National Coordinator for Change

Last updated

The National Coordinator for Change (Spanish : Coordinadora Nacional por el Cambio; CONALCAM) is a Bolivian political coordination of social movements aligned with the governing Movement for Socialism-Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples (MAS-IPSP). [1] It was founded on 22 January 2007, during the Constituent Assembly of 2006-2007. [2] [3] CONALCAM mobilizes its member organizations in support of the "process of change" which includes the drafting and implementing of a new Constitution as well as a variety of social reforms.

Contents

Structure

According to the organization's statute in September 2010, CONALCAM is made up of the following parts: the President and Vice President of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, social movement organizations, the national leadership of MAS-IPSP, and the parliamentary brigade of MAS-IPSP members in the Plurinational Legislative Assembly. [4]

CONALCAM is governed by a National Leadership (Spanish : Dirección Nacional), elected once every two years with the following seven offices: President; General Secretary; Secretaries of Political Affairs, Organic (i.e., Internal) Affairs, International Affairs, and of Resolutions; and a Spokesperson. [4]

In 2010, the organization moved to increase its local and regional activities and incorporated into its statute Departmental and Regional organizations: CODECAMs and CORECAMs. [4]

Member organizations

As of September 2010, there are twenty national social movement organizations affiliated with CONALCAM, including the Constituent Assembly. [4] Among these organizations are:

Conalcam also includes mining cooperatives, leftwing parties,[ examples needed ] vendors' guilds, neighbourhood associations, associations of small business enterprises, youth organizations and popular civic committees. [1]

Mobilizations

CONALCAM was the key mobilizing organization for supporters of the MAS and the draft constitution during the 2008 unrest in Bolivia. In October 2008, it organized a march from Caracollo to La Paz to pressure the National Congress to authorize a referendum on the new constitution, which the Congress did on October 21, as tens of thousands of protesters flooded central La Paz. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plurinational Legislative Assembly</span> National legislature of Bolivia

The Plurinational Legislative Assembly is the national legislature of Bolivia, placed in La Paz, the country's seat of government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Movimiento al Socialismo</span> Political party in Bolivia

Movement for Socialism – Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples, is a socialist political party in Bolivia. Its followers are known as Masistas. In the December 2005 election, MAS-IPSP won the first ever majority victory by a single Bolivian party. The party continued to rule until 10 November 2019, and was victorious again in the 2020 elections.

The Confederation of Indigenous Peoples of Bolivia is a national representative organization of the Bolivian indigenous movement. It was founded in October 1982 in Santa Cruz de la Sierra as the Confederation of Indigenous Peoples of the Bolivian East, with the participation of representatives of four indigenous peoples of the Bolivian East: Guarani-Izoceños, Chiquitanos, Ayoreos and Guarayos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Choquehuanca</span> Vice president of Bolivia since 2020

David Choquehuanca Céspedes is a Bolivian diplomat, peasant leader, politician, and trade unionist serving as the 39th vice president of Bolivia since 2020. A member of the Movement for Socialism, he previously served as minister of foreign affairs from 2006 to 2017 and as secretary general of ALBA from 2017 to 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constitution of Bolivia</span> Supreme law of Bolivia

The current Constitution of Bolivia came into effect on 7 February 2009 when it was promulgated by President Evo Morales, after being approved in a referendum with 90.24% participation. The referendum was held on 25 January 2009, with the constitution being approved by 61.43% of voters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 Bolivian regional elections</span>

The 2010 Bolivian regional elections were held on 4 April 2010. Departmental and municipal authorities were elected by an electorate of approximately 5 million people. Among the officials elected are:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presidency of Evo Morales</span>

