Social confrontation in Bolivia reaching its peak in 2003
Bolivian gas conflict
Part of the Pink tide
2003 demonstrations against president Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada. "The gas is ours by right, to recover it is our duty."
Date
September 2003 - May 2006
Location
Bolivia
Caused by
Privatization of natural gas
Coca eradication
Corruption
Authoritarianism
Goals
Nationalization of natural gas
Methods
Demonstrations
Strike actions
Traffic obstructions
Resulted in
Protestor victory
Resignation of Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada
2004 Bolivian gas referendum
Election of Evo Morales as President of Bolivia
Parties
Protestors
Bolivian Workers' Center
Confederation of Indigenous Peoples
Federation of Neighborhood Councils
Landless Peasant Movement
Movement for Socialism
National Unity Front
Pachakuti Indigenous Movement
Supported by: Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America Argentina Brazil Cuba Guyana Indonesia Israel Laos Libya Mongolia Namibia North Korea Peru Russia Rwanda South Korea Tajikistan Thailand (from 2006) Venezuela Western Sahara Nepal
Government of Bolivia
Armed Forces
National Police
Bolivian Socialist Falange
Free Bolivia Movement
Nationalist Democratic Action
Revolutionary Nationalist Movement
Revolutionary Left Front
Revolutionary Left Movement
Solidarity Civic Unity
Petroleum industry
BG Group
Petrobras
Repsol
TotalEnergies
Supported by: Colombia El Salvador India Kosovo Mexico Paraguay Iran United States[citation needed]
Lead figures
Evo Morales Álvaro García Linera Oscar Olivera Felipe Quispe Samuel Doria Medina
Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada Carlos Mesa Eduardo Rodríguez Veltzé Jorge Quiroga Gonzalo Arredondo Milán
Politics of Bolivia
Constitution
History
Human rights
Executive
President (list)
Luis Arce
Vice President
David Choquehuanca
Cabinet of Bolivia
Legislative
Plurinational Legislative Assembly
Chamber of Senators
President of the Senate
Chamber of Deputies
President of the Chamber of Deputies
Judiciary
Supreme Tribunal of Justice
Constitutional Tribunal
Supreme Court (1825–2012)
Elections
Plurinational Electoral Organ
Political parties
Recent elections
2021 (regional)
2020 (general)
2019 (general)
2015 (regional)
Recent referendums
2016 (constitution)
2009 (constitution)
2008 (autonomy)
2008 (confidence vote)
Administrative divisions
Departments
Provinces
Municipalities
Foreign relations
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Chancellor of Bolivia: Rogelio Mayta
Diplomatic missions of / in Bolivia
Passport
Visa requirements
Visa policy
Bolivia portal
Other countries
v
t
e
The Bolivian gas conflict was a social confrontation in Bolivia reaching its peak in 2003, centering on the exploitation of the country's vast natural gas reserves. The expression can be extended to refer to the general conflict in Bolivia over the exploitation of gas resources, thus including the 2005 protests and the election of Evo Morales as president. Before these protests, Bolivia had seen a series of similar earlier protests during the Cochabamba protests of 2000, which were against the privatization of the municipal water supply.
The conflict had its roots in grievances over the government's economic policies concerning natural gas, as well as coca eradication policies, corruption and violent military responses against strikes. On a larger scale, it can be traced to Bolivia's colonization since the 15th century and the subsequent exploitation of its natural resources (e.g., the mines of Potosí).
The "Bolivian gas war" thus came to a head in October 2003, leading to the resignation of President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada (aka "Goni"). Strikes and road blocks mounted by indigenous and labour groups (including the COB trade union) brought the country to a standstill. Violent suppression by the Bolivian armed forces left some 60 people dead in October 2003, mostly inhabitants of El Alto, located on the Altiplano above the seat of government La Paz.
The governing coalition disintegrated forcing Goni to resign and leave the country on October 18, 2003. He was succeeded by the vice president, Carlos Mesa, who put the gas issue to a referendum on July 18, 2004. In May 2005, under duress from protesters, the Bolivian congress enacted a new hydrocarbons law, increasing the state's royalties from natural gas exploitation. However, protesters, who included Evo Morales and Felipe Quispe, demanded full nationalization of hydrocarbon resources, and the increased participation of Bolivia's indigenous majority, mainly composed of Aymaras and Quechuas, in the political life of the country. On June 6, 2005, Mesa was forced to resign as tens of thousands of protesters caused daily blockades to La Paz from the rest of the country. Morales' election at the end of 2005 was met with enthusiasm by the social movements, because he was, as the leader of left-wing MAS, one of the staunchest opponents to the exportation of the gas without corresponding industrialization in Bolivia. On May 1, 2006, President Morales signed a decree stating that all gas reserves were to be nationalized: "the state recovers ownership, possession and total and absolute control" of hydrocarbons. The 2006 announcement was met by applause on La Paz's main plaza, where Vice President Alvaro Garcia told the crowd that the government's energy-related revenue would jump US$320 million to US$780 million in 2007,[1] continuing a trend where revenues had expanded nearly sixfold between 2002 and 2006.[2]
^"Nationalization of Gas!". Znet. May 4, 2006. Archived from the original on June 30, 2006. Retrieved 2006-05-24.
