The Plurinational State, a monster with many parents
By: Hugo Marcelo Balderrama - 01/02/2026
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On June 1, 2001, in an effort to combat drug trafficking and regain certification for Bolivia, General Hugo Banzer enacted Decree 26203. The decree's main objective was to eliminate areas of surplus coca production in the departments of La Paz and Cochabamba. Furthermore, it mandated the closure of the Coca Market, located in the Cochabamba province of Sacaba, as it was not a center for traditional coca trade but rather directly linked to drug trafficking.
Evo Morales, using his position as a member of the National Assembly, attempted to veto the decree; however, he was unsuccessful. But since the coca grower is not a politician, but rather the head of a criminal cartel, he shifted from legislative action to street violence, his specialty.
On January 6, 2002, while Bolivians were still recovering from the holiday season, five thousand coca growers surrounded Cochabamba. Their goal was to prevent the closure of the Coca Market and to repeal Supreme Decree 26203.
On January 15, the offices of the General Directorate of Coca (DIGECO) were attacked and approximately twenty-five vehicles were set on fire. Police officers Willy Cartagena and Ely Pinaya were also killed.
On January 16, due to the violence perpetrated by the coca growers, the Military Police entered the area to support the National Police. Almost immediately, Army Second Lieutenant Marcelo Trujillo and Police Sergeant Antonio Gutiérrez were struck by gunfire. While en route to their evacuation, the coca growers intercepted the ambulance and brutally murdered both officers.
On January 20, at the funeral mass, President Jorge Tuto Quiroga, who had taken command as a result of Banzer's resignation and death, pledged to apply the full force of the law against those responsible for the deaths of the uniformed officers.
On January 22, Carlos Sánchez Berzain, then a member of parliament for the MNR party, secured the approval of a majority of Bolivian parliamentarians to strip Evo Morales of his parliamentary immunity. The aim was to remove the coca grower's immunity so he could face justice for all his misdeeds.
On January 24, in response to threats from Evo Morales and his cronies, the Catholic Church, through Tito Solari, Archbishop of Cochabamba, called for dialogue between the government and the coca growers. One would expect that Tuto, who days earlier had declared, "You don't negotiate with murderers," would not attend the meeting; however, he did.
After several hours, Evo emerged victorious, as the government promised to leave him alone. When interviewed, Tuto Quiroga said, "I will not be responsible for a guerrilla movement in Chapare." In short, Tuto negotiated away his remaining six months in office, a very weak-willed move.
Although Evo did not manage to regain his seat in Congress, the fact that he was not brought to justice gave him time to organize armed groups and plan subversive strategies to continue destabilizing the country.
In October 2003, during the presidency of Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, subversive groups, including the coca growers of Chapare, the Water Warriors in Cochabamba, and the guerrillas of Achacachi, all under the command of Felipe Quispe, plunged the country into bloodshed. Quispe's violent statements to the media are well-known; he even wrote in a book expressing his clear intention to assassinate Carlos Sánchez Berzain. Bolivia's capture was achieved through the betrayal of Vice President Carlos Mesa, who, driven by opportunism, sided with the violent groups.
Once the coup d'état was completed, Carlos Mesa visited the city of El Alto and pledged to fulfill the October Agenda, which included the convening of a Constituent Assembly.
Regarding the Constituent Assembly, Carlos Sánchez Berzain, in his book: The Bolivian Dictatorship of the 21st Century, explains:
When Evo Morales became president, he convened the Constituent Assembly. Faced with popular resistance in the Calancha region, a massacre ensued, and the Assembly was moved to a closed military barracks in Oruro. From this barracks, the Constituent Assembly sent a proposal to Congress. This proposal included neither reelection nor a Plurinational State. An agreement was then reached with the opposition to create a law that purported to grant the people rights, stipulating that the text received from the Constituent Assembly could be reviewed by Congress. The so-called Constitution of the Plurinational State was drafted in Congress by two Spanish lawyers from the University of Valencia, paid by Cuba and Venezuela. This Constitution is a copy of the Cuban and Venezuelan constitutions, establishing continuous reelection and creating a Plurinational State with 36 nationalities, thus destroying the nation.
At that time, the opposition were, eureka, Jorge Tuto Quiroga and Samuel Doria Medina.
On January 22nd, the Plurinational State celebrated its seventeenth anniversary. As we can see, this dictatorial project, which responds to a transnational criminal structure based in Havana, is a monster with several fathers, some within the ruling party (Evo Morales and Álvaro García Linera) and others within the false opposition (Jorge Quiroga, Carlos Mesa, and Samuel Doria Medina).
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