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Movement for Socialism – Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples (; MAS or MAS-IPSP), is a
socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
political party in
Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...
. Its followers are known as ''Masistas''. In the December 2005 election, MAS-IPSP won the first ever majority victory by a single Bolivian party. The party continued to rule until 10 November 2019, and was victorious again in the 2020 elections. MAS-IPSP evolved out of the movement to defend the interests of
coca Coca is any of the four cultivated plants in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. Coca is known worldwide for its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine. Coca leaves contain cocaine which acts as a mild stimulant when chewed or ...
growers. Evo Morales has articulated the goals of his party and popular organizations as the need to achieve plurinational unity, and to develop a new
hydrocarbon In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons are examples of group 14 hydrides. Hydrocarbons are generally colourless and Hydrophobe, hydrophobic; their odor is usually fain ...
law which guarantees 50% of revenue to Bolivia, although political leaders of MAS-IPSP recently interviewed showed interest in complete
nationalization Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with p ...
of the
fossil fuel A fossil fuel is a flammable carbon compound- or hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the buried remains of prehistoric organisms (animals, plants or microplanktons), a process that occurs within geolog ...
industries, as well as the country's
lithium Lithium (from , , ) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard temperature and pressure, standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the ...
deposits. MAS-IPSP is the dominant force in municipal politics in Bolivia. In the most recent municipal elections in 2015, it was the only party to contest leadership of all 339 municipalities. In all, the mayors of 227 municipalities belong to the party, as do 1,144 of the country's 2,022 municipal council members. During Arce's government, the party was divided into two internal factions: the "Arcistas" (Renovator Bloc), which defends
Luis Arce Luis Alberto Arce Catacora (; born 28 September 1963), often referred to as Lucho, is a Bolivian banker, economist, and politician serving as the 67th president of Bolivia since 2020. A member of the Movement for Socialism (Bolivia), Movement fo ...
's management and seeks the renovation of the party leadership, which is chaired by
Grover García Grover is a blue Muppet character on the PBS/HBO children's television show ''Sesame Street''. Self-described as lovable, cute, and furry, he is a blue monster who rarely uses contractions when he speaks or sings. Grover was originally perfor ...
, and the "Evistas", which defends
Evo Morales Juan Evo Morales Ayma (; born 26 October 1959) is a Bolivian politician, trade union organizer, and former cocalero activist who served as the 65th president of Bolivia from 2006 to 2019. Widely regarded as the country's first president to come ...
's leadership and seeks his re-election in the
2025 Bolivian general election General elections are scheduled to take place in Bolivia on 17 August 2025. If no candidate secures a majority, a second round will take place on 19 October 2025. Voters will elect the President of Bolivia and Vice President of Bolivia, 130 memb ...
. On 4 October 2023, President Luis Arce and Vice President
David Choquehuanca David Choquehuanca Céspedes (born 7 May 1961) is a Bolivian diplomat, peasant leader, politician, and trade unionist serving as the 39th vice president of Bolivia since 2020. A member of the Movement for Socialism, he previously served as min ...
were expelled from the party by a decision of the board chaired by Evo Morales. However, the Arcista faction did not recognize the expulsion. By February 2025, due to MAS prohibiting him from running for president in the 2025 general election, Morales left the party to join the
Front for Victory The Front for Victory (, FPV) was a centre-left Peronist electoral alliance in Argentina, and is formally a faction of the Justicialist Party. Former presidents Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner were elected as representatives ...
.


