Bolivia

Behind the Bolivian uprising

An article for the Alliance for Green Socialism, by Paul Hampton, Alliance for Workers’ Liberty The barricades in the Bolivian uprising have come down for now, but the struggle is far from over. For the past month Bolivia has been rocked by strikes, road blockades and street demonstrations, which have forced the president Carlos Mesa to resign on 6 June. Mesa had only been in power since October 2003, when the previous president Sanchez de Lozada resigned after similar mobilisations. The new President, Eduardo Rodriguez, a supreme court judge, is likely to call new elections for later this...

Strikes across Bolivia

Strikes, road blockades, marches and mass demonstrations have once again swept across Bolivia, sparked off by the government’s controversial hydrocarbons law. The law increases taxes on multinational companies but falls short of the demand agreed in last year’s referendum of 50% royalties on gas and oil extraction. Business-backed president Carlos Mesa has refused to sign the law, obliging the speaker Hormando Vaca Diez, to authorise it. The latest wave of struggle began on 16 May when 100,000 people from El Alto demonstrated outside parliament demanding Mesa’s resignation. The next day the El...

Bolivia gripped by marches and protests

In January Bolivia was gripped by marches and protests. Here is an abridged account by Jim Shultz from the Democracy Center, based in Cochabamba in Bolivia: President Mesa has announced that he will support a reform allowing each of Bolivia’s departments (essentially the same as states in the US) to directly elect their governors. Right now those governors are appointed by the President. There is no legislative branch at the state level. A demand for autonomy in Santa Cruz has come from the right, not the left, sparked by business leaders and others hot to cut a gas export deal and angry at...

Bolivian workers on the move

Bolivia is on the cusp of more social struggle, as the government presses ahead with plans to export gas - the spark for an uprising in October 2003. The main trade union federation, the COB, is threatening an indefinite general strike next month in a renewed bid to halt the government's plan to export natural gas. Last week it gave President Carlos Mesa until 1 May to change his policy on the gas export plan or face more action. Protests over the proposals brought down Mesa's predecessor, Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, last October. The union wants the government to nationalise the country's gas...

Massacre in El Alto

By Benjamin Dangl and Kathryn Ledebur [abridged] Over the weekend of 11-12 October, in the city of El Alto, a confrontation between security forces and protesters resulted in 30 dead over one hundred wounded, the great majority from bullet wounds. Protesters in El Alto had been maintaining road blockades for weeks, cutting off the main route to La Paz. As a result, La Paz experienced a severe shortage of gasoline, food and other supplies. The worst of the confrontations took place on 12 October, when heavily armed military and police escorting gasoline tankers tried to pass through the...

Solidarity with Oscar Olivera

Oscar Olivera, one of the leaders of the gas struggle in Cochabamba is being victimised by his bosses. He has been denied his wages at the Manaco Footwear Company (owned by the multinational BATA) without just cause or explanation. Oscar and his family have also been deprived of their medical insurance. Oscar is the locally elected Executive Secretary of the Federation of Factory Workers of Cochabamba, on full time facility time. Up until the recent struggle, he has been paid by the company, in accordance with an agreement with the union. He has no other source of income. Oscar was one of the...

Bolivia's Ya Basta to austerity

By Pablo Velasco Bolivia's gas war turned into a national uprising against the neo-liberal government last week, forcing the president S·nchez de Lozada to resign. The capital La Paz was shut down by a general strike. Schools and businesses were closed, buses didn't run and barricades were erected in the streets. Overall around one million people demonstrated in the streets on 17 October to demand the president resign. A thousand tin miners marched on La Paz to join the demonstrations. The miners had earlier clashed with troops in the city of Patacamaya. After troops fired tear gas, the miners...

Bolivia: Workers and peasants fight gas privatisation!

By Pablo Velasco Trade unionists, indigenous groups and peasant organisations in Bolivia have organised strikes and road blockades against the economic policies of the centre-right government of Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada. The protesters oppose plans to export natural gas to the US. They say rich foreigners are plundering Bolivia's natural resources, and demand that 250,000 homes in Bolivia be supplied with free gas before any is exported. Bolivia has the largest natural gas reserves in Latin America. Three foreign companies-British Gas, Repsol-YPF of Spain and Pan American Energy (a subsidiary...

Workers of the world: ROUND-UP

By Pablo Velasco Bolivian general strike Muchtar Pakpahan to stand in Indonesian elections Good news from Greece Bolivian general strike Bolivia is on the verge of a third uprising in the space of a year - with trade unions calling for an indefinite general strike this month. The uprising in October 2003 led by trade unions, peasant associations and neighbourhood organisations forced President Sanchez de Lozada to resign. The key organisations were the trade union federation COB, the rural workers' union CSTUB and the neighbourhood organisations in La Paz's satellite-city of El Alto. Vice...

Workers of the World: Round-up

by Pablo Velasco Oscar Olivera wins case Urgent appeal for Chinese workers' leaders P Diddy uses sweatshops Brazilian car workers walk out Korean workers' demonstrations Colombian Coca Cola worker visit Oscar Olivera wins case Bolivian workers' leader Oscar Olivera has won his fight against victimisation. Oscar is the secretary of the Federation of Factory Workers of Cochabamba, and works at the Manaco Footwear Company. He is a locally elected union leader who gets his regular salary and benefits from the company while performing full-time union work. He is also a leader of struggles against...

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