Another Bolivia is possible

"We feel, therefore we must propose," said one of the leaders on the platform as he presented the Camiri declaration, a document encapsulating some of the hopes and ideas for a different Bolivia.

I have just got back from a major gathering of social movements in Camiri, a small rural town in the hot, dry lowlands of Chaco, surrounded by gas fields and skeleton-like trees that look like they haven't seen water for years.

It's the second meeting of social movements that I have attended in the last month which aimed to put practical proposals together on issues that affect Bolivia's future. It makes a refreshing change from the politics of the left in many countries which often gets stuck in rightly criticising injustice but fails to generate new ideas and constructive proposals about how to build an economy and society that will benefit everyone and not harm the environment.

The gathering of movements in Camiri was held to reflect on three key themes which are fundamental to Bolivia's future at the moment: Hydrocarbons (and Bolivia's natural resources), Constituent assembly (and ideas for a new constitution) and Autonomy (and how to make politicians more accountable to the people). "We have come together to do the work which those who say they represent us fail to do" was the stinging challenge to the politicians who have failed to resolve these themes.

I attended with a delegation representing the movement against ALCA and TLC (free trade agreements pushed by the US). We had met a few weeks ago to put together proposals for the new constituent assembly on what principles should govern Bolivia's trading and economic relationships. Principles that would turn the world upside down by putting human rights ahead of the rights of corporations.

The three themes of autonomy, constitution and hydrocarbons capture the national debate here. They are at heart issues that have emerged from years of resistance against exclusion and exploitation. They represent people's desires to reform a State to benefit everyone, to recreate a politics that is based on trust and accountability, to take control of Bolivia's wealth so that poverty is ended. These themes have surged to the front, and how they are resolved will hold lessons for many countries facing the same issues in a globalised world.

Of course, at times it felt slightly unreal as I listened to various imaginative proposals for a different Bolivia at both meetings, when you thought of the powerful foreign interests that would do their utmost to block any such a proposal.

It's a reality that will bear down very soon on Bolivia in an unprecedented way as a result of a free trade agreement with the US due to be signed in November this year. This agreement is not just about trade, it is about Bolivia's policies on health, education, basic services, cultural and indigenous knowledge. It is an agreement that, following example of a similar agreement between Mexico and the US, has huge potential to undermine Bolivia's sovereignty for the benefit of multinational companies. It will certainly put a "strait jacket" on Bolivia's attempt to redesign a new politics and economics for the benefit of its people.

But the threat hasn't stopped people dreaming and putting forward proposals for a different society. The mix of ideas and proposals, activism, as well as being on the sharp edge of globalisation makes Bolivia a worrying, heady, emotional, fascinating place to be.