Rubén Costas
Encyclopedia
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
of Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
's Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz Department
Santa Cruz, with an area of 370,621 km², is the largest of the nine constituent departments of Bolivia. In the 2001 census, it reported a population of 2,029,471. The capital is the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. The state is one of the wealthiest states in Bolivia with huge reserves of...
department
Departments of Bolivia
Bolivia is divided into nine departments . Each of the departments is subdivided into provinces , which are further subdivided into municipalities ....
for the Truth and Social Democracy
Truth and Social Democracy
Verdes is a political party in the Department of Santa Cruz, Bolivia founded in 2009 and led by Rubén Costas...
party. Previously he served as prefect (the same office, which has been renamed by the 2009 constitution
Constitution of Bolivia
The current Constitution of Bolivia is the 17th constitution in the country's history; previous constitutions were enacted in 1826, 1831, 1834, 1839, 1843, 1851, 1861, 1868, 1871, 1878, 1880, 1938, 1945, 1947, 1961 and 1967. It came into effect on February 7, 2009, when it was promulgated by...
) on behalf of the Autonomy for Bolivia
Autonomy for Bolivia
Autonomy for Bolivia is a political party based in Santa Cruz Department, Bolivia.The party was founded by Ruben Costas, so that he could stand for election to the prefect of Santa Cruz Department in the Bolivian general elections of 2005....
party. He was one of the nine Bolivian prefects directly elected in the general elections of 2005
Bolivian presidential election, 2005
The 2005 Bolivian presidential election was held on December 18, 2005. The two main candidates were Evo Morales of the Movement Towards Socialism Party, and Jorge Quiroga, leader of the Democratic and Social Power Party and former head of the Acción Democrática Nacionalista Party. Felipe Quispe,...
. This election was the result of several negotiations and large, peaceful public demonstrations in Santa Cruz. The 1967 Bolivian constitution said that prefects can only be appointed by the president, but because of the negotiations and popular desire, the Bolivian Congress approved Law 3015 to formalize the prefect election process.
Since he took office, he has been strongly critical of the government of President Evo Morales
Evo Morales
Juan Evo Morales Ayma , popularly known as Evo , is a Bolivian politician and activist, currently serving as the 80th President of Bolivia, a position that he has held since 2006. He is also the leader of both the Movement for Socialism party and the cocalero trade union...
because of political, ideological and regional differences, also, his supporters claim that Morales is opposed to give the country's eastern departments more autonomy, as voted in a 2006 referendum, however, as it was written in the referendum's ballots the autonomy has to be approved and legislated by the constituent assembly. The constituent assembly produced a draft constitution which is rejected by large sectors of the population, especially in the eastern departments, and therefore tension between Costas and Morales has increased significantly. Shortly after the 2008 recall vote, Costas caused controversy when he attacked Morales, calling him a "dictator" and using the slur "macaco" (monkey).
He receives support mainly from the departments of Pando
Pando Department
Pando is a department of Bolivia, with an area of , adjoining the border with Brazil. Pando has a population 66,689 . Its capital is the city of Cobija....
, Beni
Beni Department
Beni, sometimes El Beni, is a northeastern department of Bolivia, in the lowlands region of the country. It is the second largest department in the country , covering 213,564 square kilometers , and it was created by supreme decree on November 18, 1842 during the administration of General José...
, Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz Department
Santa Cruz, with an area of 370,621 km², is the largest of the nine constituent departments of Bolivia. In the 2001 census, it reported a population of 2,029,471. The capital is the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. The state is one of the wealthiest states in Bolivia with huge reserves of...
, and Tarija
Tarija Department
Tarija is a department in Bolivia. It is located in south-eastern Bolivia bordering Argentina to the south and Paraguay to the east. According to the 2001 census, it has a population of 391,226 inhabitants. It has an area of 37.623 km²...
.