Movement for Socialism (Bolivia)
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The Movement for Socialism–Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples ( es, Movimiento al Socialismo–Instrumento Político por la Soberanía de los Pueblos, abbreviated MAS-IPSP, or simply MAS,
pun A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophoni ...
ning on ''
más Mas, Más or MAS may refer to: Film and TV * Más y Menos, fictional superhero characters, from the Teen Titans animated television series * "Más" (''Breaking Bad''), a season three episode of ''Breaking Bad'' Songs * ''Más'' (album), by Span ...
'', Spanish for "more"), alternately referred to as the Movement Towards Socialism or the Movement to Socialism ( es, Movimiento al Socialismo ), is a Bolivian
left-wing populist Left-wing populism, also called social populism, is a political ideology that combines left-wing politics with populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric often consists of anti- elitism, opposition to the Establishment, and speaking for the "com ...
political party 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 ...
, founded in 1998. Its followers are known as ''Masistas''. MAS-IPSP has governed the country from 22 January 2006, following the first ever majority victory by a single party in the December 2005 elections, to 10 November 2019, and since the 2020 elections. MAS-IPSP evolved out of the movement to defend the interests of
coca Coca is any of the four cultivated plants in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. Coca is known worldwide for its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine. The plant is grown as a cash crop in the Argentine Northwest, Bolivia, ...
growers. Evo Morales has articulated the goals of his party and popular organizations as the need to achieve plurinational unity, and to develop a new
hydrocarbon In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons are examples of group 14 hydrides. Hydrocarbons are generally colourless and hydrophobic, and their odors are usually weak or ...
law which guarantees 50% of revenue to Bolivia, although political leaders of MAS-IPSP recently interviewed showed interest in complete nationalization of the fossil fuel industries, as well as the country's
lithium Lithium (from el, λίθος, lithos, lit=stone) is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid ...
deposits. MAS-IPSP is the dominant force in municipal politics in Bolivia. In the most recent municipal elections in 2015, it was the only party to contest leadership of all 339 municipalities. In all, the mayors of 227 municipalities belong to the party, as do 1,144 of the country's 2,022 municipal council members.


