New uprising in Bolivia

Federico Fuentes

From Green Left Weekly

http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2005/627/627p24.htm

In 1967, Che Guevara died at the hands of CIA-backed Bolivian soldiers

while attempting to lead a guerrilla struggle in Bolivia. In the small

town where his body was uncovered 30 years later, graffiti is scrawled

declaring: "Che: Alive as they never wanted you to be."

Almost four decades after Che's murder, Bolivia's poor and indigenous

masses are keeping his revolutionary legacy very much alive as they

fight to secure their country's resources and future.

Left with no more cards to play, on May 17, Bolivian President Carlos

Mesa succumbed to passing the country's controversial new gas bill. As

the country enters into a new pre-insurrectional stage -- with many of

Bolivia's poor once again hitting the streets, clamouring for the

nationalisation of gas -- many believe it will be game over for Mesa.

Attempting to stop the passage of the new gas bill through parliament

over the past eight months, Mesa earlier threatened to resign three

times and to push forward elections by two years. He also called for

numerous national meetings between government, business and the social

movements. However on May 5, when the house of deputies modified and

approved the bill that was passed by the senate in March, it was left

on the table for Mesa to sign.

The social movements decided to boycott a national summit with

government and business leaders set for May 16, the day before Mesa's

deadline to sign the bill. Instead, they initiated two marches, from

El Alto and Caracollo near Cochabamba, which have become the two

organising centres for Bolivia's powerful protest movement. Claiming

it would be "suicide" to support the bill, Mesa passed it on to the

right-wing president of the parliament, Hormando Vaca Diez, to sign,

hoping to quell public protest.

The latest protest marked a radicalisation, adding two further demands

to the push for nationalising the gas -- for Mesa to resign and for

parliament to be shut down. Chanting "Mesa, traitor, we want your

resignation", more than 100,000 residents from El Alto marched down

the hill to La Paz on May 16, creating a human snake for the entire

six kilometres between the edge of El Alto and downtown La Paz.

Initiated by the recently formed Commission for the Defence of El

Alto's Dignity, which brings together FEJUVE (the body that unites

around 600 neighbourhood committees), COR de El Alto (the Regional

Workers Central of El Alto) and El Alto's federation of trade unions,

the rally was also joined by the COB (Bolivian Workers Central).

Reaching La Paz, the protesters headed for Plaza Murillo, where the

presidential palace is located. Protesters and police clashed and tear

gas, rubber bullets and rocks left several injured on both sides.

Two days later, 1000 miners from El Alto along with the COB returned,

determined to shut down parliament, as clashes once again ensued.

Parliament was suspended and the next sitting date set for May 31,

although the venue is uncertain. Meanwhile, numerous road blockades

were established along main arterial roads from La Paz, and teachers

entered the second day of their three-day strike. On May 20, teachers

and university students joined miners and the COB in street protests

in La Paz, as El Alto staged a 24-hour general strike.

The powerful Movement Towards Socialism (MAS), lead by cocalero (coca

farmer) organiser Evo Morales, began a 190km march from Caracollo to

La Paz on May 16, aiming to reach the capital by May 23. Under the

banner "unity of the Bolivian people for our hydrocarbons, a

Constituent Assembly and autonomy for all sectors", the march brought

together some 3000 cocaleros, peasants, indigenous Aymara

organisations and workers from trade unions associated with MAS, with

many more expected to join.

At the heart of the controversy surrounding the new bill is who should

control Bolivia's gas reserves -- the second largest in South America.

Between 1996, when Bolivia's previous gas bill was passed, and 2002,

neoliberal presidents Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada and Jorge Quiroga

signed 76 contracts favouring 12 transnationals, including Enron,

Shell and British Petroleum. The corporations bought the gas at well

below market value and sold it back to Bolivians at 12 times the

price.

For a country whose population is regarded as the poorest in South

America, this was just the latest example of Bolivia's natural wealth,

along with its sovereignty, being stolen by rich elites at home and

abroad, rather than being used to lift people out of poverty and

towards a dignified life.

The bill followed a tumultuous 19 months after a popular uprising

ousted president Lozada in October 2003. This "Gas War" between the

gas transnationals, the IMF, the World Bank and US and Spanish

governments on one side, and Bolivia's poor, indigenous and

working-class population on the other, has intensified.

The new law imposes a 32% tax on top of current royalties set at 18%.

This falls short of the proposed 50% royalties that a majority

supported in the June 2004 gas referendum. The house of deputies also

watered down an article forcing the transfer of all current deals onto

new contracts in line with some of the new rules, before passing it on

May 5.