The Presidency of Evo Morales began on January 22, 2006 when Evo Morales was inaugurated as the 80th President of Bolivia, following his victory in the 2005 general election, where he won 53.7% of the vote, defeating Jorge Quiroga, Samuel Doria Medina, and several other candidates. Morales increased taxation on the hydrocarbon industry to bolster social spending, emphasising projects to combat illiteracy, poverty, racism, and sexism. Vocally criticizing neoliberalism and reducing Bolivia's dependence on the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, his administration oversaw strong economic growth while following a policy termed "Evonomics" which sought to move from a liberal economic approach to a mixed economy. Scaling back U.S. influence in the country, he built relationships with leftist governments in the Latin American pink tide and signed Bolivia into the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas. Attempting to moderate the left-indigenous activist community, his administration also opposed the right-wing autonomist demands of Bolivia's eastern provinces. Winning a recall referendum in 2008, he instituted a new constitution that established Bolivia as a plurinational state and was re-elected in 2009. His second term witnessed the continuation of leftist policies and Bolivia's joining of the Bank of the South and Community of Latin American and Caribbean States; he was again reelected in the 2014 general election. Following the disputed 2019 general election and the ensuing unrest, Morales resigned and flew to Mexico where he had been granted political asylum.

The Assembly for the Sovereignty of the Peoples was a political organization in Bolivia. It was formed as a "political instrument" of the popular movements of the country. Alejo Véliz was the national president of ASP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Left (Bolivia)</span>

The United Left was a political coalition in Bolivia. IU was launched ahead of the 1989 national elections, as a successor of the United People's Front (FPU). At the time of its founding IU consisted of eight parties, including the Revolutionary Left Movement - Free Bolivia (MIR-BL), the Communist Party of Bolivia (PCB), the Socialist Party-1 (PS-1), the Axis of Patriotic Convergence (ECP), the Movement for Socialist-Unzaguist (MAS-U) and FOM.

The Pact of Unity is an evolving national alliance of Bolivian grassroots organizations in support of indigenous and agrarian rights, land reform, the rewriting of the 1967 constitution through a Constituent Assembly, and a left-indigenous transformation of the Bolivian state. Since 2005, the Pact has been a close ally of Bolivian President Evo Morales, and it forms the nucleus of the National Coordination for Change, a pro-government alliance.

The 2013 Beni special gubernatorial election was held on 20 January 2013. The elections were held to replace the interim governor of Beni Department with an elected executive who will serve until 2015. Numerous observers described the election as an important test of political strength in eastern Bolivia: a MAS victory would signal the retreat of the Media Luna right-wing alliance to Santa Cruz department alone; while a Beni First victory would dash MAS' political ambitions in the department.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Bolivian general election</span> General election in Bolivia

General elections were held in Bolivia on 12 October 2014, the second to take place under the country's 2009 constitution, and the first supervised by the Plurinational Electoral Organ, a newly created fourth branch of government. Incumbent President Evo Morales was re-elected for a third term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1st Plurinational Legislative Assembly of Bolivia</span>

The 2010–2015 Plurinational Legislative Assembly of Bolivia was the first class of the Bolivian legislature, also known as the Plurinational Legislative Assembly, to go by that name. The Assembly was controlled in both houses by the governing Movement for Socialism (MAS-IPSP), elected with a 2/3 supermajority, although some members later separated themselves from the majority. Just four incumbent members of the 2005–2010 Congress returned: Deputy Antonio Franco; Deputy Javier Zabaleta (MAS-IPSP/MSM); Senator René Martínez (MAS-IPSP), who was a deputy; and Senator Róger Pinto, previously of Podemos and now representing PPB-CN.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eliane Capobianco</span> Bolivian politician (born 1973)

Beatriz Eliane Capobianco Sandoval is a Bolivian lawyer and politician who served as minister of rural development and lands from January to November 2020. A member of the Social Democratic Movement, she previously served as a party-list member of the Chamber of Deputies from Santa Cruz from 2015 to 2019 on behalf of the Democratic Unity coalition. Before that, she served as a member of the Constituent Assembly from Santa Cruz, representing circumscription 51 from 2006 to 2007 on behalf of the Social Democratic Power alliance. A professional in cadastre and land and real estate registration, Capobianco held numerous positions linked to Santa Cruz's agribusiness sector, including serving twice as departmental director of the National Institute of Agrarian Reform, first from 2001 to 2002 and again from 2019 to 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marcela Revollo</span> Bolivian politician (born 1964)