History


Origins

The roots of MAS-IPSP can be traced to the closures of the Bolivian Mining Corporation and shut-down of various mines during the 1980s. Thousands of former miners became
coca Coca is any of the four cultivated plants in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. Coca is known worldwide for its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine. The plant is grown as a cash crop in the Argentine Northwest, Bolivia, ...
farmers as their means of survival, but also encountered new hardships in their new profession. The growth of the coca farmer community resulted in a sharp numerical growth of organizations such as '' Confederación Sindical Única de Trabajadores Campesinos de Bolivia'' (CSUTCB) and '' Confederación Sindical de Colonizadores de Bolivia''. The movement built alliances with the Confederation of Indigenous Peoples of Eastern Bolivia (CIDOB), and mobilized joint protests in a 1992 campaign titled "500 years of resistance of the indigenous peoples", culminating in a march to La Paz where a protest was held on 12 October 1992 (
Columbus Day Columbus Day is a national holiday in many countries of the Americas and elsewhere, and a federal holiday in the United States, which officially celebrates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas on October 12, 1492. ...
). The 1992 campaign marked the emergence of a 'peasant-Indigenous' movement. Harnecker, Marta.
MAS-IPSP: Instrumento político que surge de los movimientos sociales
'. p. 70
However, CSUTCB was wary of building a political party to contest state power. The experiences of the 1980s, when the CSUTCB leadership had been divided over electoral candidatures (of leaders such as
Jenaro Flores Santos Jenaro Flores Santos (September 19, 1942 – August 25, 2019) often Genaro Flores Santos, was a Bolivian trade union leader and politician. Flores Santos was the founder of the Confederación Sindical Única de Trabajadores Campesinos de Bolivi ...
and Víctor Hugo Cárdenas) had been negative. Rather the organization began discussing the possibility of launching a 'political instrument', a structure in which the trade unions would enter as collective members. The idea would be to combine social and political struggles, to have one branch in the social movements and one political branch. According to Lino Villca there were also discussions about forming an armed wing of the movement. Carlos Burgoa Maya traces the initiative for a political instrument to the Third Congress of the CSUTCB (26 June–3 July 1987, Cochabamba) in which several proposals were merged into a document proposing an "Assembly of Nationalities" including traditional authorities to forge "political instruments of the nationalities." In the COB's 9th Congress (May 1992, Sucre), a thesis for worker-indigenous unity in "constructing a political instrument" was approved. Numerous prominent future leaders of the MAS, including Evo Morales, Félix Patzi, and David Choquehuanca met on 7 November 1992 in a gathering organized by CSUTCB, CSCB, CIDOB, FNMCB (Bartolina Sisa), and the COB, which decided to call for withdrawal from existing parties and to consolidate as an independent political force. The August–September 1994 cocalero march also endorsed the creation of a political instrument. The creation of a political instrument received the backing of the sixth CSUTCB congress in 1994, and in March 1995 CSUTCB convened a congress titled 'Land, Territory and Political Instrument' in
Santa Cruz de la Sierra Santa Cruz de la Sierra (; "Holy Cross of the Mountain Range"), commonly known as Santa Cruz, is the largest city in Bolivia and the capital of the Santa Cruz department. Situated on the Pirai River in the eastern Tropical Lowlands of Bolivia ...
. Present at the congress were CSUTCB, CSCB, the Bartolina Sisa National Federation of Peasant Women of Bolivia and CIDOB. The congress resulted in the foundation of the Assembly for the Sovereignty of the Peoples (ASP), under the leadership of the Cochabamba peasant leader
Alejo Véliz Alejo Véliz Lazo (born February 9, 1957) is a Bolivian politician and activist. He is a member of the ASP party. Véliz is a former executive secretary of the Federación Sindical Única de Trabajadores Campesinos de Cochabamba (FSUTCC), and form ...
as the main leader and
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 ...
in second position.Monasterios, Karin, Pablo Stefanoni, and Hervé do Alto.
Reinventando la nación en Bolivia: movimientos sociales, Estado y poscolonialidad
'. La Paz, Bolivia: CLACSO, 2007. p. 75
From 1996 onwards, Evo Morales was a rising star in the ASP leadership. Soon he became a competitor of Veliz. Internal conflict emerged between the followers of Morales and Veliz — ''evistas'' and ''alejistas''. ASP wanted to contest the 1997 national elections, but never obtained the registration of a political party at the CNE. Instead the group contested the election of the lists of the United Left. Veliz was candidate for the presidency and for parliament (on the
proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
list). However, many trade unions decided not to support Veliz's candidature, accusing him of having manipulated the candidate lists of the United Left. Four ASP members of the Chamber of Deputies were elected from the Chapare province (the entire United Left group): Evo Morales, Román Loayza Caero, Félix Sanchéz Veizaga and
Néstor Guzmán Villarroel Néstor Guzman Villarroel (born February 26, 1964 in Chaguarmayu) is a Bolivian politician and trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "mainta ...
.Monasterios, Karin, Pablo Stefanoni, and Hervé do Alto.
Reinventando la nación en Bolivia: movimientos sociales, Estado y poscolonialidad
'. La Paz, Bolivia: CLACSO, 2007. p. 78


