# 2008 Santa Cruz autonomy referendum > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/2008_Santa_Cruz_autonomy_referendum > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/2008_Santa_Cruz_autonomy_referendum.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Santa_Cruz_autonomy_referendum > Source revision: 1318292738 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}} {{Politics of Bolivia}} thumb|right|Santa Cruz Department within Bolivia A '''referendum to approve the autonomy statute of Santa Cruz Department''' of [Bolivia](/source/Bolivia) was held on 4 May 2008. The vote resulted from strains between the Prefecture of [Santa Cruz](/source/Santa_Cruz_Department_(Bolivia)) and [President](/source/President_of_Bolivia) [Evo Morales](/source/Evo_Morales). The referendum was declared illegal and unconstitutional by the National Electoral Court.{{Cite web |url=http://abi.bo/index.php?i=noticias_texto_paleta&j=20090503152555&l=0 |title=Agencia Boliviana de Informacion, 3 May 2009 |access-date=17 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706150403/http://abi.bo/index.php?i=noticias_texto_paleta&j=20090503152555&l=0 |archive-date=6 July 2011 |url-status=dead }}[http://www.boliviainfoforum.org.uk/documents/535424538_BIF%20Bulletin%20Special%20edition%20May%202008.pdf Bolivia Information Forum Bulletin May 2008][http://ain-bolivia.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=116&Itemid=32 Illegal Autonomy Referendum Deepens Division in Bolivia, Andean Information Network, Thursday, 17 April 2008] Final results from the referendum showed that 85.6% of participating voters supported autonomy.[http://www.corteelectoralsc.com/Computo2008/fComputoDepartamentalA.aspx Corte Departmental Electoral de Santa Cruz]{{Dead link|date=April 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Abstention rates were 37.9%.[http://www.corteelectoralsc.com/Computo2008/fComputoDepartamentalA.aspx Corte Departmental Electoral de Santa Cruz]{{Dead link|date=April 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Partisans of the [Movement for Socialism](/source/Movement_for_Socialism_(Bolivia)) called for a boycott of the vote,{{Citation needed|date=October 2010}} and the Guarayo, Guaraní, Chiquitano, Ayoreo, Yuracaré-Moxeño indigenous peoples were urged to reject holding the vote in their territories.{{cite news|title=Pueblos indígenas cruceños declaran su autonomía y no votarán el referendum oligárquico del 4 de mayo|url=http://www.asc-hsa.org/node/374|accessdate=28 September 2010|date=5 April 2008}} Similar referendums were held in [Beni Department](/source/Beni_Department) and [Pando Department](/source/Pando_Department) on 1 June 2008 (see [2008 Bolivian autonomy referendums](/source/2008_Bolivian_autonomy_referendums)) and in [Tarija Department](/source/Tarija_Department) on 22 June 2008 (see [2008 Tarija autonomy referendum](/source/2008_Tarija_autonomy_referendum)).[http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iuy48CI1ocml0QdNgrzCIgX5jZ_w AFP: Defying Morales, two Bolivian provinces back autonomy] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520140211/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iuy48CI1ocml0QdNgrzCIgX5jZ_w |date=20 May 2011 }} ==Response== [Ruben Costas](/source/Ruben_Costas), the governor of Santa Cruz, welcomed the result saying ”With the vote the start of a structural reform of transcendental importance in our nation has been consolidated... The ballot boxes have delivered their verdict: the emissaries of evil cannot impose their bitterness and hate".{{cite news |last1=McDermott|first1=Jeremy|title=Bolivia's richest province votes for autonomy|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/bolivia/1929363/Bolivias-richest-province-votes-for-autonomy.html|newspaper=The Telegraph|accessdate=27 February 2017}} The [United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights](/source/United_Nations_Office_of_the_High_Commissioner_for_Human_Rights) stated in its annual human rights report that the referendums: "took place even though the National Electoral Court ruled that the prefectures did not have the authority to call for such a vote and that they were infringing the Constitution."[http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?c=23&su=34 Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the activities of her office in Bolivia - Addendum] A [United Nations](/source/United_Nations) mission to Bolivia from the [Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues](/source/United_Nations_Permanent_Forum_on_Indigenous_Issues) later declared that the Santa Cruz autonomy statute "promotes, allows, strengthens and reproduces practices of [servitude](/source/Indentured_servant)", referring to conditions of debt-servitude and conditions analogous to slavery that are suffered by some indigenous groups in Santa Cruz.{{Cite web |url=http://www.erbol.com.bo/noticia1.php?id=1&identificador=1500&bdatos=notiportada1 |title=Erbol, 6 May 2009 |access-date=17 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080503025753/http://www.erbol.com.bo/noticia1.php?id=1 |archive-date=3 May 2008 |url-status=dead }} [Bartolomé Clavero](/source/Bartolom%C3%A9_Clavero), a Spanish law professor from the [Permanent Forum](/source/United_Nations_Permanent_Forum_on_Indigenous_Issues) later stated that: "Anyone who has voted for this statute supports servitude." ==Legacy== Evo Morales's government eventually reversed its position on autonomy during the 2009 election, granting autonomy to Santa Cruz in 2010 along similar lines to those requested in 2008.{{cite web|last1=Centellas|first1=Miguel|title=Bolivia's Radical Decentralization|url=http://www.americasquarterly.org/node/1700|website=americasquarterly.org|publisher=Americas Quarterly|accessdate=27 February 2017}} ==References== {{Reflist}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Santa Cruz Autonomy Referendum, 2008}} Category:2008 elections in South America Category:2008 in Bolivia Category:2008 referendums Category:Autonomy referendums Category:Referendums in Bolivia Category:Regionalism (politics) Category:May 2008 in South America --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [2008 Santa Cruz autonomy referendum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Santa_Cruz_autonomy_referendum) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Santa_Cruz_autonomy_referendum?action=history)). 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