Statement on the current situation in Bolivia

by nestor Thu Jun 16, 2005 17:50

This article in Spanish:

by mitch Fri Dec 09, 2005 20:26 wsany at hotmail dot com

What's the current situation like in Bolivia these days? Have any anarchist or anarcho-syndicalist goups developed this past year?

by José Antonio Gutiérrez - OCL-Chile Sat Dec 10, 2005 01:43

I have some articles on that, unfortunately, they are all in Spanish. I'll try to translate something soon.

by mitch Sat Dec 10, 2005 22:34 wsany at hotmail dot com

Pepe,

I can read spanish, so feel free to email any texts, tec.

In solidarity,
mitch

by José Antonio Gutiérrez - OCL-Chile Sun Dec 11, 2005 05:53

http://www.anarkismo.net/newswire.php?story_id=1674 this one you can find in anarkismo.net, and has an analysis on perspective of the events in Ecuador and Bolivia. I'm finishing another one soon, that I'll post in the next week, probably.

by mitch Sun Dec 18, 2005 02:46 wsany at hotmail dot com

I'd be curious to learn more and any anarchist responses or current activities.
Has the FIJL disappaeared?

Note the contradictions of the statement, between direct action, workers self-organization and the need for a workers and peasants government. This is interesting in a sense that it suggest a multitude of tendencies and ideas being argued, some more liberatarian than others.

Any documents or other items in Spanish or English would be welcomed.

In solidarity,
mitch

"DECLARATION OF THE FIRST NATIONAL WORKERS AND POPULAR SUMMIT

(El Alto, Bolivia -- December 10, 2005)

On the eve of the national and departmental elections in Bolivia [scheduled for December 18 -- Translator's Note], we workers and social movements met in the city of El Alto -- considered the headquarters of revolution in the 21st century -- at the first National Workers and Popular Summit. We hereby declare the following:

1. The workers' and social movements of Bolivia are now more than ever convinced that the National and Departmental Elections were organized to disarticulate the tenacious struggle of the exploited and will not resolve the problems that strangle the Bolivian people, nor will they defend the sovereignty or dignity of the nation. Poverty, hunger, and unemployment will continue.
2. We are consciouss that our recent struggles were characterized by the fact that they put neo-liberalism´s back to the wall. But we were unable to transform these struggles into the taking of power. Thus, the workers' and social movements of Bolivia have the elementary obligation to articulate and consolidate the National Originary [Originaria] Popular Assembly as an organ of power. The Constituent Assembly which the current government is preparing [for June 2006 --T.N.] only aims to protect the interests of the multinationals.

3. At this juncture, the workers and exploited of our country are certain that none of the candidates who have a chance of winning power through the elections will dare to reclaim our natural resources; thus our only alternative is to end the truce [cuarto intermedio] called during the events of last May-June to achieve the following objectives:

- The nationalization of the hydrocarbons [oil and gas], without compensation, and the reclaiming for the public sector of all the natural resources.

- The deepening and concretization of the Political Instrument of the Workers, approved at the National Plenary of the Bolivian Workers Confederation (COB).

- The complete cancellation of Supreme Court Decision 21060

-- The implementation of the minimum wage with a sliding wage-scale and the guarantee of labor stability. We will not let any of the governments cancel the labor tribunals [fuero sindical].

- The recuperation of all the public social services.

- The intransigent defense of the unity of the nation, and the struggle against the divisive maneuvers of the oligarchy of Santa Cruz and Tarija, under the pretext of autonomy.

- The immediate extradition of the killer Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada and his jailing, together with his cronies in Chonchocoro.

4. The exploited and social movements are conscious that to achieve our immediate results, which requires the creation of a workers' and popular government, we can only rely on the direct action of the masses and our own instruments of struggle. This is why we have the elementary obligation to strengthen the COB, CODes, CORes, local unions, and popular organizations that identify with the struggle of the Bolivian people.

5. We Bolivian workers declare ourselves on alert in the face of an attempted foreign military intervention.

6. The exploited and social movements of our country call on all the exploited people throughout the country to organize Regional Popular Assemblies in March 2006. The representatives of these Assemblies are summoned to elect their delegates to the National Originary Popular Assembly, which will meet on April 10th, 2006, in the city of El Alto.

EL ALTO, DECEMBER 10, 2005

Central Obrera Regional - El Alto (COR-El Alto)
Central Obrera Boliviana (COB)
Federación Sindical de Trabajadores Mineros de Bolivia (FSTMB)"
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this english translation by the trotskyist International Liaison Committee of Workers & Peoples --mitch