Foundation and local elections

After the 1997 elections a split occurred in ASP and Evo Morales was expelled from the organization. Harnecker, Marta.
MAS-IPSP: Instrumento político que surge de los movimientos sociales
'. pp. 71-72
In 1998 the supporters of Evo Morales founded the Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples (IPSP). Notably, the majority of the grassroots supporters of ASP sided with Morales in the split. One of the prominent ASP leaders who sided with Morales was Román Loayza Caero, leader of CSUTCB.Loayza Caero, Román, and Shirley Rasguido.
Román Loayza Caero: lider quechua, contribuyó al ascenso campesino indígena del país
'. Líderes contemporáneos del movimiento campesino indígena de Bolivia, no. 3. La Paz, Bolivia: CIPCA, 2006. Back Cover
At the time of its foundation, an IPSP flag was adopted. It was brown and green, with a sun in the middle. In order to contest the 1999 municipal election (because the
National Electoral Court of Bolivia The National Electoral Court ( es, Corte Nacional Electoral) was the government-appointed court which oversaw elections and electoral results at all levels of Bolivian government from 1956 to 2010, and supervised nine Departmental Electoral Courts i ...
declined to recognize the party), IPSP borrowed the registration (and party name) of an inactive spliter faction of the
falangist Falangism ( es, falangismo) was the political ideology of two political parties in Spain that were known as the Falange, namely first the Falange Española de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FE de las JONS) and afterwards the Fal ...
Bolivian Socialist Falange, ''Movimiento al Socialismo – Unzaguista'' (MAS).Albó, Xavier, and Victor Quispe.
Quiénes son indígenas en los gobiernos municipales. Cuadernos de investigación CIPCA, 59. La Paz: CIPCA [u.a.
2004. pp. 103-105
Komadina, Jorge, and Céline Geffroy Komadina.
El poder del movimiento político: estrategia, tramas organizativas e identidad del MAS en Cochabamba (1999–2005)
'. La Paz: CESU-UMSS, 2007. p. 22
The decision to go for elections as MAS was taken in Cochabamba in 1998. IPSP decided to adopt the name, banner and colours (cobalt blue, black, and white) of MAS. Harnecker, Marta.
MAS-IPSP: Instrumento político que surge de los movimientos sociales
'. p. 74
In January 1999, the organization adopted the name MAS-IPSP. This move provoked a split between IPSP and the new CSUTCB leader, Felipe Quispe. Quispe stated that he was unable to accept to contest the elections under a name tainted by a fascist past and that the falangist profile meant a negation of indigenous identity.Monasterios, Karin, Pablo Stefanoni, and Hervé do Alto.
Reinventando la nación en Bolivia: movimientos sociales, Estado y poscolonialidad
'. La Paz, Bolivia: CLACSO, 2007. p. 79
In the 1999 elections Quispe aligned himself with Veliz's group, which had decided to contest elections through the
Communist Party of Bolivia The Communist Party of Bolivia ( es, Partido Comunista de Bolivia) is a communist party in Bolivia. It was founded in 1950 by Raúl Ruiz González and other former members of the Revolutionary Left Party (PIR). It remained small and did not hol ...
. In the Cochabamba region the verbal confrontations between the two sides were often tense, and the Veliz group launched the slogan "MAS is Unzaguist, falangist, heil heil Hitler". MAS-IPSP itself however stressed that the adaptation of the name MAS was a mere formality, and the membership cards issued by the organization carried the slogan "''legally MAS, legitimately IPSP''". MAS-IPSP got 65,425 votes (3.3% of the nationwide votes) and won 81 local council seats (4.8% of the seats in the country) in 1999.Albó, Xavier, and Victor Quispe.
Quiénes_son_indígenas_en_los_gobiernos_municipales._Cuadernos_de_investigación_CIPCA,_59._La_Paz:_CIPCA_[u.a.
_2004._pp._91-94
Quiénes_son_indígenas_en_los_gobiernos_municipales._Cuadernos_de_investigación_CIPCA,_59._La_Paz:_CIPCA_[u.a.
_2004._pp._91-94CSUTCB">.a.">Quiénes_son_indígenas_en_los_gobiernos_municipales._Cuadernos_de_investigación_CIPCA,_59._La_Paz:_CIPCA_[u.a.
_2004._pp._91-94CSUTCB._
EXPERIENCIA_POLITICA_INSTRUMENTO_POLITICO_POR_LA_SOBERANIA_DE_LOS_PUEBLOS_-_IPSP
''_According_to_a_study_by_Xavier_Albó_and_Victor_Quispe,_the_vast_majority_of_the_MAS-IPSP_councilors_elected_in_the_1999_municipal_election_were_Indigenous_peoples_of_the_Americas.html" "title="CSUTCB.html" ;"title=".a.">Quiénes son indígenas en los gobiernos municipales. Cuadernos de investigación CIPCA, 59. La Paz: CIPCA [u.a.
2004. pp. 91-94CSUTCB">.a.">Quiénes son indígenas en los gobiernos municipales. Cuadernos de investigación CIPCA, 59. La Paz: CIPCA [u.a.
2004. pp. 91-94
CSUTCB.
EXPERIENCIA POLITICA INSTRUMENTO POLITICO POR LA SOBERANIA DE LOS PUEBLOS - IPSP
''
According to a study by Xavier Albó and Victor Quispe, the vast majority of the MAS-IPSP councilors elected in the 1999 municipal election were Indigenous peoples of the Americas">indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...
. In the Cochabamba Department MAS-IPSP obtained 39% of the votes winning seven mayoral posts. The MAS vote in Cochabamba was almost completely confined to the Chapare, Carrasco and Ayopaya provinces. In the capital of the Department (
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 ...
) the MAS mayoral candidate only got 0.88% (less than the Communist Party candidate, Alejo Veliz who got 1.1%). The mayoral post of Cochabamba was won by
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 ...
of the
New Republican Force The New Republican Force (Spanish: ''Nueva Fuerza Republicana'', NFR) is a center-right political party in Bolivia. It is mainly based in the department of Cochabamba. History The NFR was founded in 1995. After the Assembly for the Sovereignty of ...
, who got 51.2% of the votes in the city.Komadina, Jorge, and Céline Geffroy Komadina.
El poder del movimiento político: estrategia, tramas organizativas e identidad del MAS en Cochabamba (1999–2005)
'. La Paz: CESU-UMSS, 2007. pp. 33-34


