REALITY  IN  THE  WORLD

BOLIVIA

ENGLISH

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Reality in Bolivia
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The actual crisis in Bolivia is social, economic and politics. On the social plan, despite the increase of the services, the poverty and the vulnerability they are in growth. The exposure of the families to the shocks and the continuous change, above all among the poor men of the countries is ramatically worsened. On the economic plan, growth has been miserable and accompanied by the increase of the unemployment and the underemployment structural. More than the 70% of the new places of employment created in the last 15 years has been in the sector" informal." On the political plan, Bolivia is seen a dramatic crisis: the governments and her" political class" as it calls here her it witnesses a crisis of legitimacy unprecedented.

These three different sectors of crisis are clearly connected to the politics imposed by the international financial institutions, particularly way from the International Fund Monetary. Analysis clearly shows that the politics prescribed by the IMF, among the other, they have not produced a strong or sustainable growth; they have opened the road to new social vulnerabilities to the countries, to the communities and the families; they have accented the inequalities, that brake the growth, they conduct the political systems to the point of breakup and they produce new and powerful forms of crime and social tension.

Bolivia has been a pupil model for these" reforms" and, it is also now an exemplary case of the contradictions and the crisis that these politics produce. Later almost two decades of" reform" and of structural adjustment Bolivia is grown" even though is grown" slowly; the Bolivians are socially more and more vulnerabilities and more and more poor, while the society in its complex is iniquitous more and more and unequivocally unfair. Reference should be made to the political aspect.

The political prescriptions of the IMF have systematically escaped the fundamental decisions of economic politics to the political trial. This" emptying" some real politics has weighed a lot on the crisis of legitimacy of the" political class." The IMF has accepted the appeal of the organizations of the civil society to include, in the dialogues for the elaboration of strategies for the reduction of the poverty," the problems macro economic", but without naivety it proposes that of such problems are made load the national governments: that same governments whose hands are tied up from the conditions of the IMF.

The actual crisis in Bolivia brings the imprint of the politics of the IMF, both in terms of structural conditions and immediate of causes. The anaemic growth, two, both to inside factors and to external factors to Bolivia, you/he/she has had resulted as to dramatic fiscal crisis: the deficit is now esteemed superior to the 8%. The prescriptions of the IMF have dark been austerity and of further hold of strap: on the slope of the expense the IMF recalls to one" flexible situation" of the government expenditure, that means to adjust the salaries of the public sector to the national economic output and to allow the devaluation to erodes the value of the contributions of the pensions. The character against the poor men of these measures should be clear.

On the slope of the entrance (wants to say) a heavy taxation more and more, that essentially means to make to pay more taxes to the people, primarily to the poor men and the middle class and the strength beginning of the exports of the natural gas. Bolivia has enormous reserves of natural gas. Nevertheless as must be exploits the gas and to whom the profits will go, in Bolivia they are thematic animated politics. There is a good motive for an animate debate: You Bolivia has passed through the 3 bigger cycles of export of non renewable commodities: the silver in the XIX century, the guano and the rubber toward the end of the 800, the pond in the XX century.

These cycles of exports have never set the bases for the construction of a prosperous, productive and correct society. Contrarily, Bolivia is one of the prosperous and more unfair societies of Latin America. The question, that justly the Bolivians are set, is it": In that way the next cycle of exports of non renewable good will be translated in a real development?"

Two things macaws clear for the Bolivians: the political ones, submitted to the management and the dictats of the IMF, you/they have given test to absolutely be deceitful in the management of the economic affairs of the country. In this context, the IMF has coherently supported and promoted the precipitous run of the political class to the export of the gas on basic the of conditions and accords, that macaws destined to translate this further cycle of exports in another sad chapter of squandering of wealth and under development. This Khan be seen him/it in the last Accord for the Support, signed with fifty-fifty Bolivia 2003 and in the followings revisions of the same to August and in September of 2003.

The" problem of the gas" it is the political matter related to the most important development in Bolivia today. Some sectors sustain that first of all in Bolivia productive activity should be created and not for the exports; others ask for to slow down for allowing that the exports bring profits to the country, contributing to the growth of the productive ability of the productivity and to the reduction of the poverty. In every case, there is an application of transparency and discussion in a trial that will have enormous consequences for the future of Bolivia.

But the position of the IMF goes to opposite direction, sustaining the rapids conclusion of dark accords stipulated among multinationals not transparent and political gluttons, that people cannot know on thing concerns, and still less you/he/she can appraise and to make to feel his. It is clear that the position of the IMF on this problem and the traditional antidemocratic practices of the last decades they have only underlined the lack of transparency and the structural absence of democracy, adding to them turns gasoline to the fire that today consumes Bolivia.
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The realization of this article has been possible graces to the collaboration of some friends of mine journalists and photographers Argentinians and Bolivian, that have given me the possibility to make a reconstruction of some social phenomenons that an indelible sign is leaving in the history of the humanity  through their precious documentation -       Piero C.
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