The Benefits of Subversion

Now that it is all over, Bolivian President Rene Barrientos finds himself in the unusual position of being somewhat thankful for the guerrilla uprising led by Che Guevara and his Cubans. The guerrillas gave Barrientos and his government a bad time for several months, but since Che's death the band has been whittled down to about five men, on whom the Bolivian army is closing in this week in central Bolivia. With their campaign of violence and terror, Castro's followers did what Barrientos had never been able to do: consolidate and unify public opinion--however temporarily--behind the government. As a result, President Barrientos has emerged far stronger than at any other time in his three turbulent years in office.

Leftist university students and tin miners, long a source of violent demonstrations and strikes, have not taken to the streets in months. Political opposition has quieted down. Barrientos even strengthened his hand with the army by personally flying into the battle zone half a dozen times, sometimes only minutes after the latest action. On one visit, according to an entry in Che Guevara's diary, Barrientos' helicopter set down only 250 yards from the spot where the guerrilla leader was hidden. "The important thing was that we had the support of the people," says Barrientos, a former air force general. "Against us, Fidel and Guevara were babies, just babies. We are definitely convinced that we saved the hemisphere from subversion."

Call for Pay Cuts. With a freer political hand, Barrientos has been able to push ahead with his ambitious economic and social reforms, many of which are already bearing fruit. A vast modernization and economy drive has turned the deficit-ridden tin mines ($16.2 million in 1962) into a moneymaker and taxpayer for the first time. With the increase in tin production, export sales have risen 30% in the past three years to $150,400,000. Barrientos has also doubled petroleum production, built scores of new schools, hospitals and clinics, and added 20,000 miles of new roads in the country's long-neglected interior.

These projects, plus the military cost of the war, caused Bolivia to end the year with a $15 million budget deficit. To help hold down this year's deficit, Barrientos asked his Congress last month to cut his $13,000-a-year salary by 25%, and executives in the government tin company dutifully followed suit, requesting a 20% pay cut. "I hope other state agencies will do the same," Barrientos says. With the guerrilla war over, he realizes all too well that his temporary honeymoon with the tin miners and students could end any day. "We hope to better the situation of the miners," he says, "because there just are no other resources."

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