History


Origins

The roots of MAS-IPSP can be traced to the closures of the Bolivian Mining Corporation and shut-down of various mines during the 1980s. Thousands of former miners became
coca Coca is any of the four cultivated plants in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. Coca is known worldwide for its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine. Coca leaves contain cocaine which acts as a mild stimulant when chewed or ...
farmers as their means of survival, but also encountered new hardships in their new profession. The growth of the coca farmer community resulted in a sharp numerical growth of organizations such as ''
Confederación Sindical Única de Trabajadores Campesinos de Bolivia The Unified (or Sole) Syndical Confederation of Peasant Workers of Bolivia (, CSUTCB) is the largest union of peasants in Bolivia. The CSUTCB was formed in 1979 in opposition to government-sponsored peasant unions, and immediately replaced th ...
'' (CSUTCB) and '' Confederación Sindical de Colonizadores de Bolivia''. The movement built alliances with the Confederation of Indigenous Peoples of Eastern Bolivia (CIDOB) and mobilized joint protests in a 1992 campaign titled "500 years of resistance of the indigenous peoples", culminating in a march to
La Paz La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...
where a protest was held on 12 October 1992 (
Columbus Day Columbus Day is a national holiday in many countries of the Americas and elsewhere, and a federal holiday in the United States, which officially celebrates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas. He went ashore at ...
). The 1992 campaign marked the emergence of a 'peasant-Indigenous' movement. Harnecker, Marta.
MAS-IPSP: Instrumento político que surge de los movimientos sociales
'. p. 70
However, CSUTCB was wary of building a political party to contest state power. The experiences of the 1980s, when the CSUTCB leadership had been divided over electoral candidatures (of leaders such as
Jenaro Flores Santos Jenaro Flores Santos (September 19, 1942 – August 25, 2019) often Genaro Flores Santos, was a Bolivian trade union leader and politician. Flores Santos was the founder of the Confederación Sindical Única de Trabajadores Campesinos de Bolivia ...
and
Víctor Hugo Cárdenas Víctor Hugo Cárdenas Conde (born 4 June 1951) is a Bolivian indigenous Aymara activist and politician. He is the leader of the MRTKL party (Revolutionary Liberation Movement Tupaq Katari). He was the 35th vice president of Bolivia from 1993 ...
) had been negative. Rather the organization began discussing the possibility of launching a 'political instrument', a structure in which the trade unions would enter as collective members. The idea would be to combine social and political struggles, to have one branch in the
social movement A social movement is either a loosely or carefully organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a Social issue, social or Political movement, political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to re ...
s and one political branch. According to Lino Villca there were also discussions about forming an armed wing of the movement. Carlos Burgoa Maya traces the initiative for a political instrument to the Third Congress of the CSUTCB (26 June–3 July 1987, Cochabamba) in which several proposals were merged into a document proposing an "Assembly of Nationalities" including traditional authorities to forge "political instruments of the nationalities." In the COB's 9th Congress (May 1992, Sucre), a thesis for worker-indigenous unity in "constructing a political instrument" was approved. Numerous prominent future leaders of the MAS, including Evo Morales, Félix Patzi, and David Choquehuanca met on 7 November 1992 in a gathering organized by CSUTCB, CSCB, CIDOB, FNMCB (Bartolina Sisa), and the COB, which decided to call for withdrawal from existing parties and to consolidate as an independent political force. The August–September 1994 cocalero march also endorsed the creation of a political instrument. The creation of a political instrument received the backing of the sixth CSUTCB congress in 1994, and in March 1995 CSUTCB convened a congress titled 'Land, Territory and Political Instrument' in
Santa Cruz de la Sierra Santa Cruz de la Sierra (; ), commonly known as Santa Cruz, is the largest city in Bolivia and the capital of the Santa Cruz Department (Bolivia), Santa Cruz department. Situated on the Pirai River (Bolivia), Pirai River in the eastern Tropical ...
. Present at the congress were CSUTCB, CSCB, the Bartolina Sisa National Federation of Peasant Women of Bolivia and CIDOB. The congress resulted in the foundation of the Assembly for the Sovereignty of the Peoples (ASP), under the leadership of the Cochabamba peasant leader Alejo Véliz as the main leader and
Evo Morales Juan Evo Morales Ayma (; born 26 October 1959) is a Bolivian politician, trade union organizer, and former cocalero activist who served as the 65th president of Bolivia from 2006 to 2019. Widely regarded as the country's first president to come ...
in second position.Monasterios, Karin, Pablo Stefanoni, and Hervé do Alto.
Reinventando la nación en Bolivia: movimientos sociales, Estado y poscolonialidad
'. La Paz, Bolivia: CLACSO, 2007. p. 75
From 1996 onwards, Evo Morales was a rising star in the ASP leadership. Soon he became a competitor of Veliz. Internal conflict emerged between the followers of Morales and Veliz — ''evistas'' and ''alejistas''. ASP wanted to contest the 1997 national elections, but never obtained the registration of a political party at the CNE. Instead, the group contested the election of the lists of the United Left. Veliz was candidate for the presidency and for parliament (on the
proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...
list). However, many trade unions decided not to support Veliz's candidature, accusing him of having manipulated the candidate lists of the United Left. Four ASP members of the
Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...
were elected from the
Chapare province Chapare (, also called The Chapare, is a rural province in the northern region of Cochabamba Department in central Bolivia. Most of the territory consists of valley rainforests that surround the area's main waterway, the Chapare River, which is ...
(the entire United Left group): Evo Morales, Román Loayza Caero, Félix Sanchéz Veizaga and Néstor Guzmán Villarroel.Monasterios, Karin, Pablo Stefanoni, and Hervé do Alto.
Reinventando la nación en Bolivia: movimientos sociales, Estado y poscolonialidad
'. La Paz, Bolivia: CLACSO, 2007. p. 78


