THE NEW LEFT IN ECUADOR & BOLIVIA

ANDEAN NEW LEFT PRESIDENTS EVO MORALES AYMA PRESIDENT OF BOLIVIA 2006-PRESENT “REVOLUCIÓN EN DEMOCRACIA” RAFAEL CORREA PRESIDENT OF ECUADOR 2007-PRESENT “REVOLUCIÓN CIUDADANA”

BASIC FACTS BOLIVIA Population: 10 million 55-60% Indigenous GDP per capita: $4,800 HDI Rank: 95 (Medium) One of poorest & least developed countries in hemisphere ECUADOR Population: 15 million 15-40% Indigenous GDP per capita: $7,800 HDI Rank: 77 (High) Oil reliant economy – half of export earnings & third of gov’t budget

A LEFTIST GOVERNMENT TYPOLOGY FROM ESSAY BY JUAN PABLO LUNA Nature of change sought Constraints LowConstraints High Ameliorationist/ Institutional ChileUruguay Radical/ConstituentVenezuelaBolivia

NEW LEFT AGENDAS – COMBINING NEW & OLD NATIONAL-POPULAR Economic & Political inclusion State-led development Sovereignty & Nationalism 21ST CENTURY & POST-MODERN ADDITIONS Commitment to Democracy Participation Regional Cooperation & Integration Post-modern Agendas Identity Environment

HISTORICAL CONTEXT: DECADE OF SOCIAL MOBILIZATION & PROTEST Indigenous uprising 1994 – Indigenous protest agrarian reform law 1995 – Social movement campaign against neoliberal reforms 1996 – Formation of Pachakutik 1997 – President Bucaram ousted – Austerity, financial collapse & bank bailout, Indigenous-military coup removes President Mahuad; dollarization 2005 –President Gutiérrez ousted 2006 – Correa elected in second round 1990s:  Indigenous march for Dignity & Life  Cocalero movement organizes  Formation of MAS 2000:  Water War – Cochabamba  Altiplano protests  Cocalero protests 2002 – Morales runs for president 2003:  Police mutiny - “Black February”  Gas War - “Red October”  Sánchez de Lozada resigns 2005 – Morales elected in 1st round with 54% of vote ECUADORBOLIVIA

POPULAR AGENDAS IN ECUADOR & BOLIVIA ECUADOR Constituent Assembly Plurinationalism Transparency in government Participatory Democracy Post-petroleum development model Close US-base at Manta Reject FTA with US Regional cooperation BOLIVIA Constituent Assembly Plurinationalism & indigenous autonomies Land reform Nationalization of gas End coca eradication policies No to FTAA Regional cooperation

“THE GAS IS NOT FOR SALE” “MESA TRAITOR” - BOLIVIA

HYDROCARBON NATIONALIZATION – MAY 2007 Conditions: State assumed ownership of 51% of shares Foreign companies given 180 days to readjust to new legislation or leave country Earnings: 82% to gov’t; 18% foreign companies Results: Nationalization + high international prices  Steep rise in gov’t revenue; massive gov’t spending helped avert recession in 2009

CORREA PLAYED HARDBALL WITH FOREIGN COMPANIES AND CREDITORS Contract renegotiation with foreign oil companies  windfall profit tax increased from 50% to 99%, then back down to 70% Default and buyback cleared off third of total foreign debt Debt payments went from 30% of national budget to 15%

SOCIAL SPENDING IN ECUADOR As % of national budget increased from 3% to 30%, and as % of GDP from 5.4.% in 2006 to 8.3% in 2008: Doubling of cash transfer payment to poorest households Investment in housing for low-income families: $460 million during first 3 years, 7x what previous administrations invested. 180,000 homes built New programs in education, training & microfinance Spending on healthcare doubled to 3.5% of GDP ($1.8 billion): Expansion of free healthcare programs, esp. for women & children 52 new health establishments Remodeling of 469 health clinics & hospitals Investment in equipment & new ambulances Provision of free medicine

ECUADOR IMPROVEMENTS IN POVERTY & INEQUALITY Percentage of Ecuadorians Living Below the Poverty Line:  Dec = 37.6%  Dec = 32.76% GINI Index:  Dec =  Dec = 0.504

BOLIVIA – PUBLIC INVESTMENT & SOCIAL PROGRAMS Public Investment increased as % of GDP: 6.3% in % in 2009 Large increase in infrastructure investments Spending on social programs increased, but not by as much as might have been expected: Bono Juancito Pinto – grants to keep children in school Renta Dignidad – grants to low-income elderly Bono Juana Azurduy – funds to new mothers who seek medical care pre & post-pregnancy Little movement in poverty rates between 2005 and 2009

RETHINKING DEVELOPMENT & PROTECTING MOTHER EARTH ECUADOR Conceptual: Samak Kawsay - Buen vivir Constitution: Rights of nature Access to water is a human right Communities, “pueblos” & “naciones” must be consulted about extractive activities Prohibition on drilling in national reserves & parks Policies and Projects: Case against Chevron – settled for $18 billion ITT – Yasuni Project

RETHINKING DEVELOPMENT & PROTECTING MOTHER EARTH BOLIVIA Leadership in international climate talks World Peoples’ Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth – Cochabamba, 2010 Law of Mother Earth

EVO MORALES, OPENING REMARKS AT WORLD PEOPLES’ CLIMATE CHANGE SUMMIT, 2010 “We have only two paths: Mother Earth or death. Either capitalism dies or Mother Earth dies. Capitalism lives or Mother Earth lives.”

MORALES - INAUGURAL ADDRESS 2006 “This democratic cultural struggle, this cultural democratic revolution is part of the struggle of our ancestors, the continuity of the struggle of Tupaj Katari. That struggle and our results today form part of the trajectory of Che Guevara. Brothers & sisters of Bolivia & LA, we have arrived. We are going to continue until we achieve equality for our country. It is not necessary to concentrate capital in a few hands so that many die of hunger. These policies have to change, but they have to change in democracy.”

INNOVATIVE COMPONENTS OF ECUADORIAN CONSTITUTION Economic & social rights Greater state regulation of business & labor rights Progressive tax structure Controls over presidential power to enter into international treaties Prohibition on bank bailouts Curtailment of media ownership by financial institutions Prohibition on foreign troops or bases in Ecuador