La nación en disputa. Discursos y prácticas conmemorativas del MAS durante los bicentenarios de 'independencia' locales en Bolivia

This paper looks into the ways in which the Movimiento Al Socialismo (MAS) rebuilt the historical memory during local ‘independence’ bicentennials in Bolivia. This is carried out by revisiting commemoration practices and speeches deployed by the so-called “Cultural and Democratic Revolution” during the country’s celebrations which took place on May 25, 2009 in El Villar (bicentennial of the “Revolution of Chuquisaca”) and on July 16, 2009 in La Paz (bicentennial of the Junta Tuitiva revolutionary government). The need to unify and democratize a territory suffering from economic, social, regional and ethnic flecking and fragmentation in order to turn it into a strong, articulated Nation implied – for MAS – a dispute for the senses and representations of Bolivianity with the dominant sectors of society. In this respect, describing the ways in which the national past was refreshed as well as the controversies and ambiguities arising from this action during the ‘independence’ bicentennials provide us with the entry point to the analysis of the political identity of the MAS and their national project.