Foundation and local elections

After the 1997 elections a split occurred in ASP and Evo Morales was expelled from the organization. Harnecker, Marta.
MAS-IPSP: Instrumento político que surge de los movimientos sociales
'. pp. 71-72
In 1998 the supporters of Evo Morales founded the Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples (IPSP). Notably, the majority of the grassroots supporters of ASP sided with Morales in the split. One of the prominent ASP leaders who sided with Morales was Román Loayza Caero, leader of CSUTCB.Loayza Caero, Román, and Shirley Rasguido.
Román Loayza Caero: lider quechua, contribuyó al ascenso campesino indígena del país
'. Líderes contemporáneos del movimiento campesino indígena de Bolivia, no. 3. La Paz, Bolivia: CIPCA, 2006. Back Cover
At the time of its foundation, an IPSP flag was adopted. It was brown and green, with a sun in the middle. In order to contest the 1999 municipal election (because the
National Electoral Court of Bolivia The National Electoral Court () was the government-appointed court which oversaw elections and electoral results at all levels of Bolivian government from 1956 to 2010, and supervised nine Departmental Electoral Courts in each department. It was fo ...
declined to recognize the party), IPSP borrowed the registration (and party name) of an inactive spliter faction of the
falangist Falangism () was the political ideology of three political parties in Spain that were known as the Falange, namely first the Falange Española, the Falange Española de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FE de las JONS), and afterwa ...
Bolivian Socialist Falange The Bolivian Socialist Falange () is a Bolivian political party established in 1937. It is a far-rightJohn, S (2006) ''Permanent Revolution on the Altiplano: Bolivian Trotskyism, 1928-2005'', p. 445 party drawing inspiration from fascism. It was t ...
, ''Movimiento al Socialismo – Unzaguista'' (MAS).Albó, Xavier, and Victor Quispe.
Quiénes son indígenas en los gobiernos municipales
'. Cuadernos de investigación CIPCA, 59. La Paz: CIPCA .a. 2004. pp. 103-105
Komadina, Jorge, and Céline Geffroy Komadina.
El poder del movimiento político: estrategia, tramas organizativas e identidad del MAS en Cochabamba (1999–2005)
'. La Paz: CESU-UMSS, 2007. p. 22
The decision to go for elections as MAS was taken in Cochabamba in 1998. IPSP decided to adopt the name, banner and colours (cobalt blue, black, and white) of MAS. Harnecker, Marta.
MAS-IPSP: Instrumento político que surge de los movimientos sociales
'. p. 74
In January 1999, the organization adopted the name MAS-IPSP. This move provoked a split between IPSP and the new CSUTCB leader,
Felipe Quispe Felipe Quispe Huanca " Mallku" (Quechua language: "condor"), (22 August 1942 – 19 January 2021) was a Bolivian historian and political leader. He headed the Pachakuti Indigenous Movement (MIP) and was general secretary of the United Union Co ...
. Quispe stated that he was unable to accept to contest the elections under a name tainted by a
fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...
past and that the falangist profile meant a negation of indigenous identity.Monasterios, Karin, Pablo Stefanoni, and Hervé do Alto.
Reinventando la nación en Bolivia: movimientos sociales, Estado y poscolonialidad
'. La Paz, Bolivia: CLACSO, 2007. p. 79
In the 1999 elections Quispe aligned himself with Veliz's group, which had decided to contest elections through the
Communist Party of Bolivia The Communist Party of Bolivia () is a communist party in Bolivia. It was founded in 1950 by Raúl Ruiz González and other former members of the Revolutionary Left Party (PIR). It remained small and did not hold its first national party congr ...
. In the Cochabamba region the verbal confrontations between the two sides were often tense, and the Veliz group launched the slogan "MAS is Unzaguist, falangist, heil heil Hitler". MAS-IPSP itself however stressed that the adaptation of the name MAS was a mere formality, and the membership cards issued by the organization carried the slogan "''legally MAS, legitimately IPSP''". MAS-IPSP got 65,425 votes (3.3% of the nationwide votes) and won 81 local council seats (4.8% of the seats in the country) in 1999.Albó, Xavier, and Victor Quispe.
Quiénes son indígenas en los gobiernos municipales. Cuadernos de investigación CIPCA, 59. La Paz: CIPCA [u.a.
2004. pp. 91-94
.a.">Quiénes son indígenas en los gobiernos municipales. Cuadernos de investigación CIPCA, 59. La Paz: CIPCA [u.a.
2004. pp. 91-94CSUTCB.
EXPERIENCIA POLITICA INSTRUMENTO POLITICO POR LA SOBERANIA DE LOS PUEBLOS - IPSP
''
According to a study by Xavier Albó and Victor Quispe, the vast majority of the MAS-IPSP councilors elected in the 1999 municipal election were Indigenous peoples of the Americas">indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...
. In the Cochabamba Department MAS-IPSP obtained 39% of the votes winning seven mayoral posts. The MAS vote in Cochabamba was almost completely confined to the Chapare, Carrasco and Ayopaya provinces. In the capital of the Department (
Cochabamba Cochabamba (; ) is a city and municipality in central Bolivia in a valley in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital (political), capital of the Cochabamba Department and the list of cities in Bolivia, fourth largest city in Bolivia, with ...
) the MAS mayoral candidate only got 0.88% (less than the Communist Party candidate, Alejo Veliz who got 1.1%). The mayoral post of Cochabamba was won by
Manfred Reyes Villa Manfred Armando Antonio Reyes Villa Bacigalupi is a Bolivian politician, businessman, and former military officer. He was the mayor of the city of Cochabamba from 1994 to 2000, and became the elected Prefect of the Department of Cochabamba fr ...
of the
New Republican Force The New Republican Force (Spanish: ''Nueva Fuerza Republicana'', NFR) is a center-right political party in Bolivia. It is mainly based in the department of Cochabamba. History The NFR was founded in 1995. After the Assembly for the Sovereignty o ...
, who got 51.2% of the votes in the city.Komadina, Jorge, and Céline Geffroy Komadina.
El poder del movimiento político: estrategia, tramas organizativas e identidad del MAS en Cochabamba (1999–2005)
'. La Paz: CESU-UMSS, 2007. pp. 33-34


