To no one’s surprise, Evo Morales won the referendum that he called.

It’s not really going to settle anything.

Fundamentally, it the level of venom by entrenched interests in former Spanish possessions is even now a surprise to me a bit, but there are historical reasons for this.

For most of the existence of the Spanish monarchy, the king was the absolute ruler of the nation, and the nobility were absolute rulers of their domains, and it was believed that this was God’s will.

Hence, as any student of English history knows, when the English crown ignored their responsibilities under the Magna Carta, the refrain was always that England, “Wasn’t Spain.”

The belief by the Spanish crown and the nobility that their positions by virtue of God’s will transferred down to the landed gentry in Spain’s former colonies, particularly in Latin America, where there is a real divide between those of Spanish ancestry and those of Amerindian ancestry.

So, even minor efforts toward land reform, which would not be viewed positively by any land holding class, is also literally viewed as an affront to God.

As a result, I would expect to see political instability for some time to come.