Bolivia July 2 Public Holiday In Santa Cruz

Sources: Diario Hoy, El Tribuno, Agencia Boliviana de Información, and Bolivia public holidays. The Departmental Council of the Office of the Governor of Bolivia's Department of Santa Cruz, has declared a public holiday on Monday, July 2, 2007, to coincide with the anniversary of the referendum in which 4 of the 9 departments of Bolivia voted in favor of greater autonomy.

Despite article 212 of the Bolivian Constitution, which permits either of the federal, state or municipal governments to declare one-off, or regional public holidays in addition to the above, up to a limit of 3 per year, national Labor Minister, Carla Chirino, issued a statement calling the declaration illegal, claiming that departmental public holidays are only allowed on each department's ephemerides (ie. similar to a patron saint day, but devoid of religious significance, due to Bolivia's current government's socialist leanings).

Update (30-jun-2007) In an article in today's El Mundo, the Departmental Council stated that it was going forward with the regional public holiday in this largest of 9 regions of Bolivia, and that many associations representing most employees of the region had already issued statements to the effect that they would observe this public holiday, at the very least in the afternoon. These named associations are: Comité pro Santa Cruz, Prefectura, Sector empresarial y productivo, Asociación de Bancos Privados de Bolivia (Asoban), Central Obrera Departamental (COD).