Years of struggle

During the years of 1998–2002, the grassroot base of MAS-IPSP was consolidated, as a result of increasing repression against the coca growers' movement. MAS-IPSP represented, along with the smaller Indigenous Pachakuti Movement (MIP, Felipe Quispe's new party), the anti-system opposition in the country. Whilst Bolivian politics had seen several political parties contesting on
populist Populism is a contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the " common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently associated with anti-establis ...
platforms during the past decades, MAS-IPSP and MIP differed from these parties through its strong connections to the peasant organizations. However, the fact that MIP had been accorded registration as a political party by the National Electoral Court (in spite of falling short of having the 10,000 members required for registration) angered MAS-IPSP followers. Both within MAS-IPSP and amongst political analysts the smooth registration of MIP was described as a move by the political establishment to divide the indigenous vote and to spoil the chances of a possible MAS-IPSP/MIP alliance. By this time IPSP had been denied registration by the National Electoral Court four times, citing minor details. The period of 2000–2002 was characterized by a series of social struggles that contributed to the radicalization of the Bolivian polity; the 2000 water war in Cochabamba,
Aymara Aymara may refer to: Languages and people * Aymaran languages, the second most widespread Andean language ** Aymara language, the main language within that family ** Central Aymara, the other surviving branch of the Aymara(n) family, which today ...
uprisings in 2000 and 2001 and the coca growers' struggle in Chapare. While social movements are by no means new in Bolivia, a country with a long history of revolution due to political and class struggle, this protest cycle marked a renewal of militancy and growing successful organizational planning which had not been witnessed before. In January 2002, Morales was expelled from the parliament after being accused of masterminding violent confrontations between police and coca growers in Sacaba. The expulsion of Morales from the parliament contributed to the political popularity of MAS-IPSP. Ahead of the 2002 national elections, MAS-IPSP sought to expand its influence outside its peasant base. Evo Morales stood as presidential candidate and Antonio Peredo as vice-presidential candidate. By launching Peredo for the vice-presidency, MAS-IPSP attempted to gain influence amongst the urban middle classes. MAS-IPSP also made an appeal for the supporters of the Marxist left groups to join the campaign and present themselves as MAS-IPSP candidates.Monasterios, Karin, Pablo Stefanoni, and Hervé do Alto.
Reinventando la nación en Bolivia: movimientos sociales, Estado y poscolonialidad
'. La Paz, Bolivia: CLACSO, 2007. p. 80
Prominent MAS-IPSP leaders recruited for the 2002 election campaign included Gustavo Torrico, Manuel Morales Dávila and Jorge Alvaro. In their election campaign, MAS-IPSP championed 'national sovereignty', denouncing U.S. interventions in Bolivian affairs. The political elite and proponents of
neoliberal Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pej ...
policies were denounced as 'traitors' supported by the United States. The appeal of MAS-IPSP was also aided by the intervention of US ambassador Manuel Rocha, who threatened Bolivians that US economic aid to Bolivia would be cut if Morales won. Morales has credited ambassador Rocha for the success of MAS, stating that " ery statement
ocha The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is a United Nations (UN) body established in December 1991 by the General Assembly to strengthen the international response to complex emergencies and natural disaster ...
made against us helped us to grow and awaken the conscience of the people." Anti-US sentiment was further exacerbated when the new ambassador, David Greenlee, made it clear that he would not approve of any president other than
Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada Gonzalo Daniel Sánchez de Lozada Sánchez Bustamante (born 1 July 1930), often referred to as Goni, is a Bolivian-American businessman and politician who served as the 61st president of Bolivia from 1993 to 1997 and from 2002 to 2003. A membe ...
(Goni). The electoral advance of MAS-IPSP was aided by the implosion of the political party Conscience of the Fatherland (CONDEPA). CONDEPA was a populist party which was based in the urban poor, often Aymaras who had migrated to the urban centres of Bolivia. The party had lost much of its popular legitimacy as it was coopted by
Hugo Banzer Hugo Banzer Suárez (; 10 May 1926 – 5 May 2002) was a Bolivian politician and military officer who served as the 51st president of Bolivia. He held the Bolivian presidency twice: from 1971 to 1978 as a military dictator; and then again ...
's government, and the party had suffered the death of its main leader just before the 2002 elections. In the polls CONDEPA lost all of their 22 parliamentary seats. Whilst Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada was re-elected as President of Bolivia by Congress, Evo Morales came in second place with just 1.5% fewer votes than Sánchez de Lozada. MAS-IPSP got 14.6% of the valid uninominal vote, which gave the movement 27 out of 130 seats in the
Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...
and eight out of 27 seats in the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
. The election result shocked both political analysts as well as MAS-IPSP itself. Out of the elected MAS-IPSP legislators, ten identified themselves as indigenous or peasants, twelve as leftwing intellectuals or labour leaders. The fifth national congress of MAS-IPSP was held in
Oruro Oruro (Hispanicized spelling) or Uru Uru is a city in Bolivia with a population of 264,683 (2012 calculation), about halfway between La Paz and Sucre in the Altiplano, approximately above sea level. It is Bolivia's fifth-largest city by populat ...
13–14 December 2003.Monasterios, Karin, Pablo Stefanoni, and Hervé do Alto.
Reinventando la nación en Bolivia: movimientos sociales, Estado y poscolonialidad
'. La Paz, Bolivia: CLACSO, 2007. p. 107


