La Novena Cumbre de las Américas debe involucrar a todos los jefes de estado y oficiales del gobierno desde el hemisferio occidental. El presidente Biden está presentándola en Los Ángeles desde el 6 hasta el 10 de junio. Biden está tratando de usar la cumbre como una brecha entre los países socialistas y de inclinación a la izquierda de América Latina y sus vecinos. Sin embargo, parece que la cumbre se está haciendo trizas y una lista creciente de líderes se está cancelando.

A principios de mayo, 14 países del Caribe (CARICOM) dijeron que no participarían si la cumbre excluía a Cuba, Nicaragua y Venezuela. Ronald Sanders, el embajador estadounidense de Antigua y Barbuda dijo, “Los países de CARICOM opinan que la Cumbre de las Américas no es una cumbre de los Estados Unidos, que no lo es.”

El presidente mexicano López Obrador recientemente asistió a una visita de estado a Cuba donde se reunió con el Presidente Díaz-Canal de Cuba y rechazó las sanciones estadounidenses en la nación insular. Al regresar a México, López Obrador tomó la decisión largarse de Biden, enviando un mensaje claro a los otros líderes latinoamericanos y caribeños que adoptaran una postura.

El mismo día, el presidente boliviano Luis Arce escribió en un tweet, “Consecuente con los principios y valores del Estado Plurinacional de #Bolivia, reafirmo que una Cumbre de las Américas que excluye a países americanos no será una Cumbre de las Américas plena, y de persistir la exclusión de pueblos hermanos, no participaré de la misma.”

Incluso el presidente de Brasil, Bolsonaro, notoriamente de derecha, dijo que está evaluando si asistir o no. El presidente hondureño Xiomara Castro declaró ayer: “Si no estamos todas las naciones, no es Cumbre de las Américas.”

En marcado contraste con la cumbre de Biden, un evento diferente, la “Cumbre de las Américas de los Pueblos” tendrá lugar del 10 al 12 de junio en Tijuana, México. Se propone presentar un programa para “la unidad de la clase obrera y los movimientos sociales para crear un foro permanente de solidaridad y la vinculación de las luchas antiimperialistas, anticoloniales y antipatriarcales en el continente americano”.

La cumbre va a discutir el fin de las sanciones estadounidenses contra Venezuela, Cuba y Nicaragua; como oponer dominación, interferencia y guerra estadounidense en América Latina y el Caribe; como legalizar la inmigración, y el papel de obreros y solidaridad sindicalista a través de las fronteras para vencer a las corporaciones multinacionales que solo se preocupan por los beneficios.

Para más información sobre la Cumbre de las Américas de los Pueblos, o para participar en Tijuana, México: https://afgj.salsalabs.org/workerssummitoftheamericas/index.html

#GrandRapidsMI #Americas #PeoplesStruggles #AndresManuelLopezObrador #CumbreDeLasAméricas

Political prisoner Facundo Molares, an Argentinian photojournalist who was incarcerated by the Bolivian Añez regime, is now safely home in his native Argentina.

Molares was arrested during a violent incident between armed forces backing the coup d’etat and protests for democracy in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia on November 19, 2019, two days after the unelected Añez government took over. Molares was documenting the confrontation for the magazine Centenario, but during this incident he had a health crisis and was rushed to the hospital.

The Añez coup regime arrested Facundo in his hospital bed. It is widely believed that Molares was arrested because he is a left-wing activist who was documenting crimes of the Bolivian far-right regime through his photojournalism. Facundo Molares’s father later arrived from Argentina to visit his son in the hospital, but was allowed to see him for only ten minutes, being forced to flee to Argentina because of death threats.

Molares remained in custody in critical condition due to kidney failure and other ailments. The photojournalist and activist was transferred to the Chonchorro prison near La Paz, Bolivia where he received inadequate medical attention and infrequent visits with attorneys.

The family of Molares along with activists associated with the magazine Centenario began a campaign to pressure the Bolivian authorities to release him. The campaign was then joined by international organizations, most notably by COSI (Comite de Solidaridad Internacional) of Venezuela, the Communist Party of Paraguay, and the Committee to Free Facundo Molares in the United States. Molares’s case was reported on by Fight Back! in the U.S. Also, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization called for “the de facto government of Bolivia to immediately release and repatriate Facundo Molares Schoenfeld.” Reaching thousands of U.S. solidarity activists, the Committee to Stop FBI Repression promoted a very effective, “Call-in to save the life of Facundo Molares” to the Bolivian Embassy in Washington DC.

The Bolivian coup government held elections on October 18, 2020. Many election observers were skeptical that the Añez regime, backed by the United States, would allow the progressive opposition, the MAS party, to win the elections that was taken from them a year earlier by force. Many believed the United States, with its infamous ‘color revolution’ plots, would somehow block the MAS party of former president Evo Morales in the elections.

The popular movements in Bolivia mobilized in the mines, among peasants, in indigenous communities and in working class neighborhoods and Morales’ MAS party (Movimiento a Socialismo) won a convincing and unassailable victory in the first round and their candidate Luis Arce was elected with some 55% of the vote on October 18, 2020.

Spurred by popular pressure, the Argentinian foreign ministry advocated for Facundo Molares with the new MAS-led government. This diplomacy led to a Bolivian court granting Facundo home arrest instead of prison. He was shortly thereafter allowed to reside in Argentina and arrived home on December 3, 2020.

Hugo Molares, the father of Facundo, made a statement upon his son’s return to Argentina: “Thank you to those who were together with us, popular militants, alternative media, journalists, people from the most diverse political, social and religious backgrounds, human rights organizations, good hearted people from Argentina, Bolivia and from around the world, exiles, refugees and political prisoners, friends and family.”

Molares is still under the jurisdiction of the Bolivian court, but due to the struggle for his release, he is now in Argentina with his family. American anti-slavery abolitionist Frederick Douglas is famously quoted, “If there is no struggle, there is no progress!” This is certainly true in the international solidarity victory for Facundo Molares.

#Bolivia #PeoplesStruggles #PoliticalPrisoners #FacundoMolares #Americas

Chicago, IL – On November 10, 2019, a hastily-assembled coalition of generals, middle class liberals and fascist paramilitaries overthrew the democratic government of Evo Morales in Bolivia. Coming on the heels of a coup attempt in Venezuela and the vicious repression of a people’s uprising in Chile, it seemed to many that the continental struggle against U.S. imperialism had reached a tipping point in the empire's favor.

Today, not even a year later, the official results for Bolivia’s presidential elections were announced. Evo’s comrade and successor Luis “Lucho” Arce received a resounding 55% of the vote. The dictator Jeanine Añez was forced to withdraw from the race a few weeks ago when polls showed her support hovering at 10%. Evo and Lucho’s party, the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), also won a huge majority in the country’s lower house and Senate.

How did this happen? How did a dictatorship that enjoyed the total support of the United States and its allies allow itself to be voted out of government, not even a year after having seized it?

The answer, ultimately, is simple: they did not have a say in the matter. The Bolivian masses, extraordinarily well-organized, imposed these elections on the reactionary dictatorship.

An unintended coup

Luis Camacho always planned to challenge the results of 2019’s presidential elections, regardless of what they were. The head of the Santa Cruz Civic Committee, Camacho’s worldview was that of the cattle ranchers, mine operators and loggers who dominated Santa Cruz’s society. This sector of the bourgeoisie had never abandoned the Catholic reactionaries that dominated Bolivia’s military dictatorships during the Cold War. They doubly hated Evo, both for his ‘communist agenda’ of ending poverty and placing Bolivia’s resources in the hands of the people, and, more fundamentally, because he was an Aymara – a person of indigenous heritage – sitting in the presidential palace.

