Bolivia Economy

Following a 7.3 percent fall in GDP in 1999, the Ecuadorian economy continued to shrink during the first quarter of 2000, but subsequently began to show signs of an upturn. The year 2000 ended with a GDP growth of 2.3 percent and is expected to be 3.6 percent in 2001. Ecuador's economy faces several challenges; poverty has more than doubled in the last five years (70 percent vs. 32 percent in 1995.) The financial sector remains weak, and public confidence in Ecuadorian banks is extremely fragile. ... [Read More]

Andean Counterdrug Initiative

FY 2004 Request142,500—128,052116,000Program Objectives and Performance Indicators The Government of Peru (GOP) institutionalizes policy-making and coordination and takes ownership of counternarcotics law enforcement and alternative development efforts. The maintenance and operation of Peruvian National Police air wing is 75 percent nationalized. The police aviation unit receives additional and upgraded helicopters that will be used to extend counternarcotics-related efforts to remote areas of Peru. [Read More]

Background Notes

These publications include facts about the land, people, history, government, political conditions, economy, and foreign relations of independent states, some dependencies, and areas of special sovereignty.  The Notes are updated/revised by the Office of Electronic Information and Publications of the Bureau of Public Affairs as they are received from the Department's regional bureaus and are added to the database of the Department of State website you are now using. ... [Read More]

Bolivia

A constitutional, multiparty democracy with an elected president and bicameral legislature, Bolivia has separate executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government, with an attorney general independent of all three. President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada of the Nationalist Revolutionary Movement (MNR) took office on August 6 after he was elected by a joint session of the Bolivian Congress following the June 30 national election, in which the MNR won a plurality of the vote. The governing coalition controlled both houses of the legislature. Coalition members held the top leadership positions in both chambers. The executive and legislative branches suffered from corruption and inefficiency. The judiciary, while generally independent, also suffered from corruption and inefficiency. The National Police have primary responsibility for internal security, but military forces can be called upon for h ... [Read More]

Bolivia

The CCP considers sexual harassment a civil crime. There were no statistics on the incidence of sexual harassment, but the problem generally was acknowledged to exist widely in the male-oriented society. Legal services offices devoted to family and women's rights operated throughout the country. The Maternal and Infant Health Insurance Program provided health services, focused on maternal and infant health, to women of reproductive age and to children under the age of 5. Women generally do not enjoy a social status equal to that of men. Many women do not know their legal rights. Traditional prejudices and social conditions remained obstacles to advancement. In rural areas, for instance, traditional practices restricting land inheritance for women remained a problem. The Labor Code restricts the proportion of female staff in business to 45 percent of the workforce unless large groups of women are required in a parti ... [Read More]

US Department Of State Post Report

Since 1985, the Government of Bolivia has been implementing a far reaching program of macroeconomic stabilization and structural reform aimed at restoring price stability, creating conditions for sustained growth, and alleviating poverty. Important components of these structural reform measures include the capitalization of state enterprises and strengthening of the country’s financial system. The most important recent structural changes in the Bolivian economy have involved the capitalization of numerous public sector enterprises. Parallel legislative reforms have locked into place market-oriented policies, especially in the hydrocarbon and mining sectors that have encouraged private investment. Foreign-ownership is allowed virtually throughout the economy, with no requirements to register foreign direct investment separately. The Bolivian Constitution restricts investments by foreigners in operations along the border areas, unless the investment or project is declared as of national ... [Read More]

Bolivia

Workers may form and join organizations of their choosing; however, labor leaders consistently state that a section of the 1985 Economic Liberalization Decree, which addresses the free contracting of labor, undermines any protections against dismissal without cause. Labor leaders allege that employers use or threaten to use this article to limit unionization. The Labor Code requires prior government authorization to establish a union, permits only one union per enterprise, and allows the Government to dissolve unions by administrative fiat; however, the Government has not enforced these provisions in recent years. The law requires the Government to confirm the legitimately elected officers of unions, a difficult role that it is not known to abuse. While the code denies civil servants the right to organize and bans strikes in public services, including banks and public markets, nearly all civilian government workers are unionized. Workers generally are not penalized for union activities ... [Read More]

V. Country Narratives -- Countries A through G

Cote d’Ivoire is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Available information indicates that the overall magnitude of trafficking in Cote d’Ivoire has diminished in the past few years. Ivoirian girls are trafficked within the country for exploitation as domestic servants, street vendors, and prostitutes, and occasionally are lured to Europe where they are forced into commercial sexual exploitation after being deceived by false marriage proposals. Children from Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, and Benin are trafficked to Cote d’Ivoire for agricultural and domestic labor exploitation. Nigerian and Ghanaian women and children, as well as some females from Algeria, Morocco, China, and the Philippines, are trafficked to Abidjan and other large towns for sexual exploitation. Some of these women also transit Cote d’Iv ... [Read More]

Bolivia (06/05)

Twelve years of tumultuous rule left the MNR divided. In 1964, a military junta overthrew President Paz Estenssoro at the outset of his third term. The 1969 death of President Rene Barrientos, a former member of the junta elected President in 1966, led to a succession of weak governments. Alarmed by public disorder, the military, the MNR, and others installed Col. (later General) Hugo Banzer Suarez as President in 1971. Banzer ruled with MNR support from 1971 to 1974. Then, impatient with schisms in the coalition, he replaced civilians with members of the armed forces and suspended political activities. The economy grew impressively during most of Banzer's presidency, but human rights violations and eventual fiscal crises undercut his support. He was forced to call elections in 1978, and Bolivia again entered a period of political turmoil. ... [Read More]

Country Program: Bolivia

Promote strong, cohesive democratic government institutions capable of stopping narcotics production and trafficking in Bolivia; Establish and encourage sustained economic growth to reduce the effects of the drug trade on the economy of Bolivia; Strengthen and improve the efficiency of the Bolivian criminal justice system; and Eliminate the production and export of coca and cocaine products from Bolivia through eradication of illicit coca, increased interdiction, and greater effectiveness in the prosecution and conviction of narcotics crimes. ... [Read More]