None of the key social forces are happy with the new bill. The gas

transnationals and the US government immediately announced their

opposition. Even before the final bill was signed, Randal Quarles, the

US Treasury Department's assistant secretary of international affairs,

was quoted by Reuters on May 7 saying the US was "worried" by the new

law that would surely "inhibit foreign investment". Many of the gas

transnationals have begun or threatened legal proceedings against the

government, regarding the new law as "confiscatory" and illegal as it

threatens the profits guaranteed to them under the previous law.

Ironically, it was those contracts themselves that were ruled illegal

on April 8 by the Constitutional Tribune, as they had not been

ratified by parliament -- a requirement in the constitution.

Immediately following this ruling, Morales moved to put on trial

Quiroga and Lozada for approving the illegal contracts and the theft

of Bolivia's gas.

It is unclear how this crisis will be resolved, but the unity of the

left will be a key issue. During the March protests, when the bill was

passing through the senate, the left made important advances in

reestablishing the Peoples General Staff, which was initially formed

during the coca war of January 2002. Rather than resorting to the

previous name-calling and abuse, leaders from MAS, COB, the

Co-ordinator in Defense of Gas, the different fractions of the peasant

union CSUTCB, the Movement of Landless Peasants, FEJUVE and others

were able to meet together on March 9 and sign what became known as

the "Anti-Oligarchy Pact".

Some former divisions have resurfaced, however. One point of

contention played up by the media is the difference between the demand

by those from El Alto for nationalisation of gas and the proposals put

forward by MAS for 50% of royalties. The weight of the mobilisations

in La Paz has had an impact on this debate. Bolpress quoted the more

conservative MAS deputy, Gustavo Torrico, as saying on May 16 that the

fight for nationalisation is "suicide". The following day, it reported

that Roman Loayza, leader of the MAS-aligned section of CSUTCB and a

MAS senator said the party had been "bypassed" by its base. "We wanted

to march for more royalties, but the people want nationalisation, and

for them we are going to fight" said Loayza.

The position of Morales, perhaps the key figure on the Bolivian left,

whilst contradictory has seemed to shift as pressure has built up from

below over recent months. Morales missed out on being elected

president in 2002, by around 1.5%. His popularity was greatly boosted

after the then-US ambassador said that the US would not approve of a

cocalero running the country.

Although not demanding nationalisation, Morales's proposals and

statements lead in this direction. Quoted in Pagina 12 on May 17,

Morales said he was against nationalisation, but this was because

"according to the constitution, the gas reserves are already the

property of the state". Morales also believes the state should set the

price of gas. He added that because the contracts had already been

declared null, the armed forces and the police should immediately

occupy the gas fields.

Morales was quoted in numerous media sources on May 17 as saying

"those that are demanding the closure of parliament are looking for a

dictatorship, I believe it is a serious political error", referring to

the protests originating from El Alto. He has also said that his march

would not be enacting blockades such as those that paralysed Bolivia

in March, but that he respected them as forms of dissent.

COB leader Jaime Solares was quoted by La Jornada on May 18

commenting, "I hope it all goes well for them [on the march from

Caracollo], but when there are other protesters fighting for

nationalisation, there can't be people who are on holiday." Solares

himself was criticised by a meeting of delegates from various El Alto

groups on May 17 for not organising and uniting the pressure that

exists across the country.

The two wings of the movement will meet in La Paz on May 23. Morales

has called for an open meeting for the people to decide what to do

next.

A bulletin by the Centre of Documents and Information in Bolivia asked

"Do the social movements have enough clarity, cohesion, organisation,

broadness and capacity to give a clear alternative in order to face

the 'final battle'? If this is not the case, the radicalisation could

lead them towards a new defeat."

On the other hand, unity in action of these two forces could provide a

powerful explosion, way beyond that produced by the dynamite

traditionally used in street protests. One sign of the potential are

the comments by Loayza, quoted by La Patria on May 18 saying "Now we,

who are marching, are saying, that they must nationalise, for good or

bad, our hydrocarbons. I summons our alteno brothers, the COB, COR and

other organisations to prepare for the social convulsion in La Paz" on

May 23.

Stating that the government could no longer be trusted, he added, "we

need a government of the poor, the type we have dreamed about for many

years ... I believe the idea of the workers and peasants taking power

is coming closer". El Alto is preparing for an indefinite strike from

that day and a march onto La Paz, raising the spectre of October 2003,

where similar actions were decisive in the ousting of Lozada.