Morales won the 2019 presidential election with 47% of the vote. This was 14 points below what he’d received in the previous election but still enough votes to prevent a runoff election. It was all the excuse Camacho needed to start street violence. The Civic Committee and allies like the Santa Cruz Youth Union organized demonstrations and attacked MAS supporters under the cry of ‘electoral fraud.’ They were joined by their more cosmopolitan class compatriots in La Paz whose worldview, a liberal one that differed little from urban capitalists and professionals the world over, led them to the same endpoint of opposing the Movement Toward Socialism’s stated goals.

Despite the broader nature of the mobilization, it was clear that reactionary forces were driving the effort. Violence not seen in the country in decades was soon found in every city as union halls were set on fire and elected MAS officials were dragged into the street and beaten. Then, the police in several cities mutinied, allying with the protesters and calling for Morales to resign.

The violence caught the left unprepared. The basis of the Bolivian mass movement – and the basis for MAS' success in government – lay in the strategic unity of two political forces: the MAS, which serves as the political instrument of the indigenous peoples’ organizations, particularly coca farmers, migrant workers and women; and the Bolivian Workers Central (COB), the country’s left-led labor federation. At the time of the protests, there was a dispute between the MAS and the COB over Evo running for a fourth term. Some trade unions, therefore, did not immediately come to the government’s defense. That is not to say that they joined Camacho’s efforts, of course. The working-class and indigenous peoples of Bolivia – i.e., the vast majority of the population – never participated in the right-wing protests and have never been counted on to side with the forces of reaction.

The situation quickly accelerated after the police mutinies. Juan Carlos Huarachi, the general secretary of the COB, called for Evo to step down after he and other top trade unionists received death threats at their homes. Similar threats came to the heads of the MAS, as well – it was later revealed that someone approached one of Evo’s bodyguards with the promise of paying him $50,000 if he assassinated the president.

Then, General Williams Kaliman, a self-described “anti-imperialist” appointed by Evo Morales to lead the country’s armed forces just a year earlier, held a press conference where he called on the president to step down. He later told reporters he had not intended to provoke a coup, but only wanted to try to prevent further bloodshed. Regardless, he blinked in the face of reactionary violence and that was all that was needed. Within a few hours, Evo and his vice president stepped down, stating that their resignations were not over wrongdoing but to try to save the lives of their families and comrades.

It is safe to say that the coup’s success caught everyone, including the coup plotters themselves, by surprise. Most likely, Camacho did not expect Evo’s allies in the military to suddenly falter; but when they did he and his allies did not hesitate. They marched into the presidential palace, rifles in hand, and removed the indigenous wiphala flag everywhere it could be found.

An unconsolidated coup

The strength of the MAS prevented the coup from fully consolidating itself. On the political terrain, they denied the coup any legitimacy under the law. Despite the resignation of Morales and Vice President Álvaro Linera, the MAS still had an undisputed majority in both houses of parliament. They boycotted the far right’s motion to recognize Morales’ resignation and appoint Jeanine Añez as president, meaning that they did not have the legal quorum to carry the motion forward. The coup plotters did anyways, and so Añez became dictator. Throughout the entirety of this year, all of Añez’s actions have been through decree, as the MAS-led legislature opposes her every move.

It was in the people’s struggle, however, that the eventual defeat of the coup lay. Camacho’s violence and the military’s falter had caught the movement off guard. A misstep, however, cannot change the fact that Bolivia’s mass movement is one that rests on an incredible level of organization and militancy.

The component parts of the movement, from the Bolivian Workers Central to the farmers unions, are organizations with decades of militant class struggle. Within two days of Añez’s coup, the capital of La Paz was encircled by armed roadblocks demanding her resignation. Every organization of the MAS declared a general strike until their demands were met. Police forces, with orders from Añez to ‘pacify’ the people, opened fire on demonstrations and roadblocks across the country, resulting in the massacre of ten indigenous people in El Alto and nine in Cochabamba. Countless MAS cadre and trade unionists were arrested, but the roadblocks could not be dislodged. While many elements of the police were willing to go along with the repression, the military by and large stepped back, even after Añez removed Kaliman and placed an ally in charge of the armed forces.

It was clear that a stalemate had been reached. The Añez regime could not break the people’s movements without invoking a civil war, and it was clear that the military could not be relied upon to take such action. So it was announced that presidential elections would be held in May. Añez’s ‘pacification’ campaign had left 31 people killed and hundreds in jail, but the mass movement prevailed. With the MAS fighting her every step of the way in parliament, the organizations of the movement took time to consolidate their ranks, namely to rebuild the unity between the MAS and COB that had wavered in November. The organizations of the MAS announced their new presidential ticket to be Luis Arce and David Choquehuanca, Evo’s two longest-serving ministers and both well-regarded and popular. Work for their election began immediately.

An unpopular coup

The Añez dictatorship never enjoyed national support. In fact, her committed social base never extended beyond the racists of Santa Cruz. This was evident from the start, as most of the ministers of her government came from the city, including Branko Marinkovic, Camacho’s top lieutenant in the Civic Committee and a wealthy capitalist in his own right.

Añez's decrees in office show her agenda was straightforward: to reverse the gains made during the 14 years of MAS government for the sole benefit of the comprador bourgeoisie and U.S. imperialism. MAS had severed all connections with the International Monetary Fund in order to free Bolivia from foreign finance capital. Añez, meanwhile, took out a $327 million loan. MAS had renationalized the mining industry and seized control of numerous other leading industries. Añez privatized as many as she could. MAS had built state-owned facilities to process lithium, of which Bolivia has the world’s largest deposits, so that the country could become the world’s leading producer of lithium batteries and electric cars. Añez has refused to open the facility, and instead continues to export lithium for the sole benefit of monopoly capitalists abroad, like Elon Musk.

Amid this economic whirlwind, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. No relief was offered to the nearly 40% of Bolivians who lost their source of income during the pandemic. Nearly 140,000 Bolivians caught the disease, and nearly 9000 died. In the face of this global crisis, Añez and her friends simply saw another opportunity to strip the state for parts. They were caught embezzling millions of dollars during the purchase of hundreds of ventilators to battle COVID-19. As a result of Añez’s privatization campaign and her failures during the pandemic, over a million Bolivians – nearly 10% of the country – fell into poverty in the past year.

The dictatorship tried to take advantage of COVID-19 to push back the return to democracy. They saw the same polls that everyone else saw. It was clear that any election would only return the MAS to power. When Añez’s regime delayed the presidential elections to September, and even later, the Bolivian masses had enough. The COB, now in unwavering unity with the MAS, declared a general strike and shut down the entire country. Reactionaries and fascists in Santa Cruz attacked demonstrators once again, and the COB’s headquarters in La Paz was bombed, yet the strike endured until assurances were made that the election would indeed be held on October 18. Even then, all trade unions and affiliates of the MAS made it clear what will happen if the election was stolen. “The moment [Añez] tries to carry out fraud,” said Orlando Gutierrez, a leader of the miners’ union, at a rally in September, “is the moment Bolivia lifts its pause on protests and we take power.”

And so, the elections occurred on October 18. As the results came in, television cameras caught Luis Camacho on stage with tears rolling down his face. He had refused to drop out like Añez had, knowing that the liberal agenda of Carlos Mesa was not what he and his friends in Santa Cruz wanted. His vision of imposing a repressive order on the indigenous workers he hated so much was now gone. They had defeated him and defeated him badly. He received only 14% of the vote.

The tasks ahead are historic. Lucho Arce’s government will not only have to undo the economic damage of Añez’s regime – including figuring out what to do about the IMF loans – but will have to tackle the COVID-19 crisis before they can plan on moving Bolivia forward. They will have to figure out what can be done about the numerous figures responsible for massacres and acts of terrorism, both inside and outside of the apparatuses of the state. They will have to determine what must happen to further bind the armed forces to the Bolivian revolutionary process, as has been successfully done by their comrades in Venezuela. And all of this will have to happen under the shadow of an increasingly vicious and desperate American empire.

