Towards Regimes for Sustainable Mineral Resource Management:Constitutional Reform, Law and Judicial Decisions in Latin America

This chapter examines mining legislation trends in Latin America. It focuses on the interpretation of the judicial decisions of the Constitutional Court of Colombia regarding conditions and processes for decision-making in the context of mining projects. The authors present an initial overview of the economic organisation and the sector legislation model adopted in Bolivia. The chapter anticipates a shift from sectoral regimes, which focus on exploration and exploitation, towards regimes for decision-making processes that mainstream constitutional principles and legal frameworks that apply to managing territories and their natural resources. The emphasis lies on reflecting on gaps in legal and institutional design and on corresponding challenges. This includes the need to strengthen the capacities of institutions and the actors that participate in decision-making processes to advance efforts aimed at furthering sustainable mineral resource management in the region

Actividades en La Paz, Bolivia

Contiene el resumen de los proyectos realizados en los sitios pilotos de Bolivia: Proyecto Visión Andina del Agua y Proyecto: Derechos de Agua. Los principales logros en estos proyectos, así como las lecciones aprendidas. Concluye con recomendaciones para mejorar el desarrollo de las actividades en los sitios pilotos y en Unidad de Cordinación

Postliberal democracy emerging? A conceptual proposal and the case of Bolivia

Recent political changes across Latin America that challenge mainstream conceptions of liberal democracy have led to speculation about some kind of postliberal democracy possibly emerging in the region. Up to now, however, a systematic assessment of this proposition is lacking, as is an explicit conception of postliberal democracy. In order to contribute to filling this research gap, the present paper proposes a conceptual framework for analyzing political change towards postliberal democracy, in Latin America and beyond, and probes the plausibility of this framework in a case study on Bolivia. It argues that the concept of postliberal democracy indeed helps us understand the contemporary transformation of Bolivian democracy and that it has comparative advantages over alternative conceptual frameworks like (radical) populism and defective (illiberal, delegative) democracy

Privatization in Bolivia: The Impact on Firm Performance

This report studies the change in performance of Bolivian State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) that have been transferred to the private sector. The paper focuses particularly on how ownership affects management by measuring the characteristics of management and relating them to both ownership structure and performance. It argues that the characteristics of private management that follow privatization are a key factor in determining the effects of privatization on performance. To determine the impact of privatization on the performance of the 31 firms studied, the authors performed two ratio analyses, one with unadjusted and the other with adjusted ratios. For this purpose, they undertook two regression analyses, one with panel data and the other with a cross section analysis. Two methods were used to conduct privatization of Bolivian SOEs, and the process took place in three stages. The methods were traditional, or standard, privatization and capitalization. Traditional privatization consisted of the complete transfer (assets and shares) to the private sector of companies operating in competitive markets. Capitalization involved attracting private firms to invest in and manage key SOEs. SOEs were not sold outright. Instead, private investors gained managerial control but no more than 50 percent of equity.

SHOULD THE GOVERNMENT OF BELIZE CONSIDER USING EMERGING TECHNOLOGY AS A BETTER WAY OF MANAGING ITS BORDER?

As the world evolves and becomes more complex, border protection has become increasingly crucial for the safety of a nation. Belize’s investment in border security has continuously been a topic of interest since its independence in 1981. This thesis investigates whether the use of emerging technology will assist the government of Belize in creating a better method of managing security at its border. It found that countries using the technology might have advantages countering transnational criminal organizations and managing their borders. Using biometrics and sensors (ground and aerial) to detect and deter cross-border illegalities on Belize’s western border might help to control that border. It is recommended that Belize do further research and analysis into the use of emerging border technology and plan and prepare to implement the technology.Major, ArmyApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