2005 elections

In the 2005 general election, Evo Morales was again the presidential candidate of MAS-IPSP. He won a clear majority with 53.7% of the valid presidential vote—the first since the restoration of democracy that a presidential candidate had won without the need for a runoff. MAS-IPSP obtained 43.5% of the valid uninominal vote, which gave it 72 out of 130 seats in the
Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...
and 12 out of 27 seats in the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
. In the 2005 prefect elections, MAS campaigned for all nine departmental prefectures (governorships), but only won three: Chuquisaca (43%), Oruro (41.0%), and Potosí (42.7%).


In government

Since taking office, the MAS-IPSP government has emphasized modernization of the country, promoting industrialization, increased state intervention in the economy, social and cultural inclusion, and redistribution of revenue from natural resources through various social service programs. When the first MAS-IPSP cabinet was formed, it had Andrés Soliz Rada as Minister for Hydrocarbons, David Choquehuanca as Foreign Minister, Casimira Rodríguez as Justice Minister, Salvador Ric Reira as Minister for Public Works and Services, Hugo Salvatierra as Rural Development Minister, Álex Gálvez Mamami as Labour Minister, Abel Mamami as Water Minister, Félix Patzi as Education Minister, Félipe Caceres as Vice Minister of Social Defense, Alicia Muñoz as Minister of Government, Juan Ramón Quintana as Minister of the Presidency, Carlos Villegas as Minister of Economic Planning and Walter Villarroel as Mining Minister. Two MAS-IPSP heavyweights, Santos Ramírez and Edmundo Novillo (since elected governor of
Cochabamba Cochabamba (; ) is a city and municipality in central Bolivia in a valley in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital (political), capital of the Cochabamba Department and the list of cities in Bolivia, fourth largest city in Bolivia, with ...
in April 2010 local elections), became the president of the Senate and the House of Deputies respectively. The 2006 elections to the Constituent Assembly further consolidated the position of MAS-IPSP as the dominant force in Bolivian politics. After the elections Román Loayza Caero became the head of the MAS-IPSP faction in the
Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...
.
PPB-CN sella alianza opositora con Román Loayza
''
In 2007 MAS-IPSP was able to register itself as MAS-IPSP at the CNE. On 10 August 2008 a vote of confidence referendum was held regarding the posts of president Morales, vice-president Garcia Linera and different prefects. Morales and Garcia Linera got their mandate affirmed by a wide majority, reaching 83% of the votes in La Paz and 71% of the votes in Cochabamba in their favour. But they also obtained significant support in the ' Media Luna' departments (Santa Cruz 41%, Beni 44%, Pando 53% and Tarija 50%), indicating the consolidation of MAS-IPSP as a national political force.Zuazo, Moira. (2009, January). ''¿Cómo nació el MAS? La ruralización de la política en Bolivia.'' Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.
/ref> In the 2010 regional elections, MAS-IPSP won the post of governor in six departements (La Paz, Oruro, Potosí, Pando, Chuquisaca and Cochabamba) and finished second in the remaining three (Santa Cruz, Tarija and Beni). In Chuquisaca MAS-IPSP had launched 29-year-old Estaban Urquizu as its candidate for governor. Urquizu won with 53.9% of the votes, becoming the youngest governor in Bolivian history. In La Paz Department MAS-IPSP dropped its candidate Félix Patzi shortly before the elections, after Patzi was arrested for drunk driving. The election was also marked by candidatures of MAS-IPSP dissidents. MAS-IPSP co-founder Lino Villca had founded the
Movement for Sovereignty The Movement for Sovereignty (Spanish: ''Movimiento por la Soberanía'', MPS) is a leftist, indigenist Bolivian political party founded by dissidents of the Movement for Socialism (MAS-IPSP). Its leader, and fourth-place candidate for Governor of ...
(MPS), which contested the elections. Other former MAS-IPSP activists involved in founding the MPS include Óscar Chirinos, Miguel Machaca, and Rufo Calle. The 2020
general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...
had a record voter turnout of 88.4% and ended in a landslide win for MAS which took 55.1% of the votes. As of July 2024, there was a deep internal divisions within the party between the supporters of president
Luis Arce Luis Alberto Arce Catacora (; born 28 September 1963), often referred to as Lucho, is a Bolivian banker, economist, and politician serving as the 67th president of Bolivia since 2020. A member of the Movement for Socialism (Bolivia), Movement fo ...
and former president
Evo Morales Juan Evo Morales Ayma (; born 26 October 1959) is a Bolivian politician, trade union organizer, and former cocalero activist who served as the 65th president of Bolivia from 2006 to 2019. Widely regarded as the country's first president to come ...
. In September 2024, clashes between pro-Arce and pro-Morales factions in La Paz ended with 40 people injured. On November 26, 2024, Groover García was recognized as president of the MAS recognized by him (TSE), leaving Evo Morales out of the presidency of the MAS and without power within the MAS. In February 2025, Evo Morales presented his formal resignation from Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS). He was running for president in the August 17
elections An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...
with the
Front for Victory The Front for Victory (, FPV) was a centre-left Peronist electoral alliance in Argentina, and is formally a faction of the Justicialist Party. Former presidents Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner were elected as representatives ...
(FPV).


