BOLIVIA UNREST SPLITS MILITARY

[bemildred]

A rogue group of mid-ranking Bolivian army officers has demanded the resignation of President Carlos Mesa as a third day of protests gripped the capital, La Paz.

Lieutenant Colonel Julio Cesar Galindo, part of a group calling itself the ‘Generational Military Movement’, appeared on privately run television telling President Mesa to “leave, simply quit the presidency and make room for the government of the people.”

A second officer, Lieutenant Colonel Julio Herrera, added: “This is not a military coup d’etat, but a declaration of the people.”

Armed forces chief, Admiral Luis Aranda dismissed the broadcast as “an isolated incident”, saying the statement did not “represent the opinion of the services of the armed forces which stand firm in the defence of the rule of law, democracy and the country’s institutions.”

SBS

[Karenina]

1. Not much info coming

out of there... :kick:

[NNN0LHI]

2. The people want to nationalize Bolivia's oil

Can't say I blame them.

Don

[David__77]

3. We must bear in mind...

...that there is a fine line in many countries between coupmongering and legitimate political activity by military officers. Many countries are not like the US in that they permit political activity be the military. This does not sound like a coupmongering situation. Clearly, Mesa does not have the broad masses' support. Hopefully change can be affected with a minimum of difficulty and without military instigations.

[mom cat]

4. It looks like from Mesa might be going down after all!

[bemildred]

5. Bolivia faces a new revolutionary wave

Addressing the mass rally, the leader of the COB made it clear that “we do not want Hormando, nor Mesa, we want a peoples’ government”. This is in line with the resolutions of the El Alto Regional Workers, Union COR, which called clearly for a “national united, militant and non negotiable struggle so that the people take power, expelling the oil transnationals and their traitor government of Carlos Mesa and all the parliament also composed of lackeys of the transnationals, to organise the Peoples’ Assemblies in order to take power”. The statement, passed at the Enlarged Plenary of the El Alto COR on May 17th finishes with the following demands: Long live the nationalisation of hydrocarbons! Long live the courageous and militant people of El Alto! Down with the government and its parliament! Long live the Peoples’, Workers’ and Peasants’ Government! El Alto in struggle, never on its knees!”

---

Evo Morales, representing the more moderate section of the leadership of the movement tried to put forward his position of 50% of royalties, but was booed by the crowd, and ended up calling for Mesa to use the army and the police to take over the oil and gas fields. This, which he tried to pass as a radical demand, in fact amounts to nothing, because it is already clear in the eyes of the masses that the Mesa government has betrayed the expectations created in October 2003 and will never move decisively against the multinationals. In fact the workers’ and peasants’ movements are threatening to occupy the oil and gas installations themselves. Evo Morales has had to admit in the last few days that “we have been overtaken” by the rank and file.

---

f they were to decisively move in the direction of autonomy, or even separation, this would mean civil war, not only along regional but also class lines, since the workers’ and peasants’ movement in Santa Cruz, Tarija, etc., has already made it clear that they are firmly opposed to any such attempts to divide up the country. It is more likely that at the present time they are using the threat of moving towards to autonomy in order to force better bargaining conditions within the national parliament. Vaca Diez, the president of the parliament, is being suggested as someone who could replace Mesa and “restore order”.

At the same time, these tactics of a section of the oligarchy threaten to split the army down the middle. The Bolivian army high command has made it clear that they are against any splitting of the country and consider “autonomy” or “illegal” referendums as a threat to Bolivia’s national unity. The country is awash with rumours