Translation policy and indigenous languages in Hispanic Latin America

This article will critically examine the nature and role of translation policy in relation to language policy in the Andean-Amazonian region of South America, with examples from Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador. The historical legacy of Spanish colonization in this region resulted in widespread loss of the native Amerindian languages over the centuries, and still today the hegemony of Spanish ensures an ongoing process of language shift. Deep-rooted inequalities and discriminatory practices associated with linguistic and cultural difference characterize the societies of the countries we will discuss (Mannheim 1991; Howard 2007). Whereas translation and interpreting between Spanish and global foreign languages tend to be highly regulated practices, interpretation and translation between Spanish and the indigenous languages have been an ad hoc set of practices since colonial times, due to these societal asymmetries. We will start from the premises laid out by Meylaerts (2011), who reminds us that ´a translation policy is to be defined as a set of legal rules that regulate translation in the public domain´ and that, moreover, ´[a]ny language policy presupposes a translation policy´ (Meylaerts 2011: 165). In the postcolonial context of the Andean-Amazonian countries, and in light of the indigenous activism arising here in response to language policy and translation policy, the concept of ´policy as practice´ (Sutton & Levinson 2011: 1) is also salient. We will incorporate theory from critical social policy studies that allows us to think of policy not only as ´the conduct of political and public affairs by a government or an administration´ (Meylaerts 2011: 165) from the top down, but also as socially constructed practice from the bottom-up and among a diverse range of actors (Sutton & Levinson 2011). Across the three countries that form the focus of this study, an estimated xx languages belonging to an estimated xx language families are spoken. A State driven concern to legislate for language rights, and ultimately to formulate a national language policy, has been on the political agenda to varying degrees and with varying outcomes in the region over the past two decades. Different country-specific political and social contexts have given rise to variations in the ways the issue has been approached. Likewise, there are variations in the extent to which an attention to translation policy, as a part of language policy, has been explicitly formulated and acted upon. Peru provides the most advanced scenario in this respect, while strong interest in and awareness of the need for translation policy is expressed in the cases of Bolivia and Ecuador. This paper will examine these different scenarios in a comparative perspective, and will hope to have an impact in all three countries, bringing the notion of translation policy to the fore for the attention of policy makers. Within this wider context, the article will present a case study of Peru based on the authors´ recent in-country research. Language policy in Peru is being constructed on the basis of the Languages Act passed in 2011. It is of interest that the State is not yet articulating the notion of translation policy as such and yet de facto, through its actions, it is implementing an incipient translation policy as integral to language policy and as expressed in the law. Implementation includes state-sponsored training of indigenous people as accredited translators and interpreters to work between Spanish and their native languages in public service settings. We will give examples of how policy has benefited speakers of Quechua, Aymara, and some of the Amazonian languages

Political incorporation in measures of democracy: a missing dimension (and the case of Bolivia)

Since President Morales took office in Bolivia in early 2006, the country has undergone a complex political transformation. This profound process of change is, however, hardly reflected in established democracy indices, which by and large paint a picture of institutional continuity. Taking this puzzling observation as a starting point, the paper compares qualitative and quantitative assessments of Bolivia's contemporary political regime and argues that existing measures of democracy largely miss one key dimension that is crucial when it comes to analyzing (changes in) the quality of democracy: the issue of political incorporation. Specifically, the case of Bolivia shows that democracy indices mostly ignore important changes in terms of descriptive representation, party incorporation, and non-electoral participation. Privileging an individualist conception of liberal democracy, democracy measures downplay the relevance of collective forms of political representation and participation and, hence, the extent to which different social groups are or are not incorporated into the political system. As a result, these measures of democracy mostly do not "count" the recent progress in the political incorporation of important parts of the Bolivian population, which had been largely absent from the country's political institutions despite of two decades of continuous democratic rule

Evo es Pueblo: Indigeneity and Socialism in the Foreign Policy of Bolivian President Evo Morales

Evo Morales, an Aymara man, was the first Indigenous President of Bolivia, a majority-Indigenous country, from 2005-2019. He and his political party, Movimento al Socialismo (MAS), promised to center Indigenous concerns in Bolivia’s foreign policy by championing pro-environmental policies, nationalizing natural resources, and breaking ties with the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank. This essay examines the role of socialism and indigeneity in Morales’ foreign policy using his speeches at international venues such as the United Nations, tweets (@evoespueblo), op-eds in American news outlets, and interviews. Morales foregrounded his foreign policy in critiques of US imperialism and neoliberalism. The Indigenous leader constantly faced trade-offs between benefitting his Indigenous and peasant constituency and breaking promises of his anti-interventionist and pro-environment agenda. While it served Morales to cut ties with the US, he faced an uphill battle when developing transnational and international agreements with Brazil and China. Morales balanced protecting Indigenous and peasant concerns and developing the nation’s economy to pull Bolivia’s people out of extreme poverty. This essay attempts to paint an image of what it means to have Indigenous representation at the national and international levels. Trying to implement progressive policies in a market economy, Morales redefined Bolivian foreign policy

Indigenous Development: Poverty, Democracy and Sustainability

The contributions included in this volume reflect both the challenges and opportunities of an incipient process of reflection and dialogue between indigenous peoples, governments and development agencies on a subject of vital importance for the approximately 40 million indigenous people of the hemisphere. In addition to the critical issues of poverty reduction, self-development, indigenous rights and secured access to land and natural resources, a common thread throughout this volume is the close interrelationship between sound and sustainable socioeconomic development and the preservation and strengthening of cultural identity. This volume contains the English translation of a selection of essays and presentations made during the International Seminar on Indigenous Development: Poverty, Democracy and Sustainability, organized on the occasion of the First General Assembly of the Fund for the Development of the Indigenous Peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean (Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, May 22 and 23, 1995).Democracy, Afro Descendents & Indigenous Peoples, Culture & Arts, Poverty, indigenous peoples, poverty, democracy, sustainability, culture and arts