[News] For Bolivias indigenous majority there is no going back
Anti-Imperialist News
news at freedomarchives.org
Tue Sep 18 12:03:53 EDT 2007
ZNet | Bolivia
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=52&ItemID=13811
Bolivia needs our solidarity
by Federico Fuentes;
<http://www.greenleft.org.au/2007/724/37573>Green Left; September 18, 2007
For Bolivias indigenous majority there is no
going back. The election in 2005 of Bolivias
first indigenous president, Evo Morales, marked a
watershed a before and after in Bolivias
history after more than 500 years of struggle
against imperialism and colonialism. It marked a
conscious step forward by Bolivias indigenous
majority in its struggle for justice and equality.
As Morales pointed out in an August 22 interview
with the BBC, right from the start Bolivias
right wing said this little Indian is only going
to be president for three or four months. That
day passed and now they say this little Indian is
going to be here for a long time, we have to do
something about it; and that means encouraging confusion or destabilisation.
That is why today a resurgent right wing is
determined to destabilise the country and
government even if it means plunging the
country into civil war or provoking a violent
military coup to bring down Morales, and with
him the hopes and dreams of millions of
indigenous and non-indigenous people, not just in
Bolivia, but throughout Latin America and the world.
Distribution of racist material inciting people
to bring down this Indian shit, provoking
violent confrontations, holding civic stoppages
enforced by fascist youth groups, and smuggling
arms into the country these, and more, are
ingredients in a conspiracy to overthrow Morales.
The public faces of the right wing, centred in
the wealthy departments (states) of the east, are
the opposition governors and the unelected,
business-controlled civic committees in Santa
Cruz, Pando, Beni and Tarija now openly joined
by the civic committee of Cochabamba and
Chuquisaca. Behind them stand the gas
transnationals, large agribusiness and the US
empire, all of whom benefited from ransacking
Bolivias enormous natural wealth while pushing
the country to the position of the poorest in South America.
But their task will be far from easy. The
election of this little Indian came on the back
of a wave of social rebellion, fuelled by an
increasing rejection of neoliberalism and the
emergence and growth of national and indigenous
pride, based on the celebration of the countrys
indigenous peoples and recuperation of its
natural resources. It was also the result of a
conscious decision more than 10 years ago by the
indigenous, campesino and coca-growers movements
to move from resistance to power and construct
their own Political Instrument for the
Sovereignty of the People more commonly know
by its electorally registered name, Movement Towards Socialism (MAS).
Gaining the support from an important section of
the countrys middle class and intellectuals for
its project, MAS was able to win the 2005
national elections, crushing the traditional
politicians whose subservience to the US empire
had almost led to the total suffocation of the country.
Today, the Bolivians who due to their skin colour
were previously excluded from the plaza in front
of the presidential palace, and who protested
outside it to overthrow other governments, have
begun to take over the positions of power. This
act has been a powerful catalyst in rebuilding
the self-esteem of the people, who now proclaim
with pride their indigenous roots.
The central task entrusted to the MAS government
was to convoke a constituent assembly in order to
refound Bolivia, ending injustice and
recognising the rights of the previously excluded indigenous majority.
However, more than a year since the assemblys
inauguration in Sucre in August 2006, it is yet
to vote on a single article for the new
constitution. The same political minority that
ruled over the demise of the country today cries
out in defence of democracy and autonomy,
with the objective of protecting its political
enclaves and economic power and mobilising
sectors of the white and mestizo middle classes
of the east and west against the government.
The stalling tactics and latest round of violent
protests by the right wing, this time in Sucre,
threatened the security of the assembly, forcing
some indigenous delegates into hiding in order to
avoid racist attacks. On September 7 the assembly
directorate voted to suspend sessions for a month
as it was unable to guarantee security.
On September 10, more than 10,000 campesinos and
indigenous people marched through Sucre in a show
of force to defend the constituent assembly and
national unity. Unlike the scenes of violence
over the previous weeks, the streets of Sucre were filled with a festive tone.
Later in the day, during the 10,000-15,000 strong
Social Summit, the social organisations resolved
to defend, including with our lives, the
constituent assembly and this process of
irreversible profound change being driven forward
by the historic forces of our peoples and the
indigenous, originario and campesino nations,
together with the popular organisations.
