[Marxism] Bolivian province wants independence

[Fred Fuentes <fred.fuentes@xxxxxxxxx>]

I think the two significant paragraphs in this article are
<snip>
The protests initially included an unusual alliance of conservative
business leaders and poor, indigenous groups from El Alto, the center
of a bloody October, 2003, revolt that ousted the previous president,
U.S. ally Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada.

But the tension eased in El Alto this week after Mesa, a former
television news anchor with no political affiliation, scaled back the
fuel prices hikes and also bowed to protesters' demands to cancel a
foreign-owned water utility contract.
<snip>

this gives a feel of the divide between the protestors in El Alto and
the mobilisations which have been taking place in santa Cruz,
fundamentally aimed at getting rid of Mesa becasue the gas
transnationals no longer see any use for him and in fact think he is
an obstacle to them. By caving to the altenos demand to end the
contract with the water company, the rich elite have taken this to
meant that Mesa is soft and can not be trusted. There have been a
number of joint statements put out by some of the campesino and
landless peasant organisations explicity stating their opposition to
these moves for autonomy. It seems the only figure that supports this
move is Felipe Quispe from the ultra radical CSUTCB, particular for
opportunist reasons and partly becuase of his followers historic
demand for an ayamra nation to be formed in the west across Bolivia
and Peru to return to their traditional roots. It this context the
questiopn of indigenous movements, the national question and latin
american unity seem to make for quite a complex and interesting
situation.
la lucha continua
Fred

Bolivian province wants independence
22 Jan 2005 00:54:49 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Updates with autonomous government, protests, details)
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N21443194.htm

By Rene Villegas

LA PAZ, Bolivia, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Protesters in Bolivia's wealthy
Santa Cruz province stepped up their pressure on President Carlos Mesa
on Friday by announcing plans to set up their own separatist
government and break ties with the capital, La Paz.

About 30,000 protesters, waving the green and white provincial flag,
marched to the main square of Santa Cruz, the regional capital,
chanting "autonomy, autonomy!" and "Mesa out!"

"I invite you all to a town hall meeting on Jan. 28 so that the people
of Santa Cruz can consider the creation of the first provisional
autonomous government of the province of Santa Cruz," Ruben Costas,
leader of a Santa Cruz civic group leading the protests, told the
noisy but peaceful crowd.

He said this independent administration would "begin functioning
immediately if the assembly approved it," without providing more
details.

The announcement came after two weeks of crippling strikes and
blockades, triggered by fuel price hikes, that paralyzed the country's
two biggest cities and threatened to unseat Mesa.

The protests initially included an unusual alliance of conservative
business leaders and poor, indigenous groups from El Alto, the center
of a bloody October, 2003, revolt that ousted the previous president,
U.S. ally Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada.

But the tension eased in El Alto this week after Mesa, a former
television news anchor with no political affiliation, scaled back the
fuel prices hikes and also bowed to protesters' demands to cancel a
foreign-owned water utility contract.

However, those concessions failed to satisfy opposition groups in
affluent Santa Cruz 550 miles (900 km) southeast of the capital, where
a European-descended conservative elite not only wants the fuel price
hikes fully reversed and Mesa's resignation but wants to manage its
own affairs without interference from La Paz.

Analysts said Santa Cruz could bring down Mesa just as El Alto toppled
Sanchez de Lozada.

"In Santa Cruz, there is a very dangerous breakup that President Mesa
has not sized up correctly," said La Paz analyst Jorge Lazarte.

Mesa has been in office since October, 2003. His term expires in 2007.

The leader, backed by Washington for his backing in the anti-drug
campaign in the Andean countries, scrambled to rally support in
Congress to prevent the fragile democracy from crumbling.

Lawmakers agreed on Friday to mediate between Mesa and the opposition,
sending a committee to Santa Cruz to start talks.

But analysts fear more upheaval is inevitable in South America's
poorest nation, where a small minority own the riches of natural gas,
mining and farming and where most in the indigenous majority scrape by
on less than $2 a day.

"This is a president who cannot govern. This is a president who cannot
make a single solitary decision without having some kind of negative
reaction from one sector or another," said Eduardo Gamarra, a Bolivian
political scientist and head of Latin American Studies at Florida
International University.

(Additional reporting by Louise Egan in Buenos Aires)

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