Two Rebel Soldiers Worry the Bolivian Social Movements

May 25, 2005
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Dear Colleague,

This morning the Aymara came down marching from El Alto once again.
This time it was a huge group divided into three parts: more than
5,000 rural school teachers from the La Paz department, then the
Federation of Neighborhood Committees of El Alto (FEJUVE), and behind,
battle-hardened, the Aymara peasant farmers. Downtown La Paz was
paralyzed all day long by mobilizations… and all day long one
could
hear the famous rumor of a civic-military coup looming in Bolivia.
We'll tell you, here, how the people have lived, on their feet, in
this country…

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2005/5/25/191623/235

This morning the country had two "bombs" to digest for
breakfast. The
first fell last night in the southern city of Tarija, where the civic
committees and the congressional delegations from four departments
demanded an immediate referendum on regional autonomy from the
National Congress. Now playing the role of the new belligerent right
in Bolivia, the civil and legislative authorities of the east and the
south threatened to hold the referendum themselves if they were not
attended in their demand to govern and manage their natural resources
at their own pleasure. Of course, there was not a single indigenous or
peasant farmer leader among them to represent the areas where those
resources are actually located, such as the gas in the ethnic
Guaraní
region of Chaco (in the southeast).

But the second explosion came from the media, and left it very clear
that there is a new front this apparent chaos: two lieutenant colonels
(officials who normally have direct command over military units)
appeared on a La Paz television station this morning. The officials,
who spoke at length of the crisis Bolivia is living, openly called
upon the people (and on all their comrades in arms) to join the
mobilizations, turning against the high military command and the
Bolivian political class.

Lieutenant Colonels Julio Herrera and Julio Galindo kept coming back
to the same message: they demanded the installation of what they
called a "civic-military government" of transition, which
brought the
soldiers into the defense of the natural resources and the formation
of a new government. Herrera, according to a report on the Radio Erbol
website today, said: "Initially, the government we want to form
is one
with the participation of all sectors of society, not a military
government. We want the president's resignation and the closure
of the
Congress."

A few hours later, in the Plaza de los Héroes, a red banner
appeared
with black letters repeating almost the same message, which – and
this
is no coincidence – greatly resembled Monday's fiery speech
by Jaime
Solares, executive secretary of the Bolivian Workers' Federation
(COB), during the social movements' assembly in that same square.
Both
the government and some social movements had accused Solares of having
links to coup plotters for several days.

A little before 11:00 in the morning, the High Command of the Armed
Forces gave a statement disowning Herrera and Galindo's arguments,
advising both officials that they would be sanctioned for their
"irregular military careers." Nevertheless, rumors flew all
day,
greatly worrying the social movements… as well as the
administration
of President Carlos Mesa.

After midday, as the Aymara peasant farmers marched on the Plaza
Murillo in a much more peaceful manner than yesterday, at least a
hundred military police entered the plaza and deployed around the
Palace of Government. Inside that building, Mesa and the high military
officials had been in an intense meeting since 10:30 that morning.

As we were saying, the Aymara farmers, the rural schoolteachers and
the El Alto residents came down into La Paz in three large groups. The
teachers, nearly all of them bilingual and of indigenous origin, were
the first to reach the city center, and gathered in the north of Plaza
Murillo. The FEJUVE leaders, who are still divided over whether to
fight for nationalization or to moderate themselves and avoid a
national fight, took their contingent on a long route that caused them
to fall behind… but they could be seen in some of the blockades
of the
central plaza together with the peasant farmers… who were once
again
the backbone of the mobilizations.

"Brother, what do you know about these soldiers? We are very
worried…
this could all turn very bad," Gualberto Choque, executive
secretary
of the Tupaj Kitari Single Departmental Federation of Peasant Farmers
of La Paz. Choque was out in front of his people again, together with
the principal Aymara leaders. "We will not allow a coup, wherever
it
comes from, because that doesn't change things for us or our
demands…
we want peace, but a peace after they have left," emphasized the
campesino leader, looking towards the Plaza Murillo.

This time, the Aymara surrounded the plaza and President Mesa but did
not try to enter. With a less belligerent attitude after marching for
two days, they only took the streets. There were small confrontations
and some teargas on Sucre Ave, a block north from the capital
buildings, and again in the intersection of Colón and Comercio
streets. In that place, the police tried to repress some of the people
for new reason, and the people responded with dynamite, sending glass
flying from the windows of the building – property of the
Congress –
that housed the snipers yesterday.

A little past 3:00 in the afternoon, tired and worried, the main
groups demobilized. A young Aymara fighter asked us about the coup as
well… this correspondent showed him a flyer that they have been
passing out among the mobilizations. Directed to "all Bolivians
and
Latin American brothers," and signed by a supposed
"Civil-Military
Alliance," the document speaks of how "civilians and young
soldiers,
`BOLIVIANS UNITED,' will share in the glory of liberating
Bolivia from
a government that has sold out to foreign interests."

The young protester, worried like everyone about the tensions we are
living through, and faced with the uncertainty created by these
soldiers and their civilian allies, bade farewell, saying, "These
guys
make us look bad."

At the moment, some parts of downtown La Paz are still tightly guarded
by the National Police's Special Security Group (of
whom an intent to mutiny was announced this morning)… the
soldiers remain at their posts in Plaza Murillo… the people
fighting
in this city have returned to their houses or shacks… but despite
the
calm that has fallen, no one is quite relaxing.

Don't lose sight of us, because the tide is rising and all this
is far
from over. Follow the latest developments, in the Narcosphere:

http://narcosphere.narconews.com

From somewhere in a country called América,

Luis A. Gómez
Acting Publisher
The Narco News Bulletin
http://www.narconews.com
Email: luisgomez [at] narconews.com

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