A large part of Bolivia is once again practically paralyzed by road blocks in five states, there are massive mobilizations and vigils, without mentioning the symbolic occupation of oil fields and daily protest marches.

Imperialists Attempting to Divide Bolivia

Popular demands of the people are based on the approval of the law calling for a Constituent Assembly.  This was put forward by social organizations to block the referendum on the autonomy of the Santa Cruz region (the richest state in Bolivia).  The referendum to give autonomy to the Santa Cruz region was proposed by the local oligarchy and is backed by Washington. If approved, Santa Cruz could separate from Bolivia, endangering the cohesion of the State and could lead to a civil war. This separatist proposal is being backed by Washington using the theory of “divide and rule” and would effectively create an enclave of US influence in the center of South America.   Of course the poor of Bolivia would suffer if the richest state were to be broken off for the benefit of the wealthy and the U.S.

Additional Popular Demands 

• Defense of water supplies and the definitive expulsion of the French water transnational Illimani-Suez from El Alto in the main city of La Paz.
  
  
• Approval of a Hydrocarbons Law guaranteeing 50% royalties as a minimum and the rejection of immunity for US citizens.
  
  
• Total rejection of a bilateral Free Trade Agreement with the US and the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).

Mobilizations Began February 21, 2005

The popular mobilizations started on February 21st with various demands by the so-called “Unity Pact” and in recent days action has been stepped up in many parts of the country virtually isolating the government. The Chamber of Deputies passed a law confirming 18% royalties and 32% taxes on gas extraction, in contrast to popular demands for the approval of 50% royalties plus the aforementioned taxes minimum for the Bolivian people.  This legislation by the Chamber of Deputies qualified as anti-patriotic and took place in the midst of favors and corruption by some legislators.

Road blocks are concentrated in the following states: Chuquisaca, El Alto, Lahuachaca in the La Paz plateau, Ivirgarzama and Puerto Villarroel in the tropical zones of Cochabamba, Camiri and Yapacaní in Santa Cruz. The protest has spread nationwide and is a popular uprising against government intentions to “sell out” to the gas multinationals.

The Bolivian People Unite

Vincente Flores, leader of the Nacional Council of Ayullus and Markas del Qollasuyo (CONAMAQ) said that the mobilizations are to ensure the unity of the country as a whole - while the oil multinationals, big business and landowners who are part of the Santa Cruz oligarchy, want to divide the country in the name of “autonomy”. Flores stated:

“The real intention of this movement of big business, landowners and multinationals is to prevent the approval of the law calling for a Constituent Assembly, the new Hydrocarbons Law and the taking to court of ex-President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada and his ministers”. (Note: the ex-President and his ministers are accused of ordering a massacre of protesters in La Paz during the disturbances in October 2003.)

The Unity Pact is a massive nationwide popular movement, formed by farmers, indigenous peoples, landless laborers, and other ancestral groups.  They are affiliated a large number of organisations who are uniting against imperialism and oligarchy.  These organisations include:

The Trade Union Confederation of Farmers and Workers of Bolivia (CSUTCB); the Nacional Council of Ayullus and Markas del Qollasuyo (CONAMAQ); The Trade Union Confederation of Bolivian Colonizers (CSCB); the Coordinator of Ethnic People of Santa Cruz (CPESC); the Nacional Federation of Women Farmers of Bolivia-Barolina Sisa (FNMCB-BS); The Ethnic People’s Movement of Mojo (CPEMB); The Guarani Peoples Assembly (APG); the Bolivian Landless Movement (MST-B); the Departmental Committee for Salaried Farm Workers (CDTAC); the Northern Amazon Block of Indigenous Farmers (BOCINAB); the Defense Committee of the Pilcomayo River (CODERIP); and the Coordinator for the Integration Economic Organization for Farmers (CIOEC).

After the popular uprising in October 2003 forced the neoliberal US puppet President Sánchez de Lozada to resign, the popular movements have given the current President, Carlos Mesa, more than 16 months so far to: (1) institute reforms concerning royalties on the export of Bolivian gas; (2) to institute state control of water supplies and sewerage and (3) to bring ex President Sánchez de Lozada and his ministers to book for human rights abuses due to the massacre in October 2003.

The US transnational, Bechtel, was also forced out of Bolivia after water supplies were privatized following a 600% increase in water tariffs.  It looks like the same fate will befall the French subsidiary of Suez des Eaux as popular protests grow to regain control of this basic human right – water!

The best known leader in Bolivia, Evo Morales, is a former coca farmer and the driving force behind this latest popular uprising, even though his power base in more in the countryside than the cities. The US and the Santa Cruz oligarchy want to split off this state from Bolivia with the aim of weakening the popular power being demonstrated by the Bolivian “pueblo”. The widespread protests in Bolivia have always been latent and prove the point that the peoples of South America are willing to risk their lives to defend their resources from the claws of US transnational corporations.

The Awakening

Put in a nutshell, the people have awakened and are now more aware than ever of their rights.

Current President, Carlos Mesa, has tendered his resignation due to the popular pressure and the country spinning out of control. His resignation will have to be accepted by the Bolivian Congress and latest news reports from Prensa Latina, indicate that it will be rejected by the majority of the Congress. This could mean that the protests will be radicalized in the near future and as of now, there are no signs that the army has been ordered to repress the protests using arms.

At the Conference for the Defense of Humanity held in Caracas in December last year, the Portuguese Nobel Prize for Literature, José Saramago stated:

"It’s not Chavez, nor Lula nor Kirchner. The truth is that the people have risen up. And woe betides any leader who is not up to recognizing this. The people will just pass over them because they are tired and have taken the vanguard. A new wave is flowing over this continent and it is also reaching other parts of the world. Latin America has risen up from the North to the South as happened one hundred and two hundred years ago, against all empires and imperialism."

What is happening in Bolivia is a far cry from the peaceful and democratic revolution taking place in Venezuela. Even short term events must be watched very closely. The decision on whether the Bolivian Congress accepts Mesas’ resignation could signal the next step in this national battle for the dignity and rights of those who have been excluded for so long in Bolivia.  Their battle is for their rights to water and all their country’s natural resources vs. interference in their domestic affairs by foreign countries and empire’s theft of their resources.

As in the case of Ecuador, the majority of the population is of indigenous extraction and the historical links with Bolivar are strong. Bolivia, known as Alto Peru under the Spanish empire, was named after the Liberator himself. In fact, upon entering the Congress Building, the two portraits that stare down are those of Bolivar and Antonion José de Sucre, Bolivar´s chief general and the victor at the Battle of Ayacucho in December 1824 which sealed Latin American independence. Sucre was the first President of Bolivia in 1825 and the man who was earmarked to succeed Bolivar until his untimely assassination in Ecuador in 1830.   As President Hugo Chavez Frias said in his speech at Nehru University in Delhi last week, “They cannot wipe out history”.

With these sort of antecedents, there is also the chance that a Bolivarian Republic of Bolivia could be in the offing, as it already is in Ecuador. Time will tell as the struggle advances, continental-wide against US imperialism, neoliberalism and the traditional oligarchs still trying to keep their grip on these countries.

© Copyright 2005 by AxisofLogic.com