A promoção de democracia pela OEA : reflexões a partir da democracia intercultural boliviana em 2019 e 2020

Abstract

The present undergraduate thesis aims to analyze the role of the OAS in the context of the political crisis in Bolivia in 2019 and 2020. The issue arises from an assumed disagreement between the representative-liberal notion of democracy, unambiguously advanced by the OAS in its initiatives to defend democratic regimes, and the conceptions used by the unique Bolivian political system. The Plurinational State of Bolivia was established in 2009, leading to the adoption of a mixed political regime based on three democracy understandings: representative, participatory, and communitarian. The 2009 Constitution also inaugurated a power configuration that highlights a historical fracture in Bolivian society. These fractures reached a critical point with the release of the OAS Electoral Observation Mission and Electoral Integrity Audit reports, which pointed to fraud in the electoral process. Therefore, a violent movement emerged, contesting the election results, which led to the mass resignation of Evo as well as of his supporters and gave way to the rise of an interim government in extreme opposition to the previous one. Considering the context presented, the investigation aims to explore the implications of the case for its two main actors - the OAS and the Plurinational State of Bolivia - while introducing new nuances to the debate, such as the plurinationality. As a conclusion, it is noted that the interplay between OAS and the previous issues in national politics is accountable for the 2019 Bolivian crisis. However, when the plurinationality and the intercultural democracy projects are put into question, the correlation between the three main issues can only be established indirectly.