Years of struggle

During the years of 1998–2002, the grassroot base of MAS-IPSP was consolidated, as a result of increasing repression against the coca growers' movement. MAS-IPSP represented, along with the smaller Indigenous Pachakuti Movement (MIP, Felipe Quispe's new party), the anti-system opposition in the country.Domingo, Pilar.
Democracy and New Social Forces in Bolivia
', in ''Social Forces'', Vol. 83, No. 4 (Jun. 2005), pp. 1727-1743
Whilst Bolivian politics had seen several political parties contesting on
populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term develop ...
platforms during the past decades, MAS-IPSP and MIP differed from these parties through its strong connections to the peasant organizations. However, the fact that MIP had been accorded registration as a political party by the National Electoral Court (in spite of falling short of having the 10,000 members required for registration) angered MAS-IPSP followers. Both within MAS-IPSP and amongst political analysts the smooth registration of MIP was described as a move by the political establishment to divide the indigenous vote and to spoil the chances of a possible MAS-IPSP/MIP alliance. By this time IPSP had been denied registration by the National Electoral Court four times, citing minor details.Lee Van Cott, Donna.
From Exclusion to Inclusion: Bolivia's 2002 Elections
', in ''Journal of Latin American Studies'', Vol. 35, No. 4 (Nov. 2003), pp. 751-775
The period of 2000–2002 was characterized by a series of social struggles that contributed to the radicalization of the Bolivian polity; the 2000 water war in Cochabamba,
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 ...
uprisings in 2000 and 2001 and the coca growers' struggle in Chapare. While social movements are by no means new in Bolivia, a country with a long history of revolution due to political and class struggle, this protest cycle marked a renewal of militancy and growing successful organizational planning which had not been witnessed before. In January 2002, Morales was expelled from the parliament after being accused of masterminding violent confrontations between police and coca growers in Sacaba. The expulsion of Morales from the parliament contributed to the political popularity of MAS-IPSP. Ahead of the 2002 national elections, MAS-IPSP sought to expand its influence outside its peasant base. Evo Morales stood as presidential candidate and Antonio Peredo as vice-presidential candidate. By launching Peredo for the vice-presidency, MAS-IPSP attempted to gain influence amongst the urban middle classes. MAS-IPSP also made an appeal for the supporters of the Marxist left groups to join the campaign and present themselves as MAS-IPSP candidates.Monasterios, Karin, Pablo Stefanoni, and Hervé do Alto.
Reinventando la nación en Bolivia: movimientos sociales, Estado y poscolonialidad
'. La Paz, Bolivia: CLACSO, 2007. p. 80
Prominent MAS-IPSP leaders recruited for the 2002 election campaign included Gustavo Torrico, Manuel Morales Dávila and Jorge Alvaro. In their election campaign, MAS-IPSP championed 'national sovereignty', denouncing U.S. interventions in Bolivian affairs. The political elite and proponents of neoliberal policies were denounced as 'traitors' supported by the United States. The appeal of MAS-IPSP was also aided by the intervention of US ambassador Manuel Rocha, who threatened Bolivians that US economic aid to Bolivia would be cut if Morales won. Morales has credited ambassador Rocha for the success of MAS, stating that " ery statement
ocha The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is a United Nations (UN) body established in December 1991 by the General Assembly to strengthen the international response to complex emergencies and natural disaster ...
made against us helped us to grow and awaken the conscience of the people." Anti-US sentiment was further exacerbated when the new ambassador, David Greenlee, made it clear that he would not approve of any president other than
Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada Sánchez Bustamante (born 1 July 1930), often referred to as Goni, is a Bolivian businessman and politician who served as the 61st president of Bolivia from 1993 to 1997 and from 2002 to 2003. A member of the Revolu ...
(Goni). The electoral advance of MAS-IPSP was aided by the implosion of the political party Conscience of the Fatherland (CONDEPA). CONDEPA was a populist party which was based in the urban poor, often Aymaras who had migrated to the urban centres of Bolivia. The party had lost much of its popular legitimacy as it was coopted by
Hugo Banzer Hugo Banzer Suárez (; 10 May 1926 – 5 May 2002) was a Bolivian politician and military officer who served as the 51st president of Bolivia. He held the Bolivian presidency twice: from 1971 to 1978 in a military dictatorship; and then a ...
's government, and the party had suffered the death of its main leader just before the 2002 elections. In the polls CONDEPA lost all of their 22 parliamentary seats. Whilst Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada was re-elected as President of Bolivia by Congress, Evo Morales came in second place with just 1.5% fewer votes than Sánchez de Lozada. MAS-IPSP got 14.6% of the valid uninominal vote, which gave the movement 27 out of 130 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and eight out of 27 seats in the Senate. The election result shocked both political analysts as well as MAS-IPSP itself. Out of the elected MAS-IPSP legislators, ten identified themselves as indigenous or peasants, twelve as leftwing intellectuals or labour leaders. The fifth national congress of MAS-IPSP was held in
Oruro Oruro (Hispanicized spelling) or Uru Uru is a city in Bolivia with a population of 264,683 (2012 calculation), about halfway between La Paz and Sucre in the Altiplano, approximately above sea level. It is Bolivia's fifth-largest city by pop ...
13–14 December 2003.Monasterios, Karin, Pablo Stefanoni, and Hervé do Alto.
Reinventando la nación en Bolivia: movimientos sociales, Estado y poscolonialidad
'. La Paz, Bolivia: CLACSO, 2007. p. 107


