Bolivia:‚ Results of local elections give Christians some room to breathe

April 9, 2015 - Although Evo Morales had won his second reelection as President of Bolivia in October 2014 with a convincing 61% vote, his Movimiento Al Socialismo [Movement Towards Socialism], which is a broad confederation of all kinds of trade unions, social movements, and coca growers, suffered major losses in local elections held early April. These losses do not necessarily mean that Evo Morales' grip on power diminished - his party is still the only party with a strong national presence and the opposition is splintered and divided -, but it does mean that distrust of the MAS is growing.

According to the persecution analyst of World Watch Research, "It seems positive for Bolivia's Christians that the influence of the MAS is not left totally unchecked, and that there still is some countervailing power. The position of the MAS towards Christians, particularly Evangelicals, has not been openly hostile but could be better described as ambiguous. On the one hand, the political emancipation of the majority indigenous population, including the revival of indigenous ancestral religion, has been the main priority of the MAS. This has sometimes conflicted with the freedom of religious expression of Christians. Recent legislation has put restrictions on several aspects of church life, including bureaucratic registration and accountability requirements. On the other hand, the MAS did not want to antagonize the growing Evangelical community for electoral reasons, many of whom are indigenous Bolivians, which explains why pressure on Christians did not get any higher."