Prior Consultations in Plurinational Bolivia: Democracy, Rights and Real Life Experiences

Abstract

While the Bolivian ‘post’ consultation about the contested construction of a highway through the TIPNIS has received a lot of attention, very little is known about the 27 prior consultations that have been concluded between June 2007 and February 2012 in its hydrocarbon sector. This article focuses on these procedures and presents three emblematic cases in more detail. It identifies frequent shortcomings of consultation practices like the ‘information hurdle’, irregularities, the limited decision-making power of affected local populations and the lack of transparency regarding the compensation payments. The article argues that consultations could be improved by complementing international human rights instruments on indigenous rights with insights from deliberative theories. It concludes that as long as local ideas of self-determined development remain subordinated to prioritized extractive industries, the right to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) will remain distant, even in a plurinational state like Bolivia.