What is clear is that the Bolivian revolutionary movement now enters a period of profound unity and militancy. Their project was threatened in a way it never had been before, and the lives of thousands of dedicated revolutionaries were put on the line. Tactical disagreements could no longer get in the way of the strategic unity needed to overcome imperialist hegemony. The strength of the working masses, well-organized and aware of the historic task before them, is one that can never be underestimated.

#ChicagoIL #PeoplesStruggles #Bolivia #MAS #Americas

Call-In to save the life of Facundo Molares! Call Bolivian Ambassador Walter Oscar Serrate Cuellar at 202-483-4410 ex. 4 When: Tuesday, February 25, 2020 between 8 am and 4 pm Eastern time Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from Committee To Free Facundo Molares.

Demand, “We want Facundo Molares Schoenfeld released so he can go home to his family now!”

Tell them, “I am concerned for the health and well-being of Facundo Molares. Release him now and allow him to go home to his family!”

Facundo Molares is an Argentinian photojournalist illegally imprisoned by the Bolivian dictatorship.

The dictatorship arrested Facundo Morales while he was in a coma at the hospital with kidney failure on November 11, 2019, a day after seizing power in a coup d’état. Facundo was in Bolivia reporting on the elections for the Argentinian magazine “el Centenario”.

While imprisoned, and without access to adequate medical care, Facundo Morales lost the use of one eye and there is concern that if he does not receive needed medical treatment, which may include a kidney transplant, that his life could be in danger.

The Committee To Free Facundo Molares asks you to call Bolivian Ambassador Walter Oscar Serrate Cuellar at 202-483-4410 ex. 4. We want Facundo Morales Shoenfeld released now!

For more information: FREEFACUNDOMOLARES@GMAIL.COM

Free Facundo Molares!

#UnitedStates #International #AntiwarMovement #Americas #PeoplesStruggles #Bolivia #PoliticalPrisoner #PoliticalPrisoners #PoliticalRepression #Antifascism #BoliviaCoup #FacundoMolares

Facundo Molares Schoenfeld is an Argentinian photojournalist who was illegally arrested by the Bolivian dictatorship, and who is currently held in terrible conditions in a Bolivian prison. His life is in danger, as he does not receive adequate medical attention for a life-threatening condition.

This photojournalist was on assignment, for the Argentinian left-wing magazine El Centenario, in Bolivia to document the election of Evo Morales and its aftermath in October, 2019. Bolivia suffered a coup d’état by fascist elements and the military, with the support of the U.S. Embassy in La Paz, on November 10, 2019. A wave of state violence and repression was unleashed by the dictatorship that took power from the elected president Evo Morales.

Hugo Molares, the father of Facundo, received an anonymous call that his son was ill and travelled from Argentina to Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia to visit his son in the hospital on November 11. He found his son in a coma suffering from kidney failure, a pulmonary edema, possible lead poisoning and hantavirus.

As soon as the Bolivian de facto government discovered that Facundo was a left-wing activist they arrested him in the hospital, and accused him of being involved in a clash between supporters of President Evo Morales and fascist gangs where two people were killed. There is no credible evidence that Facundo Molares was involved in this incident. The Bolivian dictatorship made the wild and unsubstantiated allegation that Facundo was part of a ‘shock force’ for Evo Morales.

The Bolivian de facto government transferred Facundo Molares to its highest security prison, Chonchocoro, without clearance from his treating physicians. Chonchocoro is a prison that does not have adequate medical facilities, or sanitary conditions, to treat Facundo’s kidney and other medical problems.

Facundo is cut off from contact with the outside world, but one lawyer who was able to see him reports that Facundo has lost his vision in one eye and his physical and mental health is deteriorating due to the lack of medical attention. It appears that this journalist’s very life is in jeopardy.

The Freedom Road Socialist Organization calls on the de facto government of Bolivia to immediately release and repatriate Facundo Molares Schoenfeld.

Freedom for Facundo Molares!

#UnitedStates #AntiwarMovement #InJusticeSystem #OppressedNationalities #Americas #PeoplesStruggles #Bolivia #PoliticalPrisoner #PoliticalPrisoners #PoliticalRepression #Antifascism #BoliviaCoup #FacundoMolares

Bolivia suffered a vicious coup d’état on November 10, 2019 that was provoked by right-wing gangs rampaging in the street, traitorous police and military officers, the old guard political elite, and, of course, supported by the United States Embassy. As soon as Evo Morales was elected to a fourth term as president of Bolivia on October 20, with almost 47% of the vote, right-wing elements, centered in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, started a campaign to destabilize the progressive government headed by Evo.

Directly after the results announcing that Morales won in the first round of the presidential election, reactionary gangs began attacking supporters of Morales’ party MAS (Movimiento al Socialismo) in the streets, making loud, false, accusations of massive voter fraud. When the chief of staff of the army, who had the backing of large segments of the army and police, asked Morales to step down, Morales resigned and fled the country. A dictatorial government was installed on November 10, headed by Jeanene Añez, a politician whose party won 4% of the popular vote in the election. She immediately showed her contempt for her indigenous fellow citizens, who constitute the majority in this country, referring to them as “Satanists.”

In order to stabilize the dictatorship, the Bolivian de facto government initiated a campaign of state-sponsored terror to consolidate its grip on power. The dictatorship committed multiple extra-judicial killings of opponents, which include the massacres of Senkata (El Alto) and Sacaba (Cochabamba). An Argentinian Human Rights Delegation (Delegación Argentina en Solidaridad con Bolivia) was in Bolivia shortly after the coup to study the human rights situation of Bolivia after the coup and stated the following:

We observed that the repressive system put into place by the de facto government has caused dozens of deaths, hundreds of arbitrary arrests, thousands of injuries, innumerable cases of torture, rapes and other crimes violating the physical, psychological and sexual integrity of the victims, who are men, women, children, elderly, and members of collectives.

One case of arbitrary detention that causes great concern is the case of Facundo Molares Schoenfeld, an Argentinian photo-journalist who went to Bolivia in October of 2019 to document the Bolivian election and its aftermath for the left-wing Argentinian magazine el Centenario (https://revistacentenario.com/).

Facundo’s father, Hugo Morales, who is a justice of the peace in his native Argentina, received a call towards the end of October from his son stating that he wasn’t feeling well. After this call Hugo didn’t hear from his son for more than a week. Hugo then received an anonymous call that his son was sick in the hospital in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Hugo immediately went to Bolivia and on November 12. Hugo Molares, along with his partner, visited his son in the hospital and found Facundo in a coma, with a diagnosis of kidney failure, a pulmonary edema, possible lead poisoning and hantavirus.

The Bolivian authorities only allowed Hugo to visit his son for 15 minutes. After Hugo left the hospital to buy some medicine for his son, he was approached in the street and stopped by three men who threatened Facundo’s father with death if he didn’t leave the country immediately.

The dictatorship arrested Facundo in the hospital and detained him without any evidence that he had committed a crime. The de facto government discovered that Facundo was a left-wing activist who had written articles on the conflict in Colombia and was reputed to have been a former member of the FARC. Facundo’s beliefs are widely believed to be the motivation of the dictatorship to prosecute this political prisoner.

The prosecution of the dictatorship made the claim that Facundo was involved in a confrontation between MAS supporters and supporters of the coup in which two people died. The government charged Facundo with homicide, with the only purported evidence being that one person stated that Facundo may have been present during the confrontation between the two groups. There is no evidence that Facundo participated in any of the events between the pro and anti-Evo Morales protesters.

