58 a month — covers only ten days consumption. So, the average Bolivian family's consumption has shrunk by 40% over three years.
That was the aim of the new freeenterprisers. It is a policy that ordinary people here are thoroughly sick of. "This government" has become something of a swear word in the streets of La Paz.
The government party, the MNR, does not have very good prospects for winning the May elections. In a country where votes are bought for a sack of rice and where the left has failed to build a real alternative, former dictator Banzer could very well win the election.
General Banzer is being run by his party, the ADN [National Democratic Alliance] in alliance with the Christian Democrats. Outside Banzer's election headquarters on the Avenida 16 de Julio in La Paz, crowds of poor peasants gather every day. They want to join Banzer's party and get some material reward.
In a recent opinion poll, Banzer leads with 31.8% of the vote, as against 19% for the social-democratic MIR. Probably no candidate will get a majority. What is clear is that the real victor will again be new freeenterpriseism. *