Emerging Fault Lines.(World Affairs)(Latin America's regional movements)

Byline: Andrew Bast; With Stephan Kuffner in Quito and Jimmy Langman in La Paz With in Quito and in La Paz

Latin America's populists tried to centralize their power. But regional leaders are now pushing back.

Ten years ago Hugo Chavez stormed into office railing against corporate interests and the United States. In his wake came Evo Morales in Bolivia and Rafael Correa in Ecuador, who shared a populist vision for what became known as 21st-century socialism, capitalizing on the ruling elite's failure to relieve growing poverty. With a strong mandate and the establishment parties in tatters, these leaders centralized economic and political control and gutted the power of the old-guard parties. They also moved to take tighter control of their nations' energy industries--through either increased windfall taxes or outright nationalization--promising to redistribute the wealth to the poor.

In the process they created a slew of new provincial opposition forces, who are attempting to advance their own interests while retaining or increasing their regions' share of oil and gas revenue. Local leaders in Ecuador are organizing a "national uprising" against Correa, and regional leaders were instrumental in defeating Chavez's attempt to abolish presidential term limits in Venezuela. In the provinces of Bolivia and Venezuela, local leaders are mounting an opposition that could become a standing threat to the populists in the capitals. "The traditional top-down two- or three-party systems have evaporated, so what has emerged in opposition are these regional movements," says Christopher Sabatini of the Americas Society. "They are going to be a permanent part of the political landscape."

The strongest revolt has come in Bolivia, where Morales's plan for land reform would give La Paz authority to take non-productive agricultural land from wealthy landowners and give it to landless poor families. Since Morales announced the plan in 2006--and began pushing for a new constitution that redraws the political map in favor of the nation's poor, indigenous majority--four of Bolivia's nine regions have voted for greater autonomy. Last year, political activists in the department of Santa Cruz took control of the country's busiest airport, demanding that landing fees be paid locally, rather than to La Paz. In June, former Morales ally Savina Cuellar was elected governor of Chuquisaca. She, too, supports the autonomy movement, which ...