Civil War Is Coming To Bolivia

A riot police officer keeps watch over residents shouting slogans outside the military airport in El Alto, where the governor of the northern province of Pando was to arrive after being detained on genocide charges.

A Brewing Civil War in Bolivia? -- Time Magazine

Despite the frantic efforts of Latin American diplomats to broker a truce, many Bolivians see the political violence that has shaken their country over the past week as the opening salvos of a civil war. "There isn't a bone in her body that's not broken," says Narda Baqueros, a mother of three who traveled 15 hours to the town of Cobija to retrieve the body of her niece Belki Paz Baqueros on Monday. In her mid-20s and three months pregnant, Belki was beaten to death early Friday morning by opponents of Bolivia's leftist President Evo Morales. "Everyone is armed and everyone is saying this is war," Baqueros says. "I saw patches of blood-stained grass everywhere, like there have been massacres."

At least 30 supporters of President Morales, and possibly a lot more, have been killed over the past week as an opposition campaign to obtain autonomy for the resource-rich eastern regions they control turned violent. The opposition Prefects are demanding greater control over policies ranging from land reform to the allocation of the earnings of Bolivia's natural gas exports, which originate in their regions. Earlier this year, the departments of Tarija, Santa Cruz, Pando and Beni voted overwhelmingly in favor of opposition-drafted autonomy statutes, but since those referenda were not sanctioned by the national electoral court, the central government refuses to recognize the results.

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More News On Bolivia

Bolivia government, opposition agree to talks -- AFP
Bolivia's Morales emerges stronger from crisis -- Reuters
Bolivia regains full control of natural gas lines -- The Guardian
Bolivian President, Opposition Agree to Talks to Defuse Crisis -- The Washington Post
Negotiators inch forward in Bolivia -- LA Times
Bolivia leaders agree roadmap to end conflict -- Swiss Info

My Comment: Morales has no interest in compromise. He has not in the past .... and I expect him to not change. These talks will only lay the groundwork for more unrest and violence when Morales and his allies start to expropriate and grab other people's assets and jobs.