Framework Law
Constitutional provisions
Right to water: Article 16 explicitly recognizes the right of every person to food and water as well as the obligation of the State to ensure food security, by means of healthy, adequate and sufficient food for the entire population. Furthermore article 20 explicitly recognizes the right to universal and equitable access to basic services of potable water and sewerage.
Natural resources: The industrialization and sale of natural resources shall be a priority of the State. The profits obtained from the exploitation and sale of the natural resources shall be distributed and reinvested to promote economic diversification in the different territorial levels of the State. The percentage of profits to be distributed shall be approved by the law. The processes of industrialization shall be carried out with preference given to the place of origin of the production, and conditions shall be created which favor competitiveness in the internal and international market (Article 355). The activities of exploration, exploitation refining, industrialization, transport and sale of non-renewable natural resources shall have the character of state necessity and public utility (Article 356). Since it is social property of the Bolivian people, no foreign person or enterprise, nor any private Bolivian person or enterprise, may register the property title to Bolivian natural resources in stock markets, nor can they use them as means for financial operations that grant title to or use them as security. The annotation and registry of reserves is the exclusive authority of the State (Art. 357). The rights to the use and exploitation of natural resources shall be subject to the Constitution and the law. These rights shall be subject to periodic review for compliance with the technical, economic and environmental regulations. The violation of the law shall lead to the reversion or nullification of the rights of use and exploitation.