Miriam Marcela Revollo Quiroga is a Bolivian academic, politician, and sociologist who served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies from La Paz, representing circumscription 10 from 2010 to 2015. Though Revollo's political career is closely linked to that of her husband, longtime La Paz Mayor Juan del Granado, her political origins are independent of marriage. A graduate of the higher universities of San Simón and San Andrés, Revollo entered political life as an activist in the student movement and was a steadfast advocate for the inclusion of women in the country's democratic process. Together with her husband, she founded the Fearless Movement, with which she was elected as a party-list member of the Constituent Assembly from La Paz from 2006 to 2007. As a parliamentarian, she continued to work toward the advancement of women's causes, largely supporting the social policies enacted by the ruling Movement for Socialism, even as she simultaneously criticized many of the administration's illiberal practices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franz Choque</span> Bolivian politician (born 1969)

Franz Gróver Choque Ulloa is a Bolivian industrial engineer, lawyer, and politician who served as vice minister of employment, civil service, and cooperatives from 2019 to 2020. A member of the Social Democratic Movement, he previously served as a party-list member of the Chamber of Deputies from Oruro from 2010 to 2014 on behalf of the National Convergence alliance and as a member of the Constituent Assembly from Oruro, representing circumscription 32 from 2006 to 2007 on behalf of the Social Democratic Power alliance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romina Pérez</span> Bolivian diplomat and politician (born 1958)

Romina Guadalupe Pérez Ramos is a Bolivian academic, diplomat, politician, and sociologist who served as ambassador of Bolivia to Iran from 2019 to 2020 and since 2021. A member of the Movement for Socialism, she previously served as a party-list member of the Chamber of Deputies from Cochabamba from 2015 to 2019. Pérez graduated as a sociologist from the Higher University of San Simón before completing postgraduate studies in the European Union. She comes from a generation of leftist academics who entered political activity as activists against the military dictatorships of the 1970s and 80s, as well as the neoliberal democratic governments that succeeded them. Her work in the field of women's and ethnic rights led her to join multiple NGOs, including the Center for Legal Studies and Social Research, through which many academics and intellectuals became politically linked with the Movement for Socialism. In 2014, she won a seat in the Chamber of Deputies on the party's electoral list but did not complete her term, being appointed ambassador to Iran in mid-2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mireya Montaño</span> Bolivian politician (born 1978)

Carol Mireya Montaño Rocha is a Bolivian lawyer, politician, and trade unionist who served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies from La Paz, representing circumscription 11 from 2015 to 2020. A member of the Movement for Socialism, Montaño entered politics as head of the party's youth wing in El Alto, later serving as secretary of organization of the Federation of Neighborhood Councils. Her party's alliance with El Alto's neighborhood councils facilitated Montaño's entry into the Chamber of Deputies. In 2009, she was elected as a substitute deputy representing La Paz's circumscription 14 and in 2014, she became one of the few ruling party parliamentarians to be presented for reelection, this time for a full seat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cecilia Requena</span> Bolivian politician (born 1967)

Cecilia Isabel Requena Zárate is a Bolivian academic, environmentalist, and politician serving as senator for La Paz since 2020. Educated at the Bolivian Catholic University with postgraduate experience at institutes in Europe and the Americas, Requena got her career start as an environmental activist, holding leadership positions in prominent environmental rights agencies. She later did consulting and research work for non-government organizations such as the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, even directing the Bolivian branch of Transparency International.

References

  1. 1 2 "Futuro de Conalcam se define mañana :: Noticias de Bolivia de último momento". fmbolivia.com.bo. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  2. "Nace la Coordinadora por el Cambio," Constituyente Soberana (website), January 23, 2007
  3. 1 2 Moira Zuazo, "¿Los movimientos sociales en el poder? El gobierno del MAS en Bolivia," Nueva Sociedad 227, May-June 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 4 CONALCAM (September 2010). CONALCAM: Declaración de Principios; Reglamento (in Spanish). La Paz: Ministerio de la Presidencia, Vice Ministro de Coordinación con Movimientos Sociales y Sociedad Civil. p. 19.