The Opposition Strikes Back: Bolivia in Crisis

[Judi Lynn]

October 1, 2008 at 12:31:00
The Opposition Strikes Back: Bolivia in Crisis
by Antonio Otsenre


The tragic events of the past couple of weeks in Bolivia hopefully mark the end of decades, if not centuries, of bad government policies; tragic because the traditional ruling class has literally brought on its own political demise.

The new millennium dragged in with it the consequences of the aggressive practice of privatizing industry, cutting government programs and taking on bad loans to patch up bad business practices. Studies, such as those of the Economic Policy Institute, show how most of Latin America has come out worse in the 80s and 90s than the whole period between the 50s and 70s. The economic decline came in the form of neoliberal reforms imposed by the dubious ascent of dictators and presidential figures that responded to the demands of Washington and the International Monatary Fund.

In Bolivia, when just about everything was sold off and the country was in complete economic collapse, General Hugo Banzer promised to suspend further privatizations. He continued on anyways. On top of that, he cracked down severely on unions and the indigenous coca sector. As people lost their jobs and saw everything from gas to water for sale to foreign interests, they went to the cities, especially La Paz, to campaign on the streets for a fair distribution of the benefits from their national resources.

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Along the way there have been shifts in the demands of the opposition. First, Jorge Quiroga had the helm and tried to say that the Morales administration was illegitimate and called for a referendum, before any stability could be reached. That plan backfired, resulting in Morales putting forth the referendum and winning even more support (67% of the vote), while some affluent provinces slipped. Then came Ruben Costas and Leopoldo Fernandez with their strong arm tactics that stirred up and armed the proto-fascist street gangs that killed more than 30 people and drove many into the mountains. They have also assaulted personnel guarding public institutions and looted government buildings. They have occupied and shut down airports and burned or vandalized state offices. This wave of violence was the worst since the 2003 repression of the protests that brought Morales to power. This time it was not by the hands of state forces but by the privateers who are seeing their grip on the nation's wealth slipping. The consistency is in the fact that it's the elites who are continuing to summon violence against indigenous and labor groups.

The images from the last couple of weeks turned off the bourgeois base Governor Costas pretended to lead. When he called off the street fighting for the sake of the nation's largest agro fair, the hypocrisy was unbearable even for many opposition supporters. The opposition closed down roads so no food or fuel gets by, but costly new farm equipment to be displayed and sold at the fair is allowed through. Many supporters saw that the call for autonomy was more specific than the neopopulist messages being touted in the media. The exception made for a privileged sector went against the populist rhetoric that up to that point strung along some of that razor thin middle class in Bolivia.

Unasur nations (including Colombia and Peru, still lead by right wing, Washington friendly governments) were quick to repudiate the violence. The opposition suffered a debilitating political blow in the eyes of the whole region. The presidents of most countries have come out individually to strongly condemn the violence against Bolivian Democracy. United Nations and Organization of American States representatives have also called for the opposition to cease the violence. The US was noticeably silent.

During the turmoil, Morales showed great restraint with the military, risking the ire of the victimized indigenous groups. On September 15, state forces were ordered to confront the hooligans but not to shoot. Pando Governor Fernandez (ex-paramilitary officer in the 70s), a major instigator of the violence, was arrested and the US Ambassador Phil Goldberg (of Kosovo fame) was sent home for fomenting insurrection instead of diplomacy. The youth allegedly trained by Fernandez to be a "citizen's protection force" were essentially a militia set to carry out the dirty work of the secessionist governorship. Pando government vehicles were used to chauffer these armed groups to the sights of peaceful marches.

More:
http://www.opednews.com/articles/1/The-Opposition-Strikes-Bac-by-Antonio-Otsenre-080930-201.html