“On the fourth of May, the eyes of the world will be upon us,” said Branko Marinkovic, a rancher and leader of the pro-autonomy movement. “Let’s show the world here, let’s plant the seeds of democracy, liberty and autonomy.”
Autonomy “is a fundamental right to be creators of our own destiny; autonomy is an essential part of our liberty,” said Santa Cruz Prefect Ruben Costas Aguilera.
But a mine union worker opposed the supporters of autonomy. “They want to divide our departments and the whole Bolivian people,” he told a reporter. “We’re not going to permit that the country be divided.”
The autonomy movement is also opposed by leftist President Evo Morales and would stall the plans of his MAS Party (Movement Toward Socialism) to redistribute land and wealth from the mineral-rich eastern provinces to the poorer western highlands in the Andes.
Though the national electoral court has called the vote illegal and said it will not honor the results, the Organization of American States was taking the matter seriously.