Ideology

Morales has defined socialism in terms of
communitarianism Communitarianism is a philosophy that emphasizes the connection between the individual and the community. Its overriding philosophy is based on the belief that a person's social identity and personality are largely molded by community relation ...
, stating in a 2003 interview that in the "
ayllu The ''ayllu'', a family clan, is the traditional form of a community in the Andes, especially among Quechuas and Aymaras. They are an indigenous local government model across the Andes region of South America, particularly in Bolivia and Peru. ...
people live in community, with values such as solidarity and reciprocity'. Regarding the question of national identity, MAS-IPSP borrows discourse from the '' katarista'' tradition and from the indigenous peoples' movement in eastern Bolivia, criticizing the modern nation state as a failed construct of 'internal colonialism' and inherently racist. Thus the movement seeks to construct a plurinational state based on autonomies of the indigenous peoples. In the MAS-IPSP discourse 'nation' and 'people' are often equated, whilst the oligarchy is portrayed as anti-national. The ''katarista'' discourse was not a feature of the ideological profile of the IPSP at the time of its foundation. IPSP surged as a movement of the peasantry, amongst colonizers Andrea coca growers. The ''katarista'' discourse was absorbed later, largely borrowed from
Félipe Quispe Felipe Quispe Huanca "Mallku" (Quechua language: "condor"), (22 August 1942 – 19 January 2021) was a Bolivian historian and political leader. He headed the Pachakuti Indigenous Movement (MIP) and was general secretary of the United Union Conf ...
's rhetoric from the struggles of 2000. However, unlike Quispe, the MAS-IPSP never went as far as to create an exclusively indigenous political profile, and Morales maintained that an alliance with non-indigenous actors and the middle classes was a necessity. The seventh congress of MAS-IPSP, held in January 2009, approved a document titled "Communitarian socialism to liberate Bolivia from the colonial state", envisioning the path of a 'cultural and democratic revolution' in Bolivia. In a 2005 programme MAS set out its main and national objective: "The main and national objective of the MAS economic program is to improve the conditions and quality of life of all Bolivians. A process of changing the development pattern will begin due to the failure and negative balances left by State Capitalism and Neoliberalism. The productive, dignified and sovereign State will be built based on the current characteristics of the country: structural heterogeneity, regional asymmetry, political, economic and social exclusion, and high levels of poverty and human degradation." A 2006 development plan called for buen vivir (Living well) as an alternative to capitalist development, stating that "The development around Living Well is based on the ability to recover the link with nature and with social memory, which in agrarian communities is centered on the land, in nomadic communities in the forest and in urban communities in the neighborhood and the city, in order to discard the deliberate procedure of separating societies from their cultural roots, through monocultural domination. Planning seeks to organize development and strengthen the principle of intrinsic relationship between Bolivian cultures and nature as a nexus that generates visions about the world; of interpretations of the work; of identities about time and its myths; construction of territoriality and power. The solid links of Bolivian cultures with nature are a heritage of all and constitute an enormous comparative advantage in relation to a capitalist development model, whose basic development equation, associated with the predation of natural resources with short-term profits, is in crisis. Our proposal for a new development, whose roots are rooted in cultural plurality, in the encounter and in the complementarity of knowledge, has the objective of putting an end to the myth of linear progress that seeks to divide cultures into “modern” and “backward”; between “primitive” and “advanced”. This developmental trap entails the annihilation of other temporalities, other memories, other contributions to the construction of interhuman relationships and other relationships with time and space. In such a way that one of the horizons of this Strategy is to contribute to the preservation