Bolivia and beyond

I've been busy organizing lately, with not much time for writing, but I can't resist telling the world about the smile that came across my face when I saw the news (from both leftist and mainstream sources) of Evo Morales' victory in today's presidential election in Bolivia. Not only did Morales win a plurality (which was expected), he appears to have unexpectedly won a clear majority, meaning he won't have to cobble together a coalition with conservative legislators in order to form a government. Perhaps the Bolivian social movements, which supported Morales' election but have been worried about the compromises his presidency might entail, can rest a little easier.

Despite the landslide victory, the new Bolivian majority will be far from uniform ideologically. The traditional socialist outlook of Morales' MAS (Movement to Socialism) party competes with indigenous nationalism, and there are tensions between the Aymaras (Morales' ethnic group) and the Quechuas, Bolivia's other major indigenous group. However, Morales is not wedded to the Marxist-Leninist orthodoxy that Fidel Castro adopted in the heat of the Cold War, when an alliance with the USSR was a matter of necessity for an anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist government stuck on a small island 90 miles from Florida. Morales appears to want to emulate Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, using the power of the state and the revenue from plentiful hydrocarbon reserves to give space and support to the grassroots social movements, rather than centralizing economic and political power.

Here's hoping the diverse social movements and leftist governments of Latin America (Chavez, Castro, Lula, et al), each of which has its own approach to resisting American capitalism, can continue to give each other the space to try different strategies while cooperating economically and politically to build a viable alternative economy that is just, equitable, and democratic and can resist pressure from Wall Street and Washington.

Morales' victory reinforces my belief that the main goal of North American social movements must be to organize broadly enough so that we may realistically demand that our society join the trend toward liberation building up to our south. (We won't be able to do this, however, without meaningful solidarity with the workers of China, since our imperial economy is actually inseparable from the manufacturing economy of China.)

I'll have more thoughts later on specific campaigns that might advance these long-term goals. In the meantime, any ideas?