The Media Luna () or Media Luna Ampliada () refers to a group of four departments – Santa Cruz,

Beni is a Japanese R&B singer, who debuted in 2004 under the Avex Trax label. In 2008, Arashiro left Avex Trax and transferred to Universal Music Japan where she started to perform as simply Beni (stylized as BENI). She was initially best known fo ...

, Pando, and

Tarija Tarija or San Bernardo de la Frontera de Tarixa is a city in southern Bolivia. Founded in 1574, Tarija is the largest city and capital and municipality within the Tarija Department, with an airport ( Capitán Oriel Lea Plaza Airport, (TJA)) off ...

– in Bolivia which are home to a greater proportion of opponents to the national government led by

Evo Morales Juan Evo Morales Ayma (; born 26 October 1959) is a Bolivian politician, trade union organizer, and former cocalero activist who served as the 65th president of Bolivia from 2006 to 2019. Widely regarded as the country's first president to c ...

and the Movement for Socialism (MAS) than the rest of the country. Pando has seen increasing support for MAS since 2009, while Tarija was initially supportive but has opposed MAS in every election after 2014. In contrast to the predominantly Indigenous Andean (

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language **So ...

and

Aymara Aymara may refer to: Languages and people * Aymaran languages, the second most widespread Andean language ** Aymara language, the main language within that family ** Central Aymara, the other surviving branch of the Aymara(n) family, which today ...

) populations of the Andean region such as La Paz and Cochabamba, the departments in the Media Luna are majority mestizo, as well as being made up of the remaining 26 groups of lowland indigenes with white minorities, specifically in Santa Cruz de la Sierra.

Overview

The name comes from the general crescent shape made by the four departments. The term ''media luna'' was coined soon after the election of

to designate the mostly eastern-located departments that objected to the nationalization and redistribution of natural gas that is a major natural resource in the region and the policy of land reform that would be most vigorously enacted in those regions. The prefects of Santa Cruz,

, and

elected in the December 2005 elections all hailed from Bolivian opposition parties. These governors formed the National Council for Democracy (CONALDE). In 2008, these departments were the major areas of violence between supporters of the national government and supporters of autonomy for the departments. The list of ''Media Luna'' departments was extended by some observers to include the departments of

Cochabamba Cochabamba ( ay, Quchapampa; qu, Quchapampa) is a city and municipality in central Bolivia in a valley in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cochabamba Department and the fourth largest city in Bolivia, with a population of 630 ...

and Chuquisaca in 2007 and 2008. Cochabamba's prefect,

Manfred Reyes Villa Manfred Armando Antonio Reyes Villa Bacigalupi (born April 19, 1954) is a Bolivian politician, businessman, and former military officer. He was elected mayor of the city of Cochabamba five consecutive times, and became the elected Prefect of ...

endorsed the other ''Media Luna'' governors' proposals for departmental autonomy. In June 2008, opposition member Savina Cuéllar was elected as Prefect of Chuquisaca, marking a high point of opposition power. However in the 2008 recall referendum, Reyes Villa was recalled. In Chuquisaca as well as Tarija, Morales enjoyed majority support in the 2008 referendum only in the rural areas, while the capital cities ( Sucre and

respectively) had a majority for recalling Morales.Hans Zandvliet,
Evolución Electoral del MAS en Bolivia en las Elecciones y Referéndums desde 2005 al 2009
''. Following the Porvenir Massacre, Pando's opposition prefect

Leopoldo Fernández Leopoldo Fernández Ferreira (born 22 May 1952) is a Bolivian politician. A member of Social and Democratic Power (PODEMOS) Fernández was Prefect (Governor) of the northern Bolivian department of Pando from 2006 to 2008. Fernández was the f ...

, who was arrested and detained for his suspected involvement in the massacre of at least 20 peasants, was replaced by an interim prefect from the military in September 2008. Morales has seen increasing support in Pando since the 2009 elections, while Tarija has switched between popular support and opposition over several elections (supporting Morales up through the 2014 elections, then opposing in those thereafter).

References

{{Reflist

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Governors of the so called "media luna" will meet with Secretary of the OAS, Dante Caputo in Tarija
Politics of Bolivia Electoral geography Regionalism (politics)

Overview

See also

References

External links