of other meanings about the relationship between humanity and nature." A later development plan from 2010 stated that: “The beginning of the 21st century is a time of great opportunities for our country. The capitalist model of accumulation and the consumption patterns of "western civilization" have entered into crisis. Against this backdrop, Bolivia emerges with a new political and philosophical proposal, the Democratic and Cultural Revolution, which is aimed at forging a just, diverse, inclusive, balanced and harmonious world with nature for the "Living Well" of all peoples worldwide. In this context, the government of President Evo Morales has brought to international forums a series of proposals to innovate diplomatic relations between States, to seek integration and trade between peoples and, above all, to promote a new type of relationship between human beings and the environment. Thus, in early 2009, he proposed to the United Nations Assembly the "10 Commandments to Save the Planet, Humanity and Life", a document that was taken as the basis for the UN to declare April 22 as "Mother Earth Day". It is undeniable, then, that our country has inscribed its leadership in the international arena. For this reason, our Government Program proposes to give continuity to the international relations policies that the Foreign Ministry has been developing and that are part of the National Development Plan.” MAS-IPSP itself does not have an ideological centre, and the different constituent movements belong to slightly different trends of thought.
Marxists Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, and ...
, social-democrats, and
anarchists Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or hierarchy, primarily targeting the state and capitalism. Anarchism advocates for the replacement of the state w ...
can be found within the MAS-IPSP fold. In the words of Alvaro García Linera, the political character of MAS-IPSP has evolved through the combination of "an eclectic indianism and the critical and self-critical traditions of the intellectual left-wing that began to Indianize Marxism from the 1980s and onwards". According to García Linera, a "flexible indianism" enabled MAS-IPSP to gather support from a variety of sectors. Bolivian writer and economist Roberto Laserna argues that there are three main factions within the party: the '' indigenistas'', the '' old leftists'', and the '' eft-wing' ''populists''. García Linera characterizes MAS-IPSP as "
centre-left Centre-left politics is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commo ...
", stating that the goal of the movement is the establishment of a form of "Andean capitalism". In the findings of
Latinobarómetro Latinobarómetro Corporation is a private non-profit organization, based in Providencia, Chile. It is responsible for carrying out barómetro, an annual public opinion survey that involves some 20,000 interviews in 18 Latin America Latin A ...
surveys until 2002, a sample of 27 MAS voters identified themselves as 2.7 on a scale between 0 and 10 (in which 0 represented the far-left and 10 represented the far-right). According to
Marta Harnecker Marta Harnecker (1937 – 14 June 2019) was a Chilean journalist, author, psychologist, sociologist, and Marxist intellectual. She studied the analysis of labor movements and acted as an advisor to the government of Cuba, and worked with left-w ...
and Federico Fuentes, MAS-IPSP represents a "new indigenous nationalism" based on two sets of historical memories, that of the peasant movement (represented through CSUTCB) and that of the indigenous movement (represented through CIDOB), and combines elements of indigenismo,
nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...
and "miners' Marxism". According to Carlos Toranzo Roca, the politics of MAS-IPSP is largely a continuation of the traditional Latin American populism which in Bolivia is rooted in the 1952 revolution. According to him, a key element of this feature is clientelistic relations of distribution combined with anti-imperialist and nationalist discourse. A 2021 statute noted that the MAS-IPSP is governed by the following principles: Anti-imperialism, Anti-capitalism, Anti-colonialism, Complementarity, Historical memory, Pluralism, Exercise of Plurinationality, Plurinational Identity, Internal Democracy, Internal Discipline, Equality and gender equity, Depatriarchalization, Unity, Solidarity, and Respect for natural leadership.


