Re: [Marxism] BOLIVIA: As Tensions Skyrocket Where Do Marxists Stand?

[Walter Lippmann <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Louis's cautious judgement here regarding Bolivia is well-taken.

This is a reasonable point of view and if there were more of such
discussion, I believe we all could learn something. So far, the
indications we've received are that the Bolivian army has been
staying out of the political problems of the country, and hasn't
taken a position against Evo Morales. There's a great deal more
for us to learn about this situation. IPS had another commentary
posted yesterday on GLOBAL RESEARCH which is highly critical of
Evo, and I have no difficulty hearing and reading such discussion.

National sovereignty and national independence for Bolivia remains
an important issue, whether participants on this list recognize it
as such or not. A tree does make noise when it falls in the forest,
whether or not someone is there to hear the noise being made.

Most of the presidents of Latin America seem to understand that 
their own positions are threatened by the process of Balkanization 
which the Bolivian secessionists, following from Georgia and Kosovo, 
would like to exacerbate.

Justin Podur's comments, posted to Marxmail are worth keeping in
mind, especially for those who believe the struggle is already over
and lost because they have decided Evo Morales is Salvador Allende
and Alexander Kerensky wrapped in one malodorous, betraying package.
Podur doesn't think that, of course. 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
JUSTIN PODUR concludes:

Within Bolivia Evo has acted to try to deny the opposition a
strategic victory and prevent the conflict from derailing the popular
agenda. On September 9, in the middle of the crisis, he shuffled out
some of the ministers he'd been forced to accept out of compromise
with the elite and replaced them with people who were ready to move
popular economic policies. He opened a dialogue with the opposition
but insisted that the referendum would go forward on December 7. 

The opposition offered to lift the roadblocks on September 14. The
government approved this step but said it was completely inadequate
to restore order. After orchestrating the deaths of dozens of people,
the opposition ought not to be allowed to simply order a temporary
tactical retreat. They have the right to due process in criminal
prosecutions. They do not, after orchestrating murder and massacre,
have the right to demand concessions from a legitimate government.

Latin American leaders, including those of Venezuela, Colombia,
Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and others, are meeting on
September 15 to seek a resolution to Bolivia's conflict. Virtually
all, including even U.S. ally Colombia, have announced support for
Morales's government and its popular mandate, and that they will
refuse to accept separatism.

The movements that brought Evo to power will not go quietly, as the
opposition should know. Without the capacity for a national coup, the
opposition lacks the popular support to even sow "ungovernability" in
their own provinces for very long. Their desperate need is to use the
media to amplify their limited actions as larger than they are, to
generate external political pressure to force Evo to make concessions
and defeat the popular movement for them. As a result, the success of
Bolivia's popular processes depends in part on whether the false
stories about the government, the past few weeks, and the days to
come, are believed. â FULL:
http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/bullet136.html
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Some additional information on Bolivia:

Bolivia: Evolving Political Crisis
by Franz ChÃvez 
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=10197

Bolivia: The Massacre in Porvenir
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=10213


Walter Lippmann
Los Angeles, California
==============================================================
LOUIS PROYECT wrote:   
I think it is a mistake to view Allende's president uncritically and
to lump him with Morales. Allende literally comes from a Popular
Front tradition that has been disastrous for the left wherever it has
been applied, while Morales comes out of the extra-parliamentary
cocalero movement. I simply don't know enough about the Bolivian
military to know whether or not it is structurally incapable of
organizing a coup but having seen its role in Bolivian politics over
the past 40 years or so, I am inclined to be wary.

If the radical movement has penetrated the ranks of the military as
was the case in Venezuela, then we might see an outcome similar to
Chavez's victory against the coup in 2002. But to frame the analysis
in terms of the army's respect for national sovereignty is to
dissolve the concrete into the abstract, a danger for Marxists in any
sort of serious crisis such as this.


=========================================
     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Los Angeles, California
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un ParaÃso bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================

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