After four months in Bolivia, today is officially my last day and the next couple of days I will spend traveling back to my home in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It has certainly been an interesting time to be here. I have witnessed the nationalization of gas, elections to the constituent assembly, and the growing pains of a society in the midst of remaking itself.

I come away with a few solid impressions about Bolivia’s present situation. First, the political stability is palpable. A vast majority of people continue to support Evo Morales. Though his style is unpolished, and his government many times seems to be awkwardly plodding forward with a somewhat nebulous agenda, the social and political instability that has plagued the nation for so many years is conspicuously absent.

The social movements that toppled Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada are giving Morales the time and the support that he needs to govern. Two or three years from now, if his promises fail to materialize, it is difficult to predict what the political environment in Bolivia will be like. But, for the time being at least, Bolivia enjoys the political stability that it has craved for so long.

The overwhelming support for autonomy and decentralization in the eastern departments, and the overwhelming rejection of it in the valleys and highlands, clearly demonstrates that Bolivia must now confront a situation of deep geo-political polarization that has its roots in the different cultures and world-views of the highland and lowland populations.

The formulation and ratification of a new Constitution will go a long way in defining the relationship of departmental and municipal autonomy, indigenous rights, including access to land, and the future political and economic trajectory of the country.

Despite the new found political stability in Bolivia, migration to other countries is staggering. This isn’t a brain drain, it’s a hemorrhage. The lines at immigration offices wrap around the building as Spain absorbs a massive influx of Bolivian migrant laborers. College graduates travel to Spain to work as housekeepers or construction workers, oftentimes earning 5 to 10 times as much as they could as a professional in their home country.

When I first arrived to rural Bolivia in August of 2000, I was quickly befriended by a small army of young people. They came to visit me at night, played music and danced in community festivals, and formed the core of community soccer teams.

Now, when I go back to my Peace Corps village I almost want to cry; there are no young people. The vast majority have moved to larger towns, big cities, and invariably to foreign countries in search of economic opportunity. Everybody knows that they won’t be coming back.

As a region of immense biological and cultural diversity, Bolivia has enormous economic potential. If this small, impoverished nation can maintain a climate of political stability and develop policies that encourage local investment, small business development, and appropriate technological innovation, then it is possible for Bolivia to develop along the lines of Costa Rica or Panama. It remains to be seen, however, if the Bolivian people, inefficient and lacking an entrepreneurial spirit, are up to the task.