The Pact of Unity is an evolving national alliance of Bolivian grassroots organizations in support of indigenous and agrarian rights, land reform, the rewriting of the 1967 constitution

Bolivian Constitution of 1967

.The Political Constitution of the Republic of Bolivia, approved on February 2, 1967, and promulgated on February 3, 1967, was the 16th constitution in the country's history. The text was drafted by the Bolivian Contsituent Assembly of 1966-67, which met from August 16, 1966 to February 3, 1967...

 through a Constituent Assembly, and a left-indigenous transformation of the Bolivian state. Since 2005, the Pact has been a close ally of Bolivian 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...

, and it forms the nucleus of the National Coordination for Change

National Coordination for Change

The National Coordination for Change is a Bolivian political coordination of social movements aligned with the governing Movement for Socialism-Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples . It was founded on 22 January 2007, during the Constituent Assembly of 2006-2007...

, a pro-government alliance.

The composition of the Pact of Unity has varied over time, but since 2006 it has principally consisted of five nationwide organizations:

• Unique Confederation of Rural Laborers of Bolivia (CSUTCB)
• National Confederation of Peasant Indigenous Originary Women of Bolivia - Bartolina Sisa
• Syndicalist Confederation of Intercultural Communities of Bolivia
  Syndicalist Confederation of Intercultural Communities of Bolivia
  The Syndicalist Confederation of Intercultural Communities of Bolivia is a peasant union of rural communities in the lowlands of Bolivia whose members included people of highland origin. It is led by Pedro Calderón and includes federations in six departments: La Paz, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz,...
  
   (CSCIB)
• Confederation of Indigenous Peoples of Bolivia (CIDOB)
• National Council of Ayllus and Markas of Qullasuyu
  National Council of Ayllus and Markas of Qullasuyu
  The National Council of Ayllus and Markas of Qullasuyu is a confederation of traditional governing bodies of Quechua-, Aymara- and Uru-speaking highland indigenous communities in the departments of La Paz, Oruro, Potosí, Cochabamba, Chuquisaca and Tarija, Bolivia...
  
   (CONAMAQ)

The most recent meeting of the Pact of Unity was held November 17-19 in Sucre

Sucre

Sucre, also known historically as Charcas, La Plata and Chuquisaca is the constitutional capital of Bolivia and the capital of the department of Chuquisaca. Located in the south-central part of the country, Sucre lies at an elevation of 2750m...

. CONAMAQ and CIDOB were notable by their absence, which followed the divisive controversy

2011 Bolivian indigenous protests

The 2011 Bolivian protests were a series of demonstrations by lowland indigenous tribes who opposed the construction of the Villa Tunari – San Ignacio de Moxos Highway through the Isiboro Sécure National Park and Indigenous Territory the ancestral lands of 5,000 indigenous people from 3 ethnic...

 over the Villa Tunari – San Ignacio de Moxos Highway

Villa Tunari – San Ignacio de Moxos Highway

The Villa Tunari – San Ignacio de Moxos Highway, also known as the Cochabamba–Beni Highway is a road project in Bolivia connecting the towns of Villa Tunari and San Ignacio de Moxos . It would provide the first direct highway link between the two departments...

 through Isiboro Sécure National Park and Indigenous Territory

Isiboro Sécure National Park and Indigenous Territory

Isiboro Sécure National Park and Indigenous Territory is a protected area and Native Community Land in Bolivia situated between the north of the Cochabamba Department and the south of the Beni Department...

.

History

Coordination among indigenous, campesino, and agrarian movements in Bolivia increased in the 1990s, particularly through collaboration in joint mobilizations and increased cooperation between department-wide organization in Santa Cruz. During the third national indigenous march, five Santa Cruz organizations fused to form the Bloque Oriente (literally, "Eastern Bloc"): Coordinadora de Pueblos Étnicos de Santa Cruz (CPESC), Federación Sindical de Única de Trabajadores Campesinos Santa Cruz Apiagüayki Tumpa (FSUTC-SC), the Movimiento Sin Tierra (MST), the Federación Departamental de Mujeres Campesinas Bartolina Sisa (FDMC-BS), and the Federación Departamental de Colonizadores de Santa Cruz (FDC-SC).

In La Paz, a coalition of grassroots organizations signed the Pact of Unity and Commitment among campesino, indigenous, and originally peoples organizations of Bolivia on March 15, 2002. This document was drafted and issued at the end of a movement summit on the question of constitutional reform. It put forward a demand for a new Constituent Assembly, organized independent of parliament and political parties. Its signers included the Bloque Oriente, CONAMAQ, MST, the Departmental Workers Central of Beni, CAOP, and the Bartolina Sisa federations of Santa Cruz, Pando, and Vaca Diez.