The (Rich) People’s Republic of Santa Cruz, Bolivia

A number of my readers have asked me what observations I have to share about the ongoing protests in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, where civic groups are demanding “autonomy”. I don’t want to hold myself out as an authority on the situation, but here are some thoughts.

First, do not make the mistake of characterizing the Santa Cruz revolt as a rebellion of the poor. I had to clear that up just last night in a radio interview with a station in California.

This one is being led by business leaders and others who are among the wealthiest people in the nation. It is no coincidence whatsoever that the departments of Santa Cruz and Tarija (which is joining the autonomy protests) also happen to be where Bolivia’s huge reserves of natural gas sit under the ground. If you want to translate autonomy, you might begin with: “We are sitting on the gas, we want to do the negotiations with the foreign oil companies, we want to get as big a share as possible, and we want to take control of it.”

The call for autonomy reminds me of the old story about the socialist farmer. One day he tries explaining socialism to his neighbor, who asks:

“So, let me get this straight, if you have two cows and I don’t have any, you give me two?”

“Exactly!”

“And if you have six chickens and I don’t have any, you give me three?”

“That’s right!”

“And if you have four pigs and I don’t have any, you give me two?”

“Hold on there, I HAVE four pigs.”

When Bolivia’s mineral wealth was the silver and tin in places like Potosi and Oruro Santa Cruz and Tarija were plenty happy to be a part of Bolivia. “But wait, I HAVE fifteen trillion cubic feet of natural gas!”