Paper short abstract:

The Constitution of Bolivia generates a false discourse with a sensitivity of regressive and extractivist application far from the original precepts of indigenous peoples. Therefore, it is urgent to rethink the democratic exercise, the rights of nature and respect for Pachamama.

Paper long abstract:

In Bolivia, the economic model that accompanied the return to democracy that began in 1986 showed that the weak construction of the ideal of the Nation-State and the consequent fragility of state institutions due, among other factors, to the historical debt in the recognition of otherness and the guarantee of the full exercise of the rights of a large part of the population, mainly indigenous people, women and children and adolescents, among others.

In the democratic stage of the 80s and 90s, as previously indicated, different demands and scenarios of conflict in general, and with respect to indigenous peoples in particular, began to become visible, among which two areas mainly stand out: 1) Agrarian issues on tenure and regularization of land rights, and 2) Access and use of natural resources.

The proposals of the indigenous peoples have been studied, which focus on: “Territory and dignity” in balance with nature, presented during the constituent process, assessing their partial inclusion in the constitutional text approved by referendum.

Internationally, the environmental advances in the Constitutions of countries such as Bolivia and Ecuador have been valued. However, in the Bolivian case, the CPE establishes principles, definitions and legal scope with a restrictive approach, which generates false discourse with environmental sensitivity in the face of the regressive application of an extractivist approach that is distant from the original precepts of indigenous peoples.

The aim is to reflect on constitutional alternatives to strengthen the democratic exercise that guarantees the rights of nature and respect for Pachamama.