-
The Santa Cruz civic movement has lifted its five-week-long strike over the Census after legislative approval of a 2024 census date with guarantees that preliminary results will feed into legislative reapportionment before 2025 general elections. paginasiete.bo/nacional/santa-cruz-levanta-el-paro-en-medio-de-division-y-molestia-JF5362290
-
The leaders of the strike, the right-wing Comité Pro Santa Cruz and movement-affiliated Governor Luis Fernando Camacho had initially demanded the Census be held in 2023, but claim that the guarantees represent "important achievements." abi.bo/index.php/noticias/politica/30361-luego-de-33-dias-de-paro-por-el-censo-en-2023-camacho-dice-que-la-fecha-no-es-determinante
-
The strike saw two violent and two incidental deaths, making it Bolivia's costliest open conflict since 2019. (Though not quite as deadly as the pointless loss of five student lives in a tear gas-triggered stampede on Potosí during that period.)
-
There is little achieved in the law which the Arce government was not willing to concede from the outset. In this way the outcome mirrors the July-August 2020 left-led strike over the general election date.
-
The strain and economic losses from the strike have prompted serious fissures between the Santa Cruz business community and the civic movement. la-epoca.com.bo/2022/11/04/cao-alerta-que-efectos-negativos-del-paro-en-santa-cruz-se-extenderan-hasta-2023/ abi.bo/index.php/noticias/economia/30398-el-paro-obliga-a-empresarios-de-santa-cruz-a-migrar-sus-inversiones-y-su-base-de-operaciones ccb.com.bo/economia/noticia/5127/empresarios-privados-muestran-preocupacion-por-conflicto-del-censo-aseguran-que-el-paro-es-insostenible
-
Whereas the only-partially-successful, but bloodless 2020 election date strike was a stepping stone towards a successful MAS-IPSP election campaign, it's hard to see the political Right benefitting from this deadly, costly, and lengthy census strike. /fin