^"Bolivia's military takes control of gas fields". Reuters. May 2, 2006. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
and 28 Related for: Bolivian gas conflict information
The Boliviangasconflict was a social confrontation in Bolivia reaching its peak in 2003, centering on the exploitation of the country's vast natural...
2006 Sadat X album "Octubre negro", unrest in Bolivia in October 2003 during the Boliviangasconflict October 2008, the onset of the global financial...
president Evo Morales after popular protests during the 2005 Boliviangasconflict. "Bolivia's economic history reveals a pattern of a single-commodity focus"...
landlocked Bolivia keeps a navy. The Bolivian Naval Force (Fuerza Naval Boliviana in Spanish) is a naval force about 5,000 strong in 2008. The Bolivian Air Force...
of El Alto's residents. The FEJUVE went on to participate in the Boliviangasconflict of 2003, during which they took over management of most of the city's...
Berindoague is a member of MNR. He left Bolivia in the wake of his actions during the 2003 Boliviangasconflict, taking refuge in the United States of...
the government, notably the BolivianGasConflict which drew momentum from the Cochabamba Water Wars. Both of these conflicts centered on disputes between...
political crisis occurred in Bolivia on 10 November 2019, after 21 days of civil protests following the disputed 2019 Bolivian general election in which...
northern Bolivia, after Bolivian aerial reconnaissance revealed the actual strength of the Paraguayan Navy in the area. On 15 June 1932, a Bolivian detachment...
politics of Bolivia. El Alto remains one of the major centers of the Boliviangasconflict. El Alto is known for its Neo-Andean architecture, built from the...
Bank. Boliviangasconflict Klein & Peres-Cajías 2014, p. 148. Bonifaz, Jeanette; Lefebvre, Stephan (November 24, 2014). "Lessons from Bolivia: re-nationalising...
violence in Pando. Boliviangasconflict, 2003–2006 social conflict stemming from issues around gas taxation and privatization Bolivian autonomy referendums...
exile in the United States following the 2003 BolivianGasConflict. Carville's work for Lozada in Bolivia was portrayed in the 2005 documentary film Our...
riots in Argentina 2002 Gujarat riots Protests against the Iraq War Boliviangasconflict 2003 Maldives civil unrest 2005 Belize unrest Protests against Faure...
Robert (September 2009). "Democracy's Labor: Disjunctive Memory in a Bolivian Workers' Union". Latin American Perspectives. 36 (5): 39–57. doi:10.1177/0094582X09341974...
find themselves in a sprint to the Bolivia-Chile border. It is set against a backdrop of the 2003 Boliviangasconflict and was shot during 2010 in the slums...
invested in Bolivian energy sources, particularly in natural gas, and made Bolivia into a player in the world energy market. The exportation of Bolivian energy...
Cochabamba Water War, also known as the Bolivian Water War, was a series of protests that took place in Cochabamba, Bolivia's fourth largest city, between December...
in Bolivia indigenous and peasant movements rooted among small coca farmers, or cocaleros, whose activism culminated in the Boliviangasconflict of the...
presidents within months. December 2001 riots in Argentina 2003–2005: Boliviangasconflict. 2003: The Rose Revolution, second of the colour revolutions, displaces...
the Boliviangasconflict, multiple people were shot by police in a series of clashes in El Alto In 2019 during the post electoral protests in Bolivia, multiple...
Indonesia, killing 31. 2003 – Boliviangasconflict: Bolivian President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada is forced to resign and leave Bolivia. 2007 – Karachi bombing:...
redistribution of money from Boliviangas extraction. He gained increased visibility through the Cochabamba Water War and gasconflict. In 2002, he was expelled...
an increasingly divisive conflict has been the BolivianGas War; a dispute over the exploitation of Bolivia's large natural gas reserves in the south of...
peoples in Bolivia, or Native Bolivians, are Bolivian people who are of indigenous ancestry. They constitute anywhere from 20 to 60% of Bolivia's population...
communists, sought to overthrow the ruling Bolivian oligarchy and implement a new socioeconomic model in Bolivia. Its main leaders were the former presidents...
War. He was also one of the main leaders of the protests in the Boliviangasconflict. He is also the head of a confederation of factory workers' unions...
Global Information
Bolivia
Bolivia portal