[Marxism] Bolivia needs our solidarity

["Kiraz Janicke" <kirazj@xxxxxxxxx>]

Bolivia needs our solidarity
http://www.greenleft.org.au/2007/724/37573

Federico Fuentes, Caracas
14 September 2007


*For Bolivia's indigenous majority there is no going back. The election in
2005 of Bolivia's first indigenous president, Evo Morales, marked a
watershed — a before and after in Bolivia's history — after more than 500
years of struggle against imperialism and colonialism. It marked a conscious
step forward by Bolivia's 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 Bolivia's 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 Bolivia's 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 country's 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 country's 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 assembly's 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 opposition's 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 Bolivia's 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 wing's 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, Bolivia's
government and the indigenous revolution is helping stimulate indigenous
struggles in the region — something Washington fears and will not tolerate.

On September 9, Venezuela's 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 we're 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 empire's 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.
________________________________________________
YOU MUST clip all extraneous text before replying to a message.
Send list submissions to: Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism