The division within social organisations in Bolivia is today at the centre of the national popular movement’s concerns, following President Luis Arce’s warning that this phenomenon benefits the enemies of the people.

«Division, sisters and brothers, only benefits the enemies of the people. Division only serves those who wish to see us on our knees, sisters and brothers, and we will not allow that. The peasant movement must remain united,» he declared.

Speaking during the 46th-anniversary commemoration of the Confederación Sindical Única de Trabajadores Campesinos de Bolivia (CSUTCB), the dignitary recalled the dangers facing the Plurinational State.

He cautioned that «we are not free from threats,» citing external forces like «imperialism,» the oligarchy, and racist fascist right-wing elements «who continue conspiring to destabilise the process,» alongside internal threats.

Regarding social organisations, he denounced that «internal threats are growing,» as factions seek to fragment them «from within, through petty interests, leaders who have forgotten their grassroots, and actors attempting to divide and pit us against each other.»

During the event, the President presented the CSUTCB leadership with three projects to construct memorial houses honouring the organisation’s historical leaders.

He announced one would be in Sica-Sica, paying tribute to Genaro Flores Santos; the second in Huanuni, honouring Juan de la Cruz Villca Choque; and the third in Achacachi, dedicated to Felipe Quispe Huanca.

«These memorial houses will be significant spaces to safeguard the legacy of our historical CSUTCB leaders – preserving their memory, educating, and upholding the personal and communal histories of our CSUTCB leaders,» he explained.

Earlier, State Vice-President David Choquehuanca also advocated for unity, warning that the Process of Change, the Plurinational State, and community democracy are in «danger.»

«We cannot allow our gains from the Process of Change over the last two decades to be eroded by pettiness, individual selfishness, or the greed of a few comrades,» he stated.

He insisted that division would only bring back «exploitation, humiliation, racism, exclusion, deception, and servitude,» urging work towards unity and prioritising the Homeland to «foster hope.»

Simultaneously, he called for self-criticism regarding past actions, arguing it is «unacceptable to speak of decolonisation while maintaining vertical and colonial structures; (…) to seek to build the Plurinational State with colonial tools, reproducing colonial logics.»