Without any judicial order, or medical authorization from his treating doctors, Facundo was first transferred to Palmorola prison in Santa Cruz on December 2. Shortly after this, the journalist was transferred to the Chonchorro Prison in the Bolivian capital, La Paz. This prison does not have adequate medical facilities to treat kidney disease and the other ailments that Facundo suffers from. He has also not been allowed any visits from his family. Hugo Molares stated, “Our whole family is in deep anguish over his present and immediate future. The news that I get about him is through the consul, who goes to see him at the Chonchorro prison every ten days.”

Due to the concern about Facundo’s health and his illegal detention, a solidarity committee formed in Argentina. The fear is that Facundo will die if he is not released and sent back to Argentina for urgent medical care as he may need a kidney transplant. The solidarity committee is looking for support and states, “The committee welcomes all forms of diplomatic, political and popular struggles that initiates and calls for the repatriation of Facundo Molares.”

The Bolivian dictatorship holds Facundo in the most dire conditions in the Chonchorro prison in La Paz. This prison was built to house 800 prisoners but actually holds 4000. There is rampant violence between various groups in the prison, and there is not the most basic hygiene that a patient such as Facundo requires. Due to the imminent risk to the health and welfare of this Argentinian journalist, the despicable conditions in which the Bolivian dictatorship holds this political prisoner, and the clear falsity of the charges, human rights organizations around Latin America say: Free Facundo Molares!

#Bolivia #AntiwarMovement #InJusticeSystem #OppressedNationalities #US #Americas #PeoplesStruggles #PoliticalPrisoner #PoliticalPrisoners #Antiracism #PoliticalRepression #Antifascism #DonaldTrump #BoliviaCoup #FacundoMolares

Minneapolis, MN – 50 protesters rallied at the intersection of Lake Street and Bloomington Avenue in Minneapolis on November 14 in response to a call for emergency response protests. On November 8, Bolivia’s military staged a coup and ousted democratically elected President Evo Morales. Even though Morales accepted asylum in Mexico, the people’s movements have refused to back down and have been protesting in the capital. Protests internationally have been organized to show solidarity with the indigenous and workers’ movements opposing U.S. interference in Bolivia.

Thousands of drivers returning home from work saw signs saying, “No U.S. coup in Bolivia” and “U.S. out of Latin America,” and heard chants of “Hey hey, ho ho! U.S. coups have got to go!” backed by music from the Unlawful Assembly protest band.

Autumn Lake, representing the MN Anti-War Committee, explained the context to the crowd: “This is a coup, not by a righteous grassroots movement, but by U.S.-backed right-wing racists. This is a coup designed to undermine the social and economic gains made by the first indigenous-led government in the western hemisphere since it had been colonized by European powers. Bolivia to this day is the only country left in the Americas where the majority of the population is indigenous. The movement that led to the election of President Evo Morales is rooted in ensuring that Bolivia’s social and economic practices prioritize the majority-indigenous masses of Bolivia over the interests of foreign capital, lifting broad masses of Bolivians out of poverty. Under Morales, indigenous languages and culture have been thoroughly incorporated into Bolivia’s plurinational model.”

Sarah Martin, a board member from Women Against Military Madness, addressed the U.S. motivations for supporting the coup, saying, “When Evo Morales and the Movement for Socialism took power in 2006, the government immediately sought to undo decades of theft by transnational mining firms and seized several of the mining operations of the most powerful firms. This sent a message that business as usual was not going to continue. The mines and gas refineries that used to be the sole property of U.S. firms were nationalized, and their revenue directed to lifting the poor out of poverty. For as long as Bolivia has existed, it has not known a period of greater collective prosperity and genuine democracy. Bolivia, along with Venezuela and Cuba, have the example for self-determination and making life better for the people and this terrifies U.S. capitalists. As it turns out Bolivia has 70% of the world’s lithium. Lithium is an essential metal in our devices as well as batteries for electric cars. When Morales was unable to make deals with Western transnational companies to fairly share the profits, he turned to Chinese firms – this was unacceptable to the main transnational mining companies, including Tesla, and made the Morales govt vulnerable. After the coup, Tesla’s stock rose astronomically.”

The speakers, signs and chants all targeted U.S. involvement in the Bolivian coup. Lake explained, “As was the case in Venezuela, Nicaragua and Honduras, U.S. resources and training were instrumental in opposing the democratically-elected progressive government of Bolivia. General Williams Kaliman, the current head of Bolivia’s military and one of the masterminds of the coup, had previously received training at the infamous ‘School of the Americas,’ as did many others involved. Leaked audio confirmed that reactionary conservative Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio were involved in planning the coup with the Bolivian right-wing opposition forces.”

The emergency response protest was organized by the MN Anti-War Committee, MN Peace Action Coalition and Women Against Military Madness. The Anti-War Committee announced that their next protest will be a march on International Human Rights Day, December 10, starting at 4:30 p.m. at Senator Klobuchar’s office at 1200 Washington Avenue South in Minneapolis.

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #OppressedNationalities #Americas #PeoplesStruggles #ChicanoLatino #Bolivia #AntiWarCommittee #Antiracism #Antifascism #BoliviaCoup

Chicago, IL – Events have not gone well for the coalition of generals and reactionaries that overthrew Evo Morales on November 10. Far from consolidating their control over the government and the country, the right-wing forces now stand on the back foot, facing the full force of an organized and enraged mass movement ready to defend their constitution and their elected government.

The first setback for the coup was their failure to assassinate Evo. On the morning of November 12, Bolivia's overthrown president, along with his vice president Álvaro García Linera, arrived in Mexico where they had been granted political asylum. “The president of Mexico saved my life,” the overthrown president said upon landing. It was revealed that there had been at least two attempts to assassinate the political leaders, who also head the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) party. One of Evo's security guards had come forward to say that he had been offered $50,000 to shoot the president dead.

All of this clarifies the maneuvers made by MAS on November 10. With many of their cadre being physically attacked and having their homes set on fire, the party pulled of its leadership from public office, including Morales and Linera. The ‘resignations’ were done at the barrel of a gun, but it was clear that the decision had been made by the party in order to avoid a wave of assassinations. In this they were successful – and with Evo and Linera out of the country, all of the energy of the country's revolutionary forces could now be put to defeating the coup.

This is where the second setback for the coup comes in – MAS ensured that the coup was denied any chance at democratic legitimacy. Gleeful in their seeming defeat of the socialists, the far-right opposition anointed Yeanine Añez, the leader of the right-wing bloc in the Senate, to be president of Bolivia. Añez is a theocrat who once said, “I dream of a Bolivia free of indigenous satanic rites, the city is not for Indians, they better go to the highlands.”

Standing at her side during her inauguration was the civilian leader of the coup, Luis Camacho. A millionaire who comes from a family of mine owners, Camacho is an open fascist, leading a Catholic fascist youth organization that played the leadership role in anti-government protests in the city of Santa Cruz. Fascism is, sadly, not an alien political movement in Bolivia. During the 1970s, explicitly fascist Catholic organizations formed the social backbone for the brutal military dictatorships that ran the country on and off throughout the Cold War. Coming from the largely white oligarchy, they were driven then, and now, by a profound hatred of the indigenous workers who they exploited for their wealth.

Unfortunately for Añez and her fascist friends, those indigenous workers now have political power in Bolivia, and they are not going to give it up. MAS, which as an absolute majority in both chambers of the national legislature, boycotted the Senate vote to recognize Morales' resignation and confirm Añez as her successor, denying them a quorum and therefore making her ascension to the presidency illegitimate and unconstitutional. In her place, MAS (and the country's constitution) put forward Adriana Salvatierra, the party's youth leader and president of the Senate, as the rightful president of the country. On November 13, police officers physically attacked her as she tried to enter the Senate, preventing her and other MAS leaders from calling a session during which they planned to reject Morales' resignation. Añez has nothing to stand on – unless the coup forces are able to brutally repress the mass movement into submission, her days are numbered.

