1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,400 Stability is not something Bolivia has experienced much of recently. 2 00:00:06,400 --> 00:00:09,280 Two presidents have been deposed in three years. 3 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:13,360 Road blockades are a common form of protest for any group or community 4 00:00:13,360 --> 00:00:18,960 wanting change. The recent unrest has been linked to the glaring economic and 5 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:21,640 social inequalities that persist within Bolivia, 6 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:27,320 an inequality mirrored across Latin America. 65 percent of Bolivia's 9.3 7 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:28,560 million population 8 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:33,160 live below the poverty line and that can reach as much as 80 percent in rural 9 00:00:33,160 --> 00:00:39,080 areas. One of the most complicating factors hindering Bolivia's economic 10 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:44,080 development can be found in the chapare. It was here almost all of Bolivia's 11 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:49,160 coca was produced in the 1980s. Since Inca times Bolivians have used the coca 12 00:00:49,160 --> 00:00:53,280 leaf as a tea and in religious ceremonies and most chew the leaf to 13 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:57,960 guard against cold or to fight altitude sickness. But coca is also the raw 14 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:07,840 ingredient of cocaine. I have been chewing coca since I was eight years old 15 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:18,200 but since the drug came coca is now evil. This is wrong. Before that the coca was 16 00:01:18,200 --> 00:01:25,040 just it was brought from here to there and used so people could chew it while 17 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:31,680 they were working. Most of the people in the chapare are not drug traffickers. 18 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:37,360 They are cocaleros, coca farmers, who like Ramon Rabollo's family moved to the 19 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:42,720 chapare in the mid 80s. As Bolivia struggled to compete globally the drug 20 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:47,840 trade dominated its export economy. An internationally supported eradication 21 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:52,760 program did reduce hectares under coca but without alternatives this impacted 22 00:01:52,760 --> 00:02:00,920 most on the peasant population. Coca hurts us and it hurts you and that's why 23 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:08,880 we need you to buy what we produce. While we have nothing we need you to help us. 24 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:15,800 The European Union is one international donor answering that call. The EU is 25 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:20,560 Bolivia's largest donor of grant aid with funding of 126 million euros in 26 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:25,880 development projects in the last four years. In addition to Europe being the 27 00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:28,840 principal source of development assistance to Bolivia, European firms are 28 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:32,960 the largest source of foreign investment in many Latin American countries. We are 29 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:37,720 one of the main trading partners and a buyer of many of the exports and under 30 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:42,240 very preferential arrangements. As far as our programs here in Bolivia are concerned 31 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:46,240 we've emphasized a number of different areas including significant investments 32 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:51,600 in social sectors, in education, in water and sanitation, in health but also in 33 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:55,520 the field of alternative development in those areas which at the moment are 34 00:02:55,520 --> 00:03:00,160 producing coca leaves. The idea is not to take anybody's livelihood away but to 35 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:03,840 try and demonstrate that there are other alternative livelihoods available which 36 00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:09,480 are legal. The principal reason coca production took hold across Latin 37 00:03:09,480 --> 00:03:13,000 America is because there is an international demand for the product. 38 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:19,360 Simply it makes money and in Bolivia that's a scarce commodity. But inequality 39 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:24,280 in Latin America exists not just in terms of income but also land, education 40 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:29,440 and access to credit, further excluding already discriminated people. The 41 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:34,200 inequality is having an alarming effect on democracy. Recent polls indicate 42 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:38,440 support for democracy across the continent is down from 61 percent to 43 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:44,520 just 53 percent. It's been a particular challenge in the Chapare where decades 44 00:03:44,520 --> 00:03:49,600 of conflict with government over coca damaged any sense of citizenship. For the 45 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:53,960 EU it's been important to fund not only development projects but also local 46 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:57,320 initiatives that develop a sense of identity and an awareness that 47 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:02,080 communities have rights, a bottom-up approach that has worked well in the EU. 48 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:08,320 Access to land is another emotive subject particularly for the indigenous 49 