What do Bolivians want? The masses respond

by Sara Lucía Pastrana

In his book, “The Open Veins of Latin America”, Eduardo Galeano resorts to the metaphor of the body to illustrate the magnitude of the Spanish pillage in the Americas. He describes how, with the silver looted in the town of Potosí, alone, it would have been possible to build a bridge that crossed the Atlantic from Bolivia to Spain. This metaphor is not far from reality. For more than four centuries, Bolivia has over-relied economically on the mining industry and the export of commodities such as silver, coca, and tin. That is why when the Central Obrera Boliviana (COB) was established in 1952 to unify Bolivia’s trade unions, miners placed themselves at the forefront of the labour movement. The COB became a central political force formed of various factions, including blue-collar, white-collar, public, and private sector workers under the miners' leadership.

It was precisely this unification of workers through the COB that motivated the creation of the ‘MASAS’ (Masses) publication by the Partido Revolucionario Obrero (Workers' Revolutionary Party) of Bolivia. It embodied the workers' sacrifice and struggle to oppose corruption, nepotism, and abuse. The reduced size and modest printing methods used by the publication reflect the limited budget, materials, and methods that the labour organisation had at the time. MASAS publications were mostly made up of text, though they sometimes included images. This particular piece includes comical satire that successfully portrays the demands and complaints of workers during the year of 1985, in the run-up to the presidential elections.

The first page poses two prompts: “What do Bolivians want?” and “Why can’t have it?”. The illustrations attempt to answer these questions by referencing the former president, Hernán Siles Zuazo, as he stares at a beggar’s empty hand. Shortage and hunger were part of the daily life of most Bolivian workers during the first half of the 1980s due to economic instability hauled from the Banzer military dictatorship. The external debt caused hyperinflation while wages were consistently decreasing. President Siles had his back against the wall, caught between pressure from labour unions demanding wage increases and corporate interests requiring monetary stabilisation.

This graphic representation of bourgeoise groups and imperialist interests is repeated through depictions of Uncle Sam, whose hands are elongated to look like claws. It is clearly an allegory to the stereotypical idea of the North American Yankee embodying capitalistic values. The graphic decisions made by the comic illustrator are there for a reason, and clearly reflect the labour movement’s political stance. The miners, farmers, teachers, and manufacturing, healthcare, and transport workers did not support the implementation of neoliberal policies, corruption, nepotism, and oppression perpetrated by elite groups.

The cartoon’s first page, on the lower left-hand side, refers to black markets and cocaine production monopolized by elite groups. It is particularly interesting to see how artistic pieces of popular resistance condemn and reflect the power dynamics of that period. Corruption and illicit business was a distinct feature of the 1980s in Bolivia due to hyperinflation and black currency exchange markets. Through these platforms, transactions occurred simultaneously but were sold at a more reasonable price. Eventually, powerful groups had the exclusive privilege to access these markets and benefited from exclusive rates of dollar exchange. The illustrations demonstrate graphic decisions that attempt to antagonise elite groups. For instance, the hand on the lower right section shows a long sharp hand with pointy fingers scratching the shape of the Bolivian territory. The scary-looking hand is attached to a sleeve with minuscule swastikas. Potentially these symbols allude to fascist claims that accused the elite of manipulating and monopolising power at their convenience. Cocaine was an example of the elite’s corruption since the industry primarily developed and expanded during the military dictatorship of Hugo Banzer. The former president was associated with cocaine production and trafficking despite publicly adopting a zero-tolerance campaign against cocaine production. He tended to benefit his close circle of friends and other wealthy groups at the expense of economic organization by engaging in illicit business.

This illustrative piece not only embodies the claims, desires, and concerns of the working-class population in Bolivia at the time, but also the broader movement of resistance that was taking place in Latin America against U.S. intervention and imperialism. It is essential to highlight that this comic was published and disseminated through the MASAS publication during a period of transition. Democracy had been recently restored, and presidential elections were approaching. Yet U.S. directed economic policies would continue to dominate the region following neoliberal ideals that largely benefitted elite groups and significantly increased inequality in the following years.