And this is where the final setback for the coup comes in, and undoubtedly their greatest – their arrogance has sparked a revolution. As soon as Morales was overthrown, the country's trade unions, peasant unions and indigenous councils that form the membership of MAS and give life to a mass movement of millions began to organize for the coup's defeat. The immediate base of resistance was El Alto, the twin city of the capital La Paz and the largest majority-indigenous city in the Western Hemisphere. There, the leadership of the Rural Workers Union (CSUTCB) called on all of its affiliates to “encircle La Paz” and gave Camacho and his thugs a 48-hour ultimatum to leave the country. If they do not, “they will be responsible for whatever occurs.”

One by one, columns of rural workers marched into El Alto, waving the indigenous wiphala flag and chanting, “Camacho, Mesa [the opposition's presidential candidate], we want your head” and “Now, civil war!” They were soon joined by other organizations from the countryside, and now they have done what they said they would. The capital is completely encircled by roadblocks and demonstrators, demanding the racists be cast from office and democracy restored to Bolivia. The country's largest trade union federation, the revolutionary-led Bolivian Workers Central (COB), has launched an indefinite general strike, shutting down every major economic sector in the country until Morales is returned to power. These are unions that defended themselves with the gun only a few decades prior, during the darkest days of the Cold War in South America. They will not relinquish their hard-won political power. All union and indigenous leaders have made it clear – whatever happens, to the point of civil war, lies at the feet of the white supremacists who would rather destroy democracy than recognize the dignity of indigenous peoples.

Four days on, this coup against the Bolivian government is no settled matter. What is clear is that there will be a fight, and tragically, perhaps a brutal one, over where political power will lie in the nation's future. The Bolivian masses refuse to accept defeat. They will not allow the better world they have built to be bulldozed in the interests of imperialism and reaction. As they defiantly march in the thousands into La Paz, into the unknown, come what may, they do not do so alone. They carry with them all of us, all of the oppressed and exploited masses of this hemisphere, into a battle to determine the future.

#ChicagoIL #PeoplesStruggles #Bolivia #EvoMorales #Americas

The World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) condemns the coup against the elected President of Bolivia, Evo Morales.

We denounce, in the eyes of the world working class, the dirty role of the USA and the Organization of American States (OAS) as well as the reactionary forces of Bolivia that have organized the fascist coup.

That coup against the people of Bolivia confirms that imperialism acts ruthlessly. In Bolivia, almost the same methods are implemented again as in Chile, during the coup d’etat of the dictator Pinochet; when Salvador Allende stayed there and fought against the putschists, becoming a heroic symbol.

We express our internationalist solidarity to the working class, the indigenous, peasants and the people of Bolivia that resist against the coup and the puppets of the imperialists.

We say out loud that murders, kidnappings, arsons against those that defend the right of peoples to decide democratically and freely about their present and future must stop now.

We call on the affiliated unions and friends of the WFTU in Bolivia to continue on the front lines of the struggle, informing the people that the coup was perpetrated so that capitalists can plunder the wealth and destroy the civilization of Bolivia.

On behalf of the 97 million of our affiliates in 130 countries on the five continents, we add our voice to that of the Peoples who resist against the imperialists; we believe it is a good opportunity so that those who still have illusions and believe in class collaboration draw their conclusions, if they are able to do it.

The lesson we maintain is that the class struggle continues. It never stops.

George Mavrikos

#Bolivia #AntiwarMovement #Labor #OppressedNationalities #Americas #PeoplesStruggles #ChicanoLatino #WorldFederationOfTradeUnionsWFTU #Antiracism #Antifascism #WFTU #PinkTide

The event is co-sponsored by the Anti-War Committee and Women Against Military Madness.

A statement issued by organizers says, “We protest in Minneapolis to speak out against the military coup in Bolivia, and the role of the U.S. government in this coup. The people of Bolivia, who are struggling to defend economic and social gains won under the leadership of President Evo Morales, are struggling to stop this coup. The U.S. government is clearly the sponsor of the coup. The goal of the coup is to restore the absolute authority of the Bolivian elites who rule as clients of the United States.”

“The U.S. government has worked overtime to turn back the left-wing tide sweeping Latin America. The struggle in Bolivia, and all of Latin America continues between the forces that want to empower the people and those that want to maintain the power and wealth of the rich,” the statement continues.

Sarah Martin of Women Against Military Madness explains, “Evo Morales became President in 2006 on the shoulders of a powerful mass movement of indigenous people, and farmers and workers. When he used the gas and mineral wealth of the country to improve the lives of the people and not to enrich the transnational mining companies, he became a target of U.S. regime change. We stand with Bolivians in opposition to this right-wing, military coup.”

Meredith Aby-Keirstead of the Anti-War Committee concurs, “The whole history of the U.S. in Latin America has been to maintain the interests of large U.S. corporations in the region against any attempt by the rank-and-file people to take steps to rebuild society in their interests. The coup in Bolivia is only the latest example of this whole history.”

#MinneapolisMN #MinneaoplisMN #AntiwarMovement #PeoplesStruggles #Bolivia #AntiWarCommittee #Americas

After rallying at the Mission, the crowd marched to Trump Tower and continued with more speeches.

Speakers from various movements spoke about how the U.S. has intervened in their countries, including Brazil, Puerto Rico and the Philippines. Others spoke about U.S. imperialism’s interest in Bolivia and why it’s important to have international solidarity.

“But why Bolivia?” asked Jessica Schwartz of Freedom Road Socialist Organization. “Is it because Evo Morales is an indigenous, working-class leader? Or is it because Bolivia is sitting on lithium that the U.S. imperialists want for themselves? It is, in fact, all of the above!”

The rally ended with chants and a call for people to join organizations to continue the struggle and demand “Hands off Bolivia!”

The call was put out by Socialist Unity Party/Partido por el Socialismo Unido and Struggle – La Lucha newspaper, with endorsements from Samidoun Palestinian Political Prisoner Network, International Action Center, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Bolivarian Circles NYC, BAYAN USA Northeast, ANSWER Coalition, the People’s Forum, US Peace Council, United National Antiwar Coalition, December 12th Movement, and others.

#NewYorkNY #PeoplesStruggles #Bolivia #Coup #EvoMorales #Americas

Chicago, IL – Today, a military coup took place in Bolivia. The first act began on October 20 – the day that Evo Morales was re-elected president by a ten-point margin against his nearest opponent, starting with violent protests in the country's urban middle-class neighborhoods. The final act was carried out by the head of the Bolivian Armed Forces, Gen. Williams Kaliman, who went on national television today and demanded that Morales resign. This followed a day of police mutinies in key cities, and in totality it was clear that the elected government had lost the support of the armed apparatus of the state. Without arms to fall back on, and fearing the slaughter of their supporters, Morales, his vice president Álvaro García Linera, and the president of the Senate, Adriana Salvatierra resigned. Morales stated, ”I am resigning so that my comrades will not continue to be intimidated and threatened, so that [the reactionaries} will stop burning their homes and persecuting the humble people.”

From the beginning, it must be clear that the street violence that led to this moment was not about “the people vs. the government.” In Bolivia, where the people live under a constitution that was popularly written and democratically approved in 2009, the people are the government. For the first time since the Spanish invasion, the indigenous masses exercised political control over their own territory – Bolivia being the only country left in the Americas where the majority of the population is indigenous. In the entire history of this hemisphere, only two indigenous people have been elected president – Benito Juárez in México a hundred and fifty years ago, and Evo Morales in Bolivia.

