The Technical Secretariat subsequently decided to design a process along
territorial rather than functional and sectoral lines (World Bank 2002a:7).
Using the institutional framework of the Law of Popular Participation (1994)
and the Decentralization Law (1995), the local municipalities would become
the main actors in the participatory process6. These revised proposals with
their focus on consultations at the municipal level were presented to the
donors by the end of January 2000. No direct reference was made to the
nationally organized CSOs. Informally however, meetings were held with
these functional CSOs and donors created a Special Fund to support the
contributions these CSOs would make through their own consultation proc-
esses, which in the end would be brought into the National Dialogue.
In the meanwhile, from December 1999 to August 2000 CSO proc-
esses bloomed across Bolivia, in preparation of the National Dialogue or
parallel to it. The Special Fund financed not less than 14 processes involving
an estimate of 10,000 people, and international NGOs contributed money for
the preparation of critical documents7. The government on its part continu-
ously postponed the official launch of the Dialogue, due to social unrest and
political crises. There was for instance quite some confusion around the
results of the municipal elections that had just taken place and the effect this
might have on the constitution of the municipal round tables. In March 2000
protests broke out in Cochabamba around the privatization and ensuing dra-
matic price increases of water, and this triggered a series of protests all over
the country. The government responded with military force and declared a
national state of emergency. The sometimes violent clashes however contin-
ued and resulted in five deaths. The use of violence was heavily criticized
and led to even more uprisings. At that point, the coordinator of the Techni-
cal Secretariat, appointed to organize the National Dialogue, resigned be-
cause of the way the government was handling the crisis. Finally, the Banzer
government relented and gave in to many of the demands of the protesters.
Under the pressure of the Church, the trade unions and the donor commu-
nity, which threatened to withhold HIPC debt relief, the state of emergency
was lifted and the National Dialogue finally started.
At its official launch, in May 2000, the government explained the
final design of the Dialogue. It would consist of three separate dialogues: a
social, an economic and a political agenda. These three agendas would come
together in a final national round table. Each agenda would invite different
stakeholders. The Social Agenda - which is of major concern for our paper
- would be discussed through municipal and departmental round tables, fol-
lowing the existing decentralized political structures that the Law of Popular
Participation and the Decentralization Law had called into life in 1994 and
1995. The economic agenda would be discussed with large entrepreneurs,
the political agenda mainly with political parties and government officials.
6 The Law of Popular Participa-
tion and the Decentralization law
granted far stretching autonomy
to the level of municipalities. The
explicit goals of the laws was to
create a more just distribution
and better administration of
public resources, to promote eco-
nomic growth and development
especially in the rural areas, and
to advance political participation
in general and the participation
of local organizations in deci-
sion-making processes in partic-
ular (Ejdesgaard Jeppesen 2002 :
31). In no other country had the
state gone so far in recogniz-
ing local organizations, giving
them a place and role within the
political structures. The local
organizations that are subject of
the LPP are the peasant’ commu-
nities and the indigenous peoples
who are mainly located in the
rural areas, and the neighborhood
committees that are situated in
the urban areas. These were all
recognized as OTBs (Organisa-
ciones Territoriales de Base). The
link between the local executive
council and the OTBs is the
Vigilance Committee (Comité
de Vigilancia). This committee
consists of representatives of
the OTBs and its specific goal is
to function as an advisory and
control organism to watch over
the activities of the Mayor and
his Council.
7 Due to space limitations this
paper will not give account of the
numerous initiatives undertaken
by CSO alongside the National
Dialogue. Instead, we focus on
the National Dialogue and the
interaction with these parallel
initiatives.
IDPM-UA Discussion Paper 2002-05 • 9