2005 elections

In the 2005 general election, Evo Morales was again the presidential candidate of MAS-IPSP. He won a clear majority with 53.7% of the valid presidential vote—the first since the restoration of democracy that a presidential candidate had won without the need for a runoff. MAS-IPSP obtained 43.5% of the valid uninominal vote, which gave it 72 out of 130 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 12 out of 27 seats in the Senate. In the 2005 prefect elections, MAS campaigned for all nine departmental prefectures (governorships), but only won three: Chuquisaca (43%), Oruro (41.0%), and Potosí (42.7%).


In government

Since taking office, the MAS-IPSP government has emphasized modernization of the country, promoting industrialization, increased state intervention in the economy, social and cultural inclusion, and redistribution of revenue from natural resources through various social service programs. When the first MAS-IPSP cabinet was formed, it had Andrés Soliz Rada as Minister for Hydrocarbons, David Choquehuanca as Foreign Minister, Casimira Rodríguez as Justice Minister, Salvador Ric Reira as Minister for Public Works and Services, Hugo Salvatierra as Rural Development Minister, Álex Gálvez Mamami as Labour Minister, Abel Mamami as Water Minister, Félix Patzi as Education Minister, Félipe Caceres as Vice Minister of Social Defense, Alicia Muñoz as Minister of Government, Juan Ramón Quintana as Minister of the Presidency, Carlos Villegas as Minister of Economic Planning and Walter Villarroel as Mining Minister. Two MAS-IPSP heavyweights, Santos Ramírez and Edmundo Novillo (since elected governor 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 ...
in April 2010 local elections), became the president of the Senate and the House of Deputies respectively. The 2006 elections to the Constituent Assembly further consolidated the position of MAS-IPSP as the dominant force in Bolivian politics. After the elections Román Loayza Caero became the head of the MAS-IPSP faction in the
Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...
.
PPB-CN sella alianza opositora con Román Loayza
''
In 2007 MAS-IPSP was able to register itself as MAS-IPSP at the CNE. On 10 August 2008 a vote of confidence referendum was held regarding the posts of president Morales, vice-president Garcia Linera and different prefects. Morales and Garcia Linera got their mandate affirmed by a wide majority, reaching 83% of the votes in La Paz and 71% of the votes in
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 ...
in their favour. But they also obtained significant support in the ' Media Luna' departments (Santa Cruz 41%, Beni 44%, Pando 53% and Tarija 50%), indicating the consolidation of MAS-IPSP as a national political force.Zuazo, Moira. (2009, January). ''¿Cómo nació el MAS? La ruralización de la política en Bolivia.'' Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.
/ref> In the 2010 regional elections, MAS-IPSP won the post of governor in six departements (La Paz, Oruro, Potosí, Pando, Chuquisaca and Cochabamba) and finished second in the remaining three (Santa Cruz, Tarija and Beni). In Chuquisaca MAS-IPSP had launched 29-year-old Estaban Urquizu as its candidate for governor. Urquizu won with 53.9% of the votes, becoming the youngest governor in Bolivian history. In La Paz Department MAS-IPSP dropped its candidate Félix Patzi shortly before the elections, after Patzi was arrested for drunk driving. The election was also marked by candidatures of MAS-IPSP dissidents. MAS-IPSP co-founder Lino Villca had founded the
Movement for Sovereignty The Movement for Sovereignty (Spanish: ''Movimiento por la Soberanía'', MPS) is a leftist, indigenist Bolivian political party founded by dissidents of the Movement for Socialism (MAS-IPSP). Its leader, and fourth-place candidate for Governor o ...
(MPS), which contested the elections. Other former MAS-IPSP activists involved in founding the MPS include Óscar Chirinos, Miguel Machaca, and Rufo Calle.