Before Evo came to office, Bolivia was the sole governance of a handful of families, the oligarchy whose historic roots lie in the Spanish Conquest and whose only fount of current legitimacy comes from U.S. capital. It was not long ago that the country was an apartheid state, where the indigenous were denied the right to vote and own property. A national democratic revolution in 1952 tore down this order, but the oligarchy quickly regained power in the new democratic order. It was in the mass revolt against this consolidation of power that Che arrived to fight, and ultimately die, alongside his Bolivian comrades.

Evo came to office in 2005 as an indigenous trade unionist, at the helm of the Movement to Socialism (MAS), a political alliance of left-wing trade unions, peasant unions and indigenous organizations. In the thirteen years since first taking office, his government has led a transformation of Bolivia from an economic backwater – a country without any sovereignty, totally beholden to American imperialist thuggery – into a genuinely prosperous society. The mines and gas refineries that used to be the sole property of U.S. firms were nationalized, and their revenue directed to lifting the poor out of poverty. For as long as Bolivia has existed, it has not known a period of greater collective prosperity and genuine democracy.

From day one, Evo's government has been a government of the mass movements, with indigenous workers and farmers occupying the halls of power that were built on their ancestor's backs. None of this could be forgiven by the oligarchy, nor by the social classes that benefited from their patronage system. These were the forces that have resisted MAS' transformation of Bolivia, and these were the forces that took to the streets on October 20th.

So what are these demonstrations about, if not democracy? The protesters decry “electoral fraud” without offering any proof, although that does not matter at all for the shameless U.S. media outlets that serve as the faithful loudspeakers of any rich thug. But, do they turn their attention to the seats of government in the capital, occupying Congress and demanding a new election? No. Instead, they set fire to union houses. They drag the elected mayors of cities and towns, only those that belong to MAS, from their homes and beat them, along with their family members. They drag one, a proud indigenous woman, into the middle of a crowd and forcibly cut off her hair. They set fire to the house of Evo's own sister. This was terrorism, on an organized scale and with the open support of the far-right opposition parties and the U.S. media.

What will now happen to the incredible society their movement has built is unclear. Reports are coming in that at least twenty people from Evo's government have sought asylum in Mexico's embassy in the capital. The wiphala, the flag that represents the diversity of Bolivia's indigenous people, has been taken down from government buildings in the capital. Evo, for his part, has declared that he will not leave. He and his vice president have gone to the countryside, to their base, in order to lead the grim struggle going forward.

The coup faces one of the most organized mass movements on the continent, one whose resilience and revolutionary courage goes back centuries, from the resistance to the Spanish Conquest in the 1500s to the armed miner uprisings of only a few decades ago. The Bolivian people possess in their history and in their lived experience a great bravery. Now they must use it to defend the better society they have built.

This week is a sober reminder that history does not move along a straight line. An incredible victory in one corner can be, and often is, accompanied by a terrible defeat in another. Such is the nature of war. And what we are witnessing in our continent, from Haiti to Chile, is a war. A contradiction, like any tension, can only last so long before it breaks. The Americas have broken open, and all energy must be coalesced into common struggle to cast the bourgeoisie of our countries – whose descendants consciously committed genocide and forced millions into slavery so that they could live in decadence – into the dustbin. “History is ours,” said Salvador Allende as airplanes of the U.S. backed military dropped bombs around him and his comrades, “and the people make history.” In Bolivia, we suffered a defeat today. Tomorrow, let us ensure a victory there and in every corner of our America.

#Bolivia #Opinion #Americas #PeoplesStruggles #Coup #OpEd #LatinAmerica #SouthAmerica #EvoMorales

Chicago, IL – Last year, Brazil emerged from its greatest political crisis since the dictatorship to find that Jair Bolsonaro, an extreme right winger, was now president. His victory marked the high point of the so-called ‘roll-back’ of the Pink Tide, a political phenomenon that saw left-wing governments elected across Latin America, on platforms of sovereignty and freedom from U.S. interference. Bolsonaro’s election was a moment openly celebrated in the halls of the White House, as many hoped that the few isolated governments left standing from the Pink Tide movement would soon be snuffed out.

The Pink Tide began with Hugo Chávez's victory in the 1999 Venezuelan elections, and really gained momentum with the election of Lula da Silva in Brazil in 2002. In 2004, the Cuban and Venezuelan governments founded the Bolivarian Alliance of the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) with the goal of bringing the new anti-imperialist governments together for the economic, political and social integration of the continent. By 2008, 12 governments had joined the formation, a remarkable sign of imperialist decline in a region often referred to as ‘America's backyard.’ These governments expressed a commitment not only to separating themselves totally from U.S. domination, but to building new economies that meet the needs of the people and protected the planet.

Then, in 2009, the empire pushed back. For the first time since the Cold War, a military coup d'etat took place in Latin America, this time in Honduras. One by one, other left-wing governments were pushed out in parliamentary coups or by election losses. Most stunning has been the tragedy of Brazil, where Dilma Rousseff was impeached and Lula da Silva, the metal worker once hailed as “the world's most popular politician,” sits in prison serving out a 12-year sentence for a corruption case where no evidence was brought forward to prove his guilt.

Beginning in 2017 (when Rousseff's impeachment took place), the empire got impatient. Some countries were easily brought to heel, but there still stood nations – well-organized and disciplined – that refused to bend down: Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Cuba. All four countries have faced an intensification of political attacks from the United States, ranging from sanctions (Cuba) to brutal reactionary violence (Venezuela in 2017, Nicaragua in 2018). Still they stand.

As this consolidated anti-imperialist bloc continues to defend their gains, the U.S. victory elsewhere in the continent remains unconsolidated. And, as events this month have shown, U.S. buttressing of a reactionary old order can be less a sturdy fortress and more a house of cards when faced with the masses in motion.

Ecuador and Chile: Paper tigers go up in flames

From 2007 to 2017, Ecuador was governed by Rafael Correa, an economist and the leader of the social democratic PAIS Alliance party. During his two terms, Ecuador was often held by alongside Venezuela, Brazil and Bolivia as one of the great success stories of the Pink Tide – new social programs cut poverty in half, and aggressive fiscal policy ended Ecuador's dependence on loans from the World Bank. Correa became an ally of Venezuela and Cuba, and Ecuador was an active player in ALBA.

Unlike Venezuela and Bolivia, there was never an organic unity between the governing party and the mass movements fighting for Ecuadorian sovereignty. PAIS Alliance was newly formed coming into Correa's first term, and political forces in the country's indigenous and trade union movements remained on the outside. Without a relationship between the party and the mass movements, government decisions were often made without mass support, and this led to conflict and opposition, particularly from the indigenous movement led by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE).

Correa's final term ended in 2016, and his party nominated his vice president, Lenin Moreno, as its candidate. He won on a platform of continuing Correa's “Citizen's Revolution” into the next decade. Almost immediately, Moreno broke with his promises and Correa's legacy. He announced the beginning of an austerity regime, in order to make Ecuador appealing to support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Moreno also withdrew Ecuador from ALBA and joined the U.S. in its efforts to overthrow the Venezuelan government. It was a complete betrayal of the Ecuadorian people.

On October 1, Moreno began to implement the IMF austerity package, starting with ending fuel subsidies. This was the final straw, and an organized uprising took place, led by CONAIE and other revolutionary forces. Hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets of the capital Quito, and Moreno's government was forced to evacuate the city as CONAIE led a storming of parliament. A state of emergency was declared and the military was sent out with live ammunition to put down the people. Eight were killed, but the ‘people's arrest’ of several police officers and spies – along with the movement's incredible bravery – forced Moreno to accept defeat. The austerity package was cancelled, and the future of Moreno's presidency remains uncertain.

A similar battle is underway in Chile. Last year, Sebastián Piñera was re-elected president, having served a term from 2010 to 2014. A billionaire from a family of old money, Piñera ran on a far-right agenda that reminded many of the economic policies of General Pinochet. In fact, posters of the far right former dictator could be seen in the crowd during his inauguration.