Furthermore, the social movements declared
themselves to be in a state of emergency and
committed themselves to organising Committees in
Defence of the Constituent Assembly, adding that,
if necessary, they would undertake other more radical measures.
In its manifesto, the summit outlined 18
strategic points behind which the participants
would mobilise to ensure they are enshrined in
the new constitution. Among them are the creation
of unitary, plurinational, communitarian and
democratic state; nationalisation of natural
resources; taxes on large fortunes; the
expropriation without compensation of latifundios
(large land-holdings) and the immediate
distribution of their land; re-election and
revoking of mandates of any elected authority;
and the confiscation of all goods implicated in acts of corruption.
For now the situation in Sucre has calmed down;
the oppositions threats of further actions
starting on September 10 were called off. A new
round of dialogue has been convoked to see if it
is possible to overcome the impasse.
But the tension remains, and one can only
speculate how long the calm will last. The
directorate of the assembly has signalled it will
reject a court ruling overturning the assembly
decision to remove the issue of the location of
Bolivias capital from debate (the right-wing
fuelled conflict over whether to locate it in La
Paz, the current political capital, or Sucre, the
current constitutional capital, helping trigger
the latest confrontation). The future of the
constituent assembly and Bolivia hang in the balance.
The indigenous and campesino mobilisation was an
important step taken by the social and indigenous
movements in defence of the constituent assembly.
However, as Vice-President Alvaro Garcia Linera
pointed out in the lead-up to the protest, To
wear down the old powers will cost a lot, it will
be conflictive, the population needs to be
conscious of this, and the best way to defend the
continuity of the process of change is through
democratic mobilisation to back this
transformation and to put an end to the history of these old elites.
Mass democratic mobilisations and the
organisation of the people will be central to
maintaining unity amongst the movements and
avoiding provocations by the right wing. The
right wings strategy depends on stirring up
anger among the exploited and oppressed who
refuse to ever go back to the old Bolivia, with
the aims of triggering violent reactions and creating chaos.
The government and social movements need to
demonstrate that they are the only ones able to
provide real stability and change for all
Bolivians. This is necessary in order to appeal
to the middle classes sectors that, due to
mistakes by MAS, now feel alienated from the
government something the government itself has
acknowledged and that it has begun to remedy. It
is also critical to maintaining support among the armed forces.
Internationally, it is vital for the governments
and peoples of the world to voice their
solidarity and make clear that they will reject
any attempts to trigger a civil war, or an
ensuing US/UN military occupation or illegitimate government.
Undoubtedly the US elite sees Bolivia as the weak
link in the emerging Bolivia-Cuba-Venezuela axis
of hope in Latin America. Moreover, Bolivias
government and the indigenous revolution is
helping stimulate indigenous struggles in the
region something Washington fears and will not tolerate.
On September 9, Venezuelas socialist president
Hugo Chavez, sitting next to Morales, warned on
his Alo Preisdente TV program: If US imperialism
attacks our peoples, using their lackeys in
Venezuela and Bolivia, they can be sure that
were not going to wait with our arms crossed. If
that occurs, we will shout with Che Guevara, and
then one, two, three, four, five, or 10 Vietnams
will have to be created in Latin America.
To date, neither the governments of Argentina or
Brazil have spoken out about the growing threat
to Bolivia. A clear statement by these two and
other South American countries rejecting a civil
war, military coup or invasion of Bolivia, would
be a strong blow against the US empires designs.
Now is the time for all intellectuals, union
militants, solidarity activists, political
parties and progressive minded individuals who
believe in real justice and equality to raise
their voices in defence of Bolivia and its
government, which is leading an important process
of change providing hope and inspiration to
millions of indigenous and oppressed people
around the world, to ensure that the US and its
lackeys cannot get away with crushing this movement for social liberation.
[Federico Fuentes is editor of
Boliviarising.blogspot.com. Eduardo Yssa from the
National Coalition for the Defense of Water,
Basic Services, the Environment and Life of
Bolivia will be participating in the Latin
America and Asia Pacific International Solidarity
Forum in Melbourne, October 11-14. Visit
<http://solidarityforum2007.org>http://solidarityforum2007.org
for more information.]
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