Bolivia 2012: Between Good and Bad News

2012 in Bolivia was characterized by positive economic progress but with a conflictive social agenda Among the sensitive issues were the conflict over the construction of a highway through indigenous territory (known as TIPNIS), the general strike of health workers and the clash between miners working in cooperatives and those working for the state. Although Morales' administration was able to solve some of these problems, adopting a conciliator role in a growing scenario of social fragmentation, other topics remain in the agenda such as the TIPNIS, where the battleground is moving from the streets to the constitutional arena. The most important topics in the international agenda were the unsolved territorial dispute with Chile over access to the Pacific Ocean and the lukewarm relations with the U.S. In general, it was a year between good and bad news.