CENSUS 2012 - SURPRISING RESULTS

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.



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.

 

REFERENCES

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