Platform

Morales has defined socialism in terms of communitarianism, stating in a 2003 interview that in the "
ayllu The ''ayllu'', a family clan, is the traditional form of a community in the Andes, especially among Quechuas and Aymaras. They are an indigenous local government model across the Andes region of South America, particularly in Bolivia and Peru. ...
people live in community, with values such as solidarity and reciprocity'. Regarding the question of national identity, MAS-IPSP borrows discourse from the '' katarista'' tradition and from the indigenous peoples' movement in eastern Bolivia, criticizing the modern nation state as a failed construct of 'internal colonialism' and inherently racist. Thus the movement seeks to construct a plurinational state based on autonomies of the indigenous peoples. In the MAS-IPSP discourse 'nation' and 'people' are often equated, whilst the oligarchy is portrayed as anti-national. The ''katarista'' discourse was not a feature of the ideological profile of the IPSP at the time of its foundation. IPSP surged as a movement of the peasantry, amongst colonizers and coca growers. The ''katarista'' discourse was absorbed later, largely borrowed from Félipe Quispe's rhetoric from the struggles of 2000. However, unlike Quispe, the MAS-IPSP never went as far as to create an exclusively indigenous political profile, and Morales maintained that an alliance with non-indigenous actors and the middle classes was a necessity. The seventh congress of MAS-IPSP, held in January 2009, approved a document titled "Communitarian socialism to liberate Bolivia from the colonial state", envisioning the path of a 'cultural and democratic revolution' in Bolivia. MAS-IPSP itself does not have an ideological centre, and the different constituent movements belong to slightly different trends of thought. Marxist, social-democratic, anarchist, and "virulently anti-communist strands" can be found within the MAS-IPSP fold. In the words of Alvaro García Linera, the political character of MAS-IPSP has evolved through the combination of "an eclectic indianism and the critical and self-critical traditions of the intellectual left-wing that began to Indianize Marxism from the 1980s and onwards". According to García Linera, a "flexible indianism" enabled MAS-IPSP to gather support from a variety of sectors. Bolivian writer and economist Roberto Laserna argues that there are three main factions within the party: the '' indigenistas'', the '' old leftists'', and the '' eft-wing' ''populists''. García Linera characterizes MAS-IPSP as "
centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The ...
", stating that the goal of the movement is the establishment of a form of "Andean capitalism". In the findings of Latinobarómetro surveys until 2002, a sample of 27 MAS voters identified themselves as 2.7 on a scale between 0 and 10 (in which 0 represented the far-left and 10 represented the far-right). According to
Marta Harnecker Marta Harnecker (1937 - 14 June 2019) was a Chilean journalist, author, psychologist, sociologist, and Marxist intellectual. She studied the analysis of labor movements and acted as an advisor to the government of Cuba, as well as a collaborat ...
and Federico Fuentes, MAS-IPSP represents a "new indigenous nationalism" based on two sets of historical memories, that of the peasant movement (represented through CSUTCB) and that of the indigenous movement (represented through CIDOB), and combines elements of indigenismo,
nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
and "miners' Marxism". According to Carlos Toranzo Roca, the politics of MAS-IPSP is largely a continuation of the traditional Latin American populism which in Bolivia is rooted in the 1952 revolution. According to him, a key element of this feature is clientelistic relations of distribution combined with anti-imperialist and nationalist discourse.