Organization

IPSP was founded as a 'political instrument', an organization distinct from the traditional political parties. Hervé do Alto defines the organization as both a political party and a federation of social movements at the same time. As such, MAS-IPSP tends to follow a bottom-up, decentralized structure, with regional and local branches having a large amount of input on party decisions.


Leadership

The National Leadership (Dirección Nacional, DN) of MAS-IPSP is composed of representatives of the constituent organizations affiliated with MAS-IPSP. It is more of a loosely coordinated body rather than a party leadership in the traditional sense.Monasterios, Karin, Pablo Stefanoni, and Hervé do Alto.
Reinventando la nación en Bolivia: movimientos sociales, Estado y poscolonialidad
'. La Paz, Bolivia: CLACSO, 2007. p. 76
Notably MAS-IPSP has not been institutionally consolidated in the way the Workers Party (PT) in
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
has developed, which also emerged as a political vehicle of social movements. Clause 42 of the Organic Bylaws of MAS-IPSP stipulated that candidates in national and local elections should be elected through direct vote at assemblies. The majority of the MAS-IPSP candidatures in the 1999 and 2002 elections were selected through this method. However some candidates in the 2002 and 2005 elections were directly appointed by Morales.Komadina, Jorge, and Céline Geffroy Komadina.
El poder del movimiento político: estrategia, tramas organizativas e identidad del MAS en Cochabamba (1999–2005)
'. La Paz: CESU-UMSS, 2007. p. 103


Member organizations

The founding member organizations of MAS-IPSP are CSUTCB, CSCB, and the Bartolina Sisa federation. At the sixth MAS-IPSP congress, held in November 2006, four new organizations were admitted as members of MAS-IPSP: Confederación Nacional de Maestros Rurales, Confederación de Gremiales de Bolivia, Confederación Nacional de Rentistas y Jubilados and Confederación Nacional de la Micro y Pequeña Empresa (Conamype). The seventh congress of MAS-IPSP was held 10–12 January 2009. At this congress two organizations were included as new members of MAS-IPSP; the National Federation of Mining Cooperatives (Fencomin, which claims a membership of around 40,000) and the Regional Workers Centre (COR) from
El Alto El Alto (Spanish for "The Heights") is the List of Bolivian cities by population, second-largest city in Bolivia, located adjacent to La Paz in Pedro Domingo Murillo Province on the Altiplano highlands. El Alto is today one of Bolivia's fastest- ...
. The Bolivian Workers' Center (COB) and the National Council of Ayllus and Markas of Qullasuyu (CONAMAQ) are not part of MAS-IPSP, but are supportive of the government.


Coalition organizations

The MAS-IPSP ran a joint electoral slate with the Without Fear Movement (MSM) in the 2009 national elections. Shortly afterward, Evo Morales publicly broke with the MSM and its representatives in the
Plurinational Legislative Assembly The Plurinational Legislative Assembly () is the national legislature of Bolivia, placed in La Paz, the country's seat of government. The assembly is bicameral, consisting of a lower house (the Chamber of Deputies or ) and an upper house (the ...
then formed an independent bloc. The three founding organizations of the MAS-IPSP are joined by CONAMAQ and the Confederation of Indigenous Peoples of Bolivia (CIDOB) in the
Pact of Unity The Pact of Unity () is an evolving national alliance of Bolivian grassroots organizations in support of indigenous and agrarian rights, land reform, the rewriting of the 1967 constitution through a Constituent Assembly, and a left-indigenous trans ...
; this group has included other organizations in the past. A larger alliance, the
National Coordination for Change The National Coordinator for Change (; CONALCAM) is a Bolivian political coordination of social movements aligned with the governing Movement for Socialism-Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples (MAS-IPSP). It was founded on 22 Jan ...
(CONALCAM) was formed during the Bolivian Constituent Assembly and includes MAS-IPSP executive and legislative politicians as well as social movement organizations.


Publication

MAS-IPSP publishes ''Soberanía''.


Electoral history


Presidential elections


Chamber of Deputies and Senate elections


Notes


Further reading

* Poertner, Mathias (2024), " Mediated Appeals through Peak Associations: Mas in Bolivia", ''Creating Partisans: The Organizational Roots of New Parties in Latin America.'' Cambridge University Press, pp. 69–93,


References


External links


Story of the Bolivian revolution and origin of the MAS with Dr. Hugo Salvatierra (Spanish/English)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Movement For Socialism-Political Instrument For The Sovereignty Of The Peoples Anti-capitalist political parties Left-wing parties in Bolivia Political parties in Bolivia Social democratic parties in Bolivia Democratic socialist parties in South America Democratic socialism in South America Socialism of the 21st century Political parties of minorities in Bolivia