As internal tensions grow between leaders of the two major Bolivian indigenous parties, a roadblock campaign engineered by Pachacuti Indigenous Movement (MIP) congressman Felipe Quispe (“the Mallku”) appears to be foiled by interior minister Yerko Kukoc. The Mallku planned to protest numerous government policies, including its position on the Free Trade Area of the America’s and failure to follow through with promised aid. The protests failed to gain momentum, however, in large part due to Kukoc’s “firm hand” policies. Indigenous parties are currently struggling internally over tactical and theoretical differences, while simultaneously dealing with an increasingly hostile political establishment.
