Now even God takes sides on the constitutional referendum

You might have noticed from my previous post that I have a real problem with the hierarchy of the Catholic Church and its position with regard to the new Bolivian constitution that will be approved on 25th January. Not only has Cardinal Julio Terrazas openly confirmed himself in his opposition to this government by keeping a strict silence on the massacre perpetrated in Pando last September and by openly criticising the government on a numerous occasions.

This week, the frenetic campaign as we near the referendum on the new constitution on Sunday 25th January took a dramatic increase in its demagoguery and in the number of blatant lies and accusations that the opposition are prepared to throw in a desperate last minute attempt to derail the process of change.

The blatant lies from the extreme racist right wing are numerous. Among them we can find the following, from the most outrageous, to the ridiculous:

a)This is a constitution written by Hugo Chavez and other ‘communists’ in the government

b)The new constitution will close all private schools, forbid inheritance rights and take all land away from private ownership to put it in the hands of the state

c)The new constitution will impose indigenous forms of justice on all Bolivians

d)The new constitution is centralising and denies autonomic status to the regions

Lies, lies and more lies. Some of these appear in the spot below:




But what we have seen on Bolivian TV screens this week is a barrage of adverts from the opposition asking for a NO vote to the constitution that appeal to the divine authority of God and claim, among other things, that this constitution attempts against God, and that it makes those who approve of it accomplices of sin.

So, it appears that God has taken sides on the debate. Or, will it not be that the opposition has, in the words of MAS MP Gustavo Torrico, transformed itself from neo-fascist to neo-pharisee?