00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:13,080 majority. An EU-sponsored project has been working with local government to 50 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:17,000 map out ownership of land for local farmers and provide individuals with 51 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:24,560 their land title. That title protects against intimidation or land grab. 52 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:28,600 For us this is very important because without the title we feel that we are 53 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:35,240 not the owners. That's why it is important for all of us. With December's 54 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:41,160 elections Bolivia's political landscape changed utterly. Evo Morales, an Aymara 55 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:45,880 Indian, was the first indigenous president to be elected in Bolivia. In 56 00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:50,280 his victory speech Mr. Morales promised the country's poor majority an end to 57 00:04:50,280 --> 00:04:55,000 the injustice, the discrimination, the marginalization we have suffered 58 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:59,880 historically. To achieve an end to poverty Mr. Morales is looking east. 59 00:05:00,840 --> 00:05:06,240 Santa Cruz de la Sierra is the focus of Bolivia's natural gas industry with the 60 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:10,880 second largest gas reserves in Latin America. With largely European foreign 61 00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:15,520 investment in the sector Santa Cruz is doing well. In many ways this could be 62 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:20,280 another country. Calls to nationalize the energy sector have alarmed the business 63 00:05:20,280 --> 00:05:27,440 community here. There are two visions of a country. One vision will be having a 64 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:38,120 closed country, having nationalization, having also that land should be 65 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:43,560 redistributed to many, many, many people. And the other kind of vision which is 66 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:49,800 Santa Cruz, one of them, is have many agreements with many countries in order 67 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:57,000 to have commerce growing. The other one will be also trying to have more 68 00:05:57,040 --> 00:06:03,240 investments in order to create more jobs. That kind of vision is what we are 69 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:08,360 really having a problem with right now. Santa Cruz has also been calling for 70 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:13,440 more autonomy for all regions in health, education, taxation and an end to a 71 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:18,840 centralized government in La Paz. Santa Cruz pays 45 percent in taxes into the 72 00:06:18,840 --> 00:06:23,520 national budget and receives 18 percent back. It's the only region that's been 73 00:06:23,520 --> 00:06:28,040 able to reduce poverty and people here feel that with autonomy they could be an 74 00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:34,000 example for the other eight districts. Our autonomy should be solidarity with 75 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:42,200 more poverty regions. And you know that Europe, Spain was very, very, a country 76 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:49,160 that was behind in comparing to other countries in the European. But nowadays 77 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:55,520 Spain, in which the European countries have invested in Spain money, now Spain 78 00:06:55,520 --> 00:07:01,400 is very important. How equitable any such autonomy would be in Bolivia remains to 79 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:05,680 be seen, but it is clear that the EU experience can continue to provide an 80 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:11,320 example across Latin America. The response should not be to create 81 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:15,920 barriers or to think about a separate model of development. The history of 82 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:21,560 Latin America has been based on a process of integration and that has 83 00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:25,040 continued on a different level, for example at the level of the Andean 84 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:29,600 community or the Mercosur. Integration, whether it be between countries or 85 00:07:29,600 --> 00:07:34,200 within countries, between regions, is a win-win situation and that's been 86 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:39,200 experienced in Europe. But people in Latin America have demonstrated certain 87 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:45,920 impatience with regard to democracy because of the lack of deliverable 88 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:51,640 results in economic terms. If you compare Latin America now compared to Latin 89 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:55,800 America 25 years ago, the fact is that now you have democratic 90 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:59,360 governments in every single country and that's something that has to be 91 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:05,640 maintained. At a political level the EU and Latin America share many of the same 92 00:08:05,640 --> 00:08:09,960 values and often act together on the world stage on issues such as human 93 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:13,880 rights and the environment. With elections taking place across Latin 94 00:08:13,880 --> 00:08:19,240 America in 2006 there will be a new political scene, but the challenge of 95 00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:23,680 bridging the divide between rich and poor remains constant and that must 96 00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:27,240 change in the decades ahead.