The Indianist populism in Bolivia

Abstract

This article has the purpose to stimulate a discussion about what happened with the discursive interpellations that upraised the indigenous roots in Bolivia, and what kind of political actions were developed by Evo Morales and his party, Movement Towards Socialism (MAS), which finally led into many contradictions until the downfall of Evo in November 2019. It is relevant to analyze how the Indianist populism in Bolivia had strong popular support and, all of a sudden resigned the power. The hypothesis proposes that Evo Morales offered to become a sort of foundational balance of the political system, setting in motion a government style that undertook a constant electoral campaign to establish a power elite that instrumentalized social mobilizations and the Indianist discourse, which denounced the incompatibility between democracy and internal colonialism. However, Morales did not represent any kind of balance but a permanent polarization that enabled a logic of comrades versus enemies.