Run Evo Run - for Governor of Cochabamba

Granted, it isn’t likely to have the raw star power and political weirdness of my home state electing Arnold Schwarzenegger as chief executive. Nevertheless, the race for governor of Cochabamba is on and it promises to be solid political theater in its own right.

The race to lead the state (not the city) of Cochabamba is historic because up until now the governors of Bolivia nine states (called departments here) have always been appointed by the President. As a result of the demands for “autonomy” during protests in Santa Cruz earlier this year, President Mesa declared that the governors (called prefectos here) will be directly elected.

The governor’s race in Cochabamba is a field of recycled faces, some of them pretty ugly, politically speaking. The party of former dictator-turned-President Hugo Banzer has collapsed, but its remnants have produced two candidates. Jose Orias might better be called “the butcher of Cochabamba”. As Banzer’s man in charge during the Cochabamba water revolt in 2000 he was responsible more than any other for the use of military repression to defend Bechtel, which included the cold-blooded killing of 17-year-old, unarmed, Victor Hugo Daza. Another Banzer alumnus is Tito Hoz de Vila. The last time I spotted him he was shaking hands as a Vice Presidential candidate and then running hilariously away from a voter who offered him some coca leaves to chew.

The other big recycled name is Manfred “Bon Bom” Ryes Villa, the allegedly good looking former Mayor of Cochabamba who’s career highlights include spending the city into massive debt to fund such flashy public works projects as a gondola ride to the tallest Jesus statue in the world. A lot of folks would rather have had drinking water.

The more interesting issue is who will run as the candidate of the Socialist Party (MAS) which came within a whisker of winning the city’s mayorship last year. The state of Cochabamba includes all of the city plus the rural areas of the region which are the most solid political base of MAS leader Evo Morales, the second place finisher for Present in 2002 and a leading candidate for 2007. Speculation in the press centers on Jorge Alvarado, the engineer who took over leadership of the new public water company when Bechtel was kicked out and who was later elected to Congress.

MAS has a real shot at winning the governorship. I wish that Evo would run himself. It is not that I am a big Evo fan. The farther away you get from Bolivia the more romantic his image becomes. The closer up the more you get first hand reports of the same warts that any political leader has.

It is more that, if Evo is going to grow as a national leader and of the political left is going to become a viable governing party, Morales and his party need to show that they can actually govern something besides the coca growers union and a political party. It would be great to see the department of Cochabamba become a place where alternative ideas as well as MAS get put to the test.

Two decades ago, now Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was just as much an outsider and just as feared by parts of his country as Evo Morales is in Bolivia today. His Labor Party built itself up by slowly winning political control of cities and states and steadily learning the difficult task of actually governing and demonstrating some solid successes.

I’d like to see Evo and MAS take the same route. Long before I turned my attention to advocacy I served in government, as an aide to the California Legislature. Solving policy problems in the real world and learning when to compromise and when not to is a vital skill. There is only one way to learn it – governing. Cochabamba would be a good place for Bolivia’s left to begin doing that.