Bolivia nears civil war

The conflict in Bolivia has boiled over, with violence across the eastern provinces. The eastern region, which has traditionally been more wealthy than the western region (populated mainly by indigenous people), has chafed under Morales, who is the nation's first indigenous president, and has been socializing the economy and aggregating more power towards the state. The conflict is tinged with racial undertones, and the Washington Times article says that "[m]ilitancy in the east is increasingly laced with racist rhetoric against Andean Indians." The eastern region – wealthier and whiter – has never supported Morales' socialist designs for Bolivia, and the particular bone of contention at the moment are the riches of Bolivian natural gas, which Morales wants to funnel into social programs for indigenous Bolivians in the west. Militants from the east have blocked crucial energy pipelines out of the country, and Stratfor reports that there are rumors that the government has been using live ammunition against the protestors. Stratfor says there is a distinct possibility that a civil war will ensue. As is expected, Morales' buddy Chávez has supported the Bolivian government with military aid, but if the conflict gets much worse, it could be the first popular affront to Chávez's coterie of Latin American socialist elected authoritarians.

Bolivia's eastern regions chafe under socialist rule

In Bolivia, an interesting battle is brewing between the wealthy, more European-blooded residents of the eastern states and the poorer, indigenous-blooded residents of the western part of the country. Bolivia's president is Evo Morales, a dark-skinned socialist who rose to power on the back of anti-capitalist discontent and Hugo Chávez's aggressive push to turn his corner of the world red. The struggle's latest incarnation is a series of referenda for more autonomy for the western states, whose main center is in Santa Cruz:

As presidents from Venezuela to Ecuador and Bolivia vow that they, for the very first time, are governing for the poor, the oppressed, and the indigenous, Latin America is in the midst of a power struggle. Conservative leaders say it is their new responsibility to double up efforts to stem the tide of Mr. Chávez and his leftist coalition – which they claim is not addressing the welfare of those most in need, but attempting to consolidate power and undermine liberties across the region.

"We don't want this to end here," says Carlos Pablo Klinsky, the president of the caucus of legislators in Santa Cruz who helped usher in the autonomy referendum. On Sunday, Bolivians in the Amazonian states of Beni and Pando overwhelmingly voted for more autonomy. With three victories and a fourth vote planned for June 22, Bolivia is emerging as an epicenter of a growing pushback against Latin America's left.