MAS Relations with Social Movements: The Yungas Cocaleros and the 2019 Crisis

Authors

  • Susan Brewer-Osorio University of Arizona

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/bsj.2024.338

Keywords:

MAS, ADEPCOCA, Yungas, Chapare, Morales, 2019 crisis, cocalero workers

Abstract

The Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) emerged from a diverse coalition of social movements centered on cocalero unions and their participatory organizational structure. Some scholars argue that the MAS became a top-down ruling party that relegated and weakened social movements. This article challenges these predominate claims about MAS relations with social organizations. Based on a case study of the Asociación Departmental de Productores de Coca (ADEPCOCA), the article develops two main claims. First, it examines the political divisions within the cocalero sector, which contradict a common view of cocaleros as united with the MAS, and which therefore presented a governance dilemma for the MAS. Second, the article considers how, in the ADEPCOCA case, rural social organizations were able to both remain autonomous under the MAS and confront government power. These findings have implications for understanding how the MAS shaped Bolivian political development leading up to the 2019 crisis; namely, that there was significant tension between the MAS’s commitments to state-building and participatory governance, and that this tension contributed to resistance from within the MAS coalition, leaving the regime vulnerable to overthrow in 2019.

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Published

2024-11-25

Issue

Bolivian Studies Journal Vol. 30, 2024

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2024 Susan Virginia Brewer-Osorio

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