In November 2012, thousands of
volunteers collected basic data about the Bolivian population in the latest
census. Now, the official results are made public, and they offer some
surprises.
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| Interviewing for the Census 2012 - source: http://www.opinion.com.bo/opinion/articulos/2013/0801/noticias.php?id=102037 |
First of all, the number of
inhabitants in total and in the different states varies considerably between
the preliminary results published in January and the now published official
results (La Razón, 4 August 2013; Opinión 1 August 2013 a). The states of Cochabamba
and Santa Cruz see the biggest loss of inhabitants between preliminary and
official results (ibid.).
This inaccuracy points to problems
such as interstate border issues that were not clarified before the census, and
the late and insufficient briefing for those collecting the census data (La
Razón, 4 August 2013). In any case, it is a political issue since part of the
seats in the legislative organ, the Asamblea Legislativa Plurinacional, is
distributed to deputies from the different states according to the number of
inhabitants in the states (Opinión, 1 August 2013 b).
A second surprising result is the
question of ethnic self-identification (La Razón, 4 August 2013): 41 % of
Bolivians self-identify as indigenous, 58 % as non-indigenous (ibid.). In 2001,
62 % of the population identified as indigenous (Eju, 5 August 2013), which
gave impulse to the indigenous movement.
This information, first of all, will
have to be scrutinized and compared with other census data such as language groups
(La Razón, 4 August 2013), but it already has opened a debate about Bolivian
indigenous politics.
“With the census, the lie was
discovered”, says one commentator (Eju, 5 August 2013). Along these lines, the
argument is that the government’s indigenous politics and the new Constitution
have been inconsistent with Bolivia’s reality as a country that is not mainly
indigenous (ibid.).
On the other hand, representatives
of indigenous groups remark that it is worrying that self-identification as
indigenous has diminished despite the rise of indigenous politics (ibid.). This
shows the insufficiency of political action directed towards indigenous groups
(ibid.).
President Morales is surprised by
this result as well, debating that it shows either the decreasing importance of
pertinence to social group, or it is a sign of “a bigger colonizing mentality”
(ibid.). With this last comment, many members of the middle class have felt
offended (ibid.).
The census data shows that Bolivia
is a country of mestizos (i.e. people with mixed indigenous and non-indigenous
roots), and that is has a considerable group of people self-identifying as
indigenous. It is this reality that the government has not taken into account
sufficiently, directing its discourse mainly towards the indigenous. The
government needs to work for both mestizos and the indigenous and indeed work
more strongly towards reconciling these groups.
Eju (5 August 2013). Censo revela nuevo estado de mayoría mestiza
y descoloca teoría indigenista del gobierno. Retrieved from http://eju.tv/2013/08/censo-revela-nuevo-estado-ahora-de-mayora-mestiza-no-indgena/
La Razón (4 August 2013). Dos sorpresas del censo. Retrieved from http://www.la-razon.com/opinion/columnistas/sorpresas-Censo_0_1882011784.html
Opinión (1 August 2013 a). Datos de Censo varían y Bolivia tiene menos
habitantes. Retrieved
from http://www.opinion.com.bo/opinion/articulos/2013/0801/noticias.php?id=102037
Opinión (1 August 2013 b). Cochabamba ganaría un escaño y Santa Cruz cuatro. Retrieved from http://www.opinion.com.bo/opinion/articulos/2013/0801/noticias.php?id=102036
