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I Believe Only In The Power Of The People<br><br>
by Evo Morales; December 24, 2005 <br><br>
Thank you for the invitation to this great meeting of intellectuals
"In Defense of Humanity." Thank you for your applause for the
Bolivian people, who have mobilized in these recent days of struggle,
drawing on our consciousness and our regarding how to reclaim our natural
resources.<br><br>
What happened these past days in Bolivia was a great revolt by those who
have been oppressed for more than 500 years. The will of the people was
imposed this September and October, and has begun to overcome the
empire's cannons. We have lived for so many years through the
confrontation of two cultures: the culture of life represented by the
indigenous people, and the culture of death represented by West. When we
the indigenous people together with the workers and even the
businessmen of our country fight for life and justice, the State
responds with its "democratic rule of law."<br><br>
What does the "rule of law" mean for indigenous people? For the
poor, the marginalized, the excluded, the "rule of law" means
the targeted assassinations and collective massacres that we have
endured. Not just this September and October, but for many years, in
which they have tried to impose policies of hunger and poverty on the
Bolivian people. Above all, the "rule of law" means the
accusations that we, the Quechuas, Aymaras and Guaranties of Bolivia keep
hearing from our governments: that we are narcos, that we are anarchists.
This uprising of the Bolivian people has been not only about gas and
hydrocarbons, but an intersection of many issues: discrimination,
marginalization , and most importantly, the failure of
neoliberalism.<br><br>
The cause of all these acts of bloodshed, and for the uprising of the
Bolivian people, has a name: neoliberalism. With courage and defiance, we
brought down Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada the symbol of neoliberalism in
our country on October 17, the Bolivians' day of dignity and identity.
We began to bring down the symbol of corruption and the political
mafia.<br><br>
And I want to tell you, companeras and companeros, how we have built the
consciousness of the Bolivian people from the bottom up. How quickly the
Bolivian people have reacted, have said as Subcomandate Marcos says
¡ya basta!, enough policies of hunger and misery.<br><br>
For us, October 17th is the beginning of a new phase of construction.
Most importantly, we face the task of ending selfishness and
individualism, and creating from the rural campesino and indigenous
communities to the urban slums other forms of living, based on
solidarity and mutual aid. We must think about how to redistribute the
wealth that is concentrated among few hands. This is the great task we
Bolivian people face after this great uprising.<br><br>
It has been very important to organize and mobilize ourselves in a way
based on transparency, honesty, and control over our own organizations.
And it has been important not only to organize but also to unite. Here we
are now, united intellectuals in defense of humanity I think we must
have not only unity among the social movements, but also that we must
coordinate with the intellectual movements. Every gathering, every event
of this nature for we labor leaders who come from the social struggle, is
a great lesson that allows us to exchange experiences and to keep
strengthening our people and our grassroots organizations.<br><br>
Thus, in Bolivia, our social movements, our intellectuals, our workers
even those political parties which support the popular struggle joined
together to drive out Gonzalo Sánchez Lozada. Sadly, we paid the price
with many of our lives, because the empire's arrogance and tyranny
continue humiliating the Bolivian people.<br><br>
It must be said, compañeras and compañeros, that we must serve the social
and popular movements rather than the transnational corporations. I am
new to politics; I had hated it and had been afraid of becoming a career
politician. But I realized that politics had once been the science of
serving the people, and that getting involved in politics is important if
you want to help your people. By getting involved, I mean living for
politics, rather than living off of politics. We have coordinated our
struggles between the social movements and political parties, with the
support of our academic institutions, in a way that has created a greater
national consciousness. That is what made it possible for the people to
rise up in these recent days.<br><br>
When we speak of the "defense of humanity," as we do at this
event, I think that this only happens by eliminating neoliberalism and
imperialism. But I think that in this we are not so alone, because we
see, every day that anti-imperialist thinking is spreading, especially
after Bush's bloody "intervention" policy in Iraq. Our way of
organizing and uniting against the system, against the empire's
aggression towards our people, is spreading, as are the strategies for
creating and strengthening the power of the people.<br><br>
I believe only in the power of the people. That was my experience in my
own region, a single province the importance of local power. And now,
with all that has happened in Bolivia, I have seen the importance of the
power of a whole people, of a whole nation. For those of us who believe
it important to defend humanity, the best contribution we can make is to
help create that popular power. This happens when we check our personal
interests with those of the group. Sometimes, we commit to the social
movements in order to win power. We need to be led by the people, not use
or manipulate them.<br><br>
We may have differences among our popular leaders and it's true that we
have them in Bolivia. But when the people are conscious, when the people
know what needs to be done, any difference among the different local
leaders ends. We've been making progress in this for a long time, so that
our people are finally able to rise up, together.<br><br>
What I want to tell you, compañeras and compañeros what I dream of and
what we as leaders from Bolivia dream of‹ is that our task at this moment
should be to strengthen anti-imperialist thinking. Some leaders are now
talking about how we the intellectuals, the social and political
movements can organize a great summit of people like Fidel, Chávez. and
Lula to say to everyone: "We are here, taking a stand against the
aggression of the US imperialism." A summit at which we are joined
by compañera Rigoberta Menchú, by other social and labor leaders, great
personalities like Pérez Ezquivel. A great summit to say to our people
that we are together, united, and defending humanity. We have no other
choice, compañeros and compañeras if we want to defend humanity we must
change system, and this means overthrowing US imperialism.<br><br>
That is all. Thank you very much.<br>
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