Organization

IPSP was founded as a 'political instrument', an organization distinct from the traditional political parties. Hervé do Alto defines the organization as both a political party and a federation of social movements at the same time. As such, MAS-IPSP tends to follow a bottom-up, decentralized structure, with regional and local branches having a large amount of input on party decisions.


Leadership

The National Leadership (Dirección Nacional, DN) of MAS-IPSP is composed of representatives of the constituent organizations affiliated with MAS-IPSP. It is more of a loosely coordinated body rather than a party leadership in the traditional sense.Monasterios, Karin, Pablo Stefanoni, and Hervé do Alto.
Reinventando la nación en Bolivia: movimientos sociales, Estado y poscolonialidad
'. La Paz, Bolivia: CLACSO, 2007. p. 76
Notably MAS-IPSP has not been institutionally consolidated in the way the Workers Party (PT) in
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
has developed, which also emerged as a political vehicle of social movements. Clause 42 of the Organic Bylaws of MAS-IPSP stipulated that candidates in national and local elections should be elected through direct vote at assemblies. The majority of the MAS-IPSP candidatures in the 1999 and 2002 elections were selected through this method. However some candidates in the 2002 and 2005 elections were directly appointed by Morales.Komadina, Jorge, and Céline Geffroy Komadina.
El poder del movimiento político: estrategia, tramas organizativas e identidad del MAS en Cochabamba (1999–2005)
'. La Paz: CESU-UMSS, 2007. p. 103


Member organizations

The founding member organizations of MAS-IPSP are CSUTCB, CSCB, and the Bartolina Sisa federation. At the sixth MAS-IPSP congress, held in November 2006, four new organizations were admitted as members of MAS-IPSP: Confederación Nacional de Maestros Rurales, Confederación de Gremiales de Bolivia, Confederación Nacional de Rentistas y Jubilados and Confederación Nacional de la Micro y Pequeña Empresa (Conamype). The seventh congress of MAS-IPSP was held 10–12 January 2009. At this congress two organizations were included as new members of MAS-IPSP; the National Federation of Mining Cooperatives (Fencomin, which claims a membership of around 40,000) and the Regional Workers Centre (COR) from
El Alto El Alto (Spanish for "The Heights") is the second-largest city in Bolivia, located adjacent to La Paz in Pedro Domingo Murillo Province on the Altiplano highlands. El Alto is today one of Bolivia's fastest-growing urban centers, with an estimat ...
. The Bolivian Workers' Center (COB) and the
National Council of Ayllus and Markas of Qullasuyu The National Council of Ayllus and Markas of Qullasuyu ( qu, Qullasuyu Ayllukunap Markakunap Mamallaqta Kunaqnin; es, Consejo Nacional de Ayllus y Markas del Qullasuyu; CONAMAQ) is a confederation of traditional governing bodies of Quechua-, Ayma ...
(CONAMAQ) are not part of MAS-IPSP, but are supportive of the government.


Coalition organizations

The MAS-IPSP ran a joint electoral slate with the Without Fear Movement (MSM) in the 2009 national elections. Shortly afterward, Evo Morales publicly broke with the MSM and its representatives in the Plurinational Legislative Assembly then formed an independent bloc. The three founding organizations of the MAS-IPSP are joined by CONAMAQ and the Confederation of Indigenous Peoples of Bolivia (CIDOB) in the Pact of Unity; this group has included other organizations in the past. A larger alliance, the National Coordination for Change (CONALCAM) was formed during the Bolivian Constituent Assembly, and includes MAS-IPSP executive and legislative politicians as well as social movement organizations.


Publication

MAS-IPSP publishes ''Soberanía''.


Electoral history


Presidential elections


Chamber of Deputies and Senate elections


References


External links


Story of the Bolivian revolution and origin of the MAS with Dr. Hugo Salvatierra (Spanish/English)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Movement For Socialism-Political Instrument For The Sovereignty Of The Peoples Anti-capitalist political parties Left-wing parties in Bolivia Political parties in Bolivia Democratic socialist parties in South America Democratic socialism in South America Far-left politics in Bolivia Socialism of the 21st century