His second term is much like his first – an implementation of deadly austerity for the sake of short-term profits for the Chilean bourgeoisie. Chile has become one of the most unequal societies in the hemisphere. Millions live in terrible poverty, tens of thousands have died for lack of adequate health care, all in a country where even the water has been privatized.

Around the same time that Ecuador's capital was being stormed by the people, a popular uprising began in Chile against the latest policy to make the rich richer and the poor suffer – a huge increase in the cost of public transportation, already one of the most expensive in the world. What began as a high school protest calling for fare-dodging has exploded into a mass mobilization of student organizations and trade unions calling for Piñera's resignation, the nationalization of public services and major industries and a massive increase in social spending – in short, a resurrection of Allende's project, forced to a tragic end in 1973. Transit workers joined students in burning down buses and trains and shutting down the city of Santiago. In response, Piñera ordered the military to occupy the capital. To date, 15 people have been shot dead, dozens injured and nearly 2000 arrested, many of whose whereabouts remain unknown.

In a press conference given this week, Piñera said of the protests that his government is “at war with an enemy” that did not care about human life. This, from a billionaire who has ordered soldiers to fire on high school students and bus drivers. The violence in Santiago, along with Piñera's press conference, has led to a general strike across Chile, organized by the trade unions and other mass organizations. The struggle is ongoing, and shows no signs of slowing down.

These political puppets of imperialism have a limited social base to lean on – they are not fighting for the interests of any sector of society, save but the handful of wealthy families whose power and influence derives from decades of serving foreign multinational firms. When the masses rise up – as they are doing in every corner of the continent – their only option is to send out the military and hope that the movement can be shot into submission. There is a continent-sized infuriation at U.S. imposition of a moribund status quo – this cannot last.

This week, Evo Morales – the wildly popular and successful president of Bolivia – won re-election with a more than ten-point lead over his opponent. That country's right-wing opposition – funded by the United States, made up of old functionaries that had benefited from an apartheid-like state that left the indigenous majority in abject poverty – has already stated their intent to attempt to seize power if Morales were to win. This is a strategy known all too well now in Latin America, and in the days to come we will surely see images of protesters in Bolivia calling for “the overthrow of the dictator.” We cannot fall for it.

The dream that motivates millions to risk their lives in Ecuador and Chile today is the reality unfolding right now in Bolivia. It is the reality being built in Venezuela and Cuba, places where the masses have or are taking political power, in organic unity with revolutionary parties, and where imperialism will never again exercise control. The day is coming when reaction will crumble and revolution will be on the agenda across the continent – maybe quicker than many imagine, if the protesters in Ecuador and Chile have anything to say about it.

#ChicagoIL #OppressedNationalities #Venezuela #US #Opinion #Americas #PeoplesStruggles #ChicanoLatino #Bolivia #Socialism #DonaldTrump #PinkTide #RedTide #SouthAmerica

The FRSO delegation will be led by Tom Burke, the Organization Secretary of Freedom Road.

Much has happened since the Sao Paolo Forum first began in 1994. At that time, the international left was trying to summate the overthrow of the Soviet Union and the apparent victory of imperialism in the late 1980s. In Latin America, this world-historic tragedy followed three decades of carnage, during which U.S. imperialism did everything that it could to prevent socialism from taking hold in its hemisphere. Successive presidential administrations organized the overthrow of progressive and socialist governments, propped up murderous dictatorships, and armed and trained militaries that waged genocidal civil wars in Central America and Colombia. In every country in Latin America, thousands of revolutionary cadre and civilians were killed. The organized forces of the left were physically weakened, more so than any other region in the world.

Coming out of that period, two of the main left-wing organizations largely intact in the region – the Communist Party of Cuba and the Workers Party of Brazil – founded the Sao Paolo Forum as an attempt to gather those forces that remained. Their numbers were small, and there was little unity around what path must be taken to defeat imperialism and capitalism. Many of those who initially came together were reformists without any revolutionary commitment. Then, the anti-imperialist struggle was given strength by the victory of Hugo Chávez in 1998 and the start of the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela. The so-called Pink Tide began, and many of the wide-ranging political parties of the Forum found themselves elected into government. Many believed that the dark days of U.S. dominance were a thing of the past, and that the masses could now democratically determine their own future. Venezuela played a leading role, directing part of its oil revenue to support these new progressive governments.

Then, Barack Obama became President and the United States began to reassert its dominion. In 2009 the world watched stunned as a military coup d'etat took place in Honduras, with the full support of the CIA and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The Pink Tide began to be rolled back. The tactics varied by country – impeachment, trials, street violence, betrayals from within their own ranks – but the message was the same: “Every attempt to bring change through reforms and elections that you try will be broken by the old forces of reaction whose institutions you now occupy, but they still own.”

Today, only the governments of Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua remain firm against imperialism. All others have been defeated. The Bolivarian Revolution stands out, for while the imperialist counter-offensive came crashing down around them, the Venezuelan masses deepened their revolutionary process. Socialism is their horizon. President Nicolás Maduro says that a new popular offensive must sweep Latin America, one more radical and profound than the last – a “Red Tide” perhaps? And as Latin America's left-wing forces gather once again, the Venezuelan movement plans to lay the groundwork for such an offensive. FRSO will be there, building relations with the revolutionary forces of our hemisphere for the common goal of ending U.S. imperialism and building a future that belongs to the masses.

#CaracasVenezuela #Caracas #AntiwarMovement #OppressedNationalities #Venezuela #Cuba #Americas #PeoplesStruggles #ChicanoLatino #Bolivia #FreedomRoadSocialistOrganizationFRSO #Socialism #Brazil #Nicaragua #SaoPaoloForum

I came as a green gringo, who spoke only English, to this school where Spanish, Portuguese and my native tongue all were in play, constantly, with interpreters building the communication bridges for all present. The school was host to a slew of prominent Bolivians, including community activists, professors, political leaders, farmers, workers, writers and musicians.

We convened in the Bolivian Andes, in Cochabamba, the country's third largest city, behind La Paz and Santa Cruz. However, at one point, the entire entourage of journalists was transported by bus eastward over the peaks of the Andes to the Chapare region, where the Amazon jungle begins to snake its way into the mountains.

During the bus ride, several of us discussed the killing of the mayor of a municipality called Ayo Ayo, which is located in northwestern Bolivia near La Paz. The mayor, Benjamín Altamirano, was killed in Ayo Ayo this past June by a crowd; his body was burned, dragged through the streets and hung on display.

We showed a local newspaper around the bus that detailed the carnage. Someone said the mayor was a real crook who preyed on the people, and that such things have happened to such people before in Bolivia, that the mayor's fate at the hands of the crowd was in keeping with an ancient form of Aymara Indian justice in this neck of the Andes.

About a week later, after we had returned from the Chapare, the state authorities accused Gabriel Pinto, a leader of the Bolivian land-reform movement MST, of orchestrating the killing. The facts supporting the charges, in my view, are paper-thin. The populist leader was not even in Ayo Ayo at the time the crowd killed the mayor, according to his defense attorneys. The charges were brought only days before Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was to face a divisive Aug. 15 recall referendum, a vote pitting shanty-dwelling Chavez backers against well-heeled Chavez haters.

It seemed to me that the state authorities were trying to keep the lid on something; locking up Pinto might keep part of the Bolivian people's movement without a center, maybe. Admittedly, I was still a rookie gringo trying to grasp the nuances of this complex culture – where politics have been layered and textured over the course of centuries, like intricate masonry. Still, I sensed the pending recall vote in Venezuelan was having an energizing effect on popular movements throughout Latin America, so I suspected the status-quo power elite in Bolivia were trying to make sure, at least in part, that matters of conscience didn't spread their way.

But if that's the case, the elite are ultimately fighting a losing battle. The people's movement in this part of Latin America, from everything I experienced, is in the zone – and time will tell how big that zone becomes with Chavez' recent, convincing victory over the neo-liberal forces seeking to expel him from office. This is a movement rooted in real bottom-up participatory democracy and struggle – in which the people understand that the price of victory is not only measured in rhetoric, but, unfortunately, at times, in blood.

That reality became crystal clear during the course of the recent Chavez recall referendum, when, as reported by multiple media outlets, a group of individuals on motorbikes opened fire on a crowd standing in line to vote in a poor district near Caracas. (Remember, Chavez' base of support is among the poor.) In the wake of the spray of bullets, some 10 people were wounded and at least one left dead. Likewise, in Bolivia in 2003, about 100 people lost their lives and hundreds more were wounded while participating in widespread protests over what was viewed by the masses as the raping of the nation's natural gas reserves.

The stakes

After some 10 days in Cochabamba, I had finally started to get used to the thin mountain air in the Andes. More importantly, I had spent days breathing in another culture, one that is experiencing democracy in a more vital way than I have seen play out in the canned elections we experience in the United States.

In Bolivia, it seems to me, the stakes of the game are very real, very much in front of the people. In my short time in this country in the heart of South America, I heard about the struggle to change the country from the bottom up. Although divided at times over strategy, labor and farmers are unified in their quest to return control of the nation's natural resources to the people in an effort to foster job creation, enhance living conditions and ensure a brighter future for Bolivia.

Their opposition is lined up along the usual private property line. Those who feed off the private-sector exploitation of the country's resources want to maintain the status quo.

But unlike in the United States, where labor and farmers have been marginalized, in Bolivia they represent powerful and growing sources of political power. Their movements – speared on through social warriors like labor leader Oscar Olivera and national congressman Evo Morales – are using the tools of democracy and community action to reset the table of the status quo.

Their demands are not unreasonable. Is it too much to ask that the resources of their nation be used to benefit all the people of the country? Is it unreasonable to expect that what is produced with the hands of the worker and farmer should not be taken from them?

Indigenous solutions

It seems everyone outside of Bolivia has a solution for the country's woes. Eradicate coca and plant pineapples, continue the private exploitation of the nation's natural resources, militarize the nation's roadways and jungles. Why should we think these formulas would work here when the people, through their own democratic institutions, are saying otherwise? The millions of dollars flowing into Bolivia from the United States to prop up unpopular programs for the benefit of the status quo should not be sold to us as being in the interest of the Bolivian people.

If we really believe in democracy, in a land where the power flows from the people, not the economic interests of a few, then we have to allow that process to work. Call it nationalization, call it socialism, call it a revolution, but don't call it an enemy of the people.

In the case of Bolivia, the people – through a growing social movement rooted in the labor of the people – are asking for nothing more from what I can see. They want to control the destiny of their own country and believe the seeds of that destiny – the natural resources that their native land has been blessed with – must be in the hands of the people.

With that control, countries like Bolivia and Venezuela and all the rising nations of the Americas can begin to provide for the common welfare, to rebuild their economies and begin the process of dismantling the internationally funded military machine that threatens the very essence of real democracy.

This is what I saw in Bolivia, in this nation in the mountains, in this place somewhere in America, in an ancient land whose people have the same dreams and hopes for their future as do any people in this world. All they want, I believe, is that Bolivia be allowed to be a Bolivia for all of its people.

Bill Conroy is a journalist and author of the book “Borderline Security: A Chronicle of Reprisal, Cronyism and Corruption in the U.S. Customs Service”, which was recently published online by Narco News (www.narconews.com). He can be contacted at wkc6428@aol.com

#Bolivia #Commentary #Ché #Americas

Join tens of thousands in Washington DC on Saturday, September 29 to say:

• No to Plan Colombia
• No to the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas)
• U.S. Bases out of Vieques and all of Latin America & the Caribbean
• Close the School of the Americas / WHISC
• Stop the Direct Assault Against People of Color and the Poor in the Americas through the Phony War on Drugs

The U.S. government is continuing its legacy of intervention in Latin America and the Caribbean by imposing pro-corporate, anti-people economic policies, by providing military aid and training to repressive governments, and attempting to crush any movements that support alternative models. We must stop these policies and stand in solidarity with our sisters and brothers throughout the Americas. They are at the forefront of opposition to these policies, and are creating alternatives that place human need above corporate greed.

The U.S. government is using its armed forces to push through economic policies that only serve to make the rich richer and the poor poorer. This war system works hand in hand with the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Trade Organization (WTO). The U.S. government is using the production of narcotics in the southern part of the American continent as an excuse to militarize the Americas. There are currently military bases in Cuba, Ecuador, and Puerto Rico and a strong military presence in Bolivia, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Peru.

Current U.S. policy towards Colombia is a failed policy which is inflaming a violent conflict and contributing to increased human rights abuses. We call for an end to all military aid to Colombia and for an end to U.S. funding of fumigation in Colombia and the Andean region. We recognize that U.S.-funded fumigation of coca crops is destroying critical biodiversity throughout the Amazon region and is creating health and food security crises among the local populations. At the same time – with the excuses of the “drug war”, and “illegal” immigration – the U.S. has militarized its border with Mexico. It is also increasingly militarizing the police forces in urban and rural areas and is brutalizing the people of color who live there. We know that all this repression has the same root and the same purpose: to maintain U.S. economic control, and to concentrate wealth in even fewer hands.

Challenges to this anti-people model – especially those rising from democratic processes and civil society – are a tremendous threat to U.S. control in the region. We support the peaceful resolution of differences in our personal lives, in our communities, in our nation and in the world. We condemn the actions of the United States government that increase economic and social inequality, undermine democratic institutions, and fund police and military violence.

We uphold the right to self-determination and national sovereignty. The nations and peoples of the hemisphere have the right to pursue self-government free of external military and economic pressures.

We who live in the United States must realize the responsibility of the U.S. government in creating and maintaining inequality in the Americas. We must work to end all U.S. military aid and training to the region, to stop the blockade of Cuba, to end the continued colonial exploitation of Puerto Rico and its use as a giant military base from which invasions to other countries are rehearsed. We must say no to the U.S. viewing and using other countries as their backyard.

We propose alternatives to the pro-company, anti-people economic model – alternatives that overcome repressive structures in our own countries, as well as the existence of the same structures elsewhere. We propose alternatives that include real community building, fair economics, and self-determination. Therefore, we oppose the so-called “war on drugs”, Presidential fast track authority in trade negotiations, and NAFTA- style Free Trade Agreements between the U.S. and the other countries of the Americas.

We call on people of conscience around the world to join us on September 29 in our protest against U.S. military and economic intervention in Latin America and the Caribbean. We are organizing a massive protest in Washington D.C. as part of the week of action against the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. We call for people to organize local demonstrations on the same day. We are also coordinating with movements throughout Latin America and the Caribbean to make this an International Day of Action Against U.S. Military and Economic Intervention in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Signed:

• Nicaragua Network
• CISPES(Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador)
• NISGUA(Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala)
• Colombia Action Network
• Witness for Peace
• Latinos and Latinas for Social Change
• Chicago Nicaragua Solidarity Committee
• Guatemala Human Rights Commission – USA
• Rights Action

Stop U.S. Intervention in Colombia

The Colombia Action Network (CAN) is a national network of local activist groups fighting to stop U.S. intervention in Colombia and supporting progressive forces working for social justice within Colombia. We encourage everyone to use our activist resources and take up our campaigns. Resources, background info and up-to-date information is available on our website. Get in touch with us!

Colombia Action Network

www.actioncolombia.org

actioncolombia@hotmail.com

612-872-0944

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