Published on Thursday, June 9, 2005 by CommonDreams.org
For Bolivia, Neoliberalism is Not an Option
by Gretchen Gordon
As the Organization of American States completes its three-day session debating the role of free trade and neoliberalism in fostering democracy for the continent, the country of Bolivia is on the brink of a civil war over that very question.
The sound of firecrackers and dynamite blasts punctuated the beginning of the fourth week of paralyzing protests in the Bolivian capital of La Paz, Wednesday. Tens of thousands of indigenous, miners, workers, students, and others once again flooded the streets to vocalize two immediate demands: a new constitution, and the nationalization of Bolivia’s oil and gas resources.
“We want our oil and gas nationalized, so that our children can have them one day,” said Japth Mamani Yanolico, an indigenous leader from the Omasuyos Province near Lake Titicaca, as he stopped to take a break from the tear gas in the streets of La Paz. “And we want a Constituent Assembly.”
Meanwhile, in Broward, Florida, George Bush addressed the General Session of the OAS Monday, advocating increasing free trade and neoliberal policies for Latin America through trade accords which would open markets and increase privatization in the region. Bush spoke of the benefits of free trade in buttressing fragile democracies and increasing living standards.
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0609-27.htmAnother article, here is my translation from Spanish, followed by the actual Spanish text:
The three forces that are fighting for power in BoliviaThe oligarchies and the neoliberal forces want to put Vaca Diez, president of Congress, in the (Presidential) Palace to smash the social protests with the military. The moderates and the reformers, with the support of the Church, support the president of the Supreme Court, to call new elections. The US Embassy, the transnationals, and the Army prefer the former option, but they are not about to discard the latter. The third force are those sectors of society that are most radicalized and militant for the COB (?) that are fighting for nationalization (of energy industry) and for a government of workers and peasants.
The most inflexible and reactionary among the Bolivian oligarchs have aligned themselves with a small but ambitious group of neoliberal politicians that want to make president of Bolivia the top man in Congress, Hormando Vaca Diez, a fervent defenders of American dominance over the poorest country in South America.
The most notable accomplishment in Vaca Diez's resume is the law giving immunity to any US troops that commit genocide in Bolivia.
<snip>
THE EMBASSY AND THE ARMY
These two alternatives are sponsored by the American Embassy, the Armed Forces, and the oil transnationals like Repsol, British Petroleum, Total, Enron, Shell, Petrobras and others that have their hands in the more than $100 billion of dollars, which is the estimated value of the oil and natural gas reserves in Bolivia, the second largest in South America. All this wealth in a country that has a third of its 9 million inhabitants going hungry and another third lacking enough to live in dignity as a human being.
Las tres fuerzas que luchan por el poder en Bolivia La oligarquía y las fuerzas neoliberales quieren llevar a Palacio a Vaca Diez, el presidente del Congreso, para aplastar la protesta social por la vía militar. Los más moderados y reformistas, con el apoyo de la Iglesia, apuestan por el Presidente de la Corte Suprema para que convoque a elecciones. La Embajada de Estados Unidos, las transnacionales y el Ejército priorizan la primera alternativa, pero no descartan la segunda. La tercera fuerza es de los sectores más radicalizados y combativos de la COB que luchan por la nacionalización y el gobierno de obreros y campesinos.
Los sectores más duros y reaccionarios de la oligarquía boliviana se han alineado en torno a un pequeño pero ambicioso grupo de políticos neoliberales para hacer presidente de Bolivia al primer hombre del Congreso, Hormando Vaca Diez, un ferviente defensor del dominio norteamericano sobre el país más pobre de Sudamérica.
La mejor carta de presentación de Vaca Diez es haber logrado, en la Cámara de Senadores que preside, una ley que da total impunidad a las tropas de Estados Unidos que cometan delitos de genocidio en Bolivia.
<snip>
LA EMBAJADA Y EL EJÉRCITO
Estas dos alternativas son patrocinadas por la Embajada de Estados Unidos, las Fuerzas Armadas y las transnacionales petroleras como Repsol, British Petroleum, Total, Enron, Shell, Petrobras y otras que tienen en sus manos los más de cien mil millones de dólares, que es el valor aproximado de las reservas bolivianas de gas y petróleo, las segundas en importancia de Sudamérica. Toda una fortuna para un país que tiene a un tercio de sus nueve millones de habitantes pasando hambre y a otro tercio sin lo suficiente para vivir dignamente como ser humano.
http://www.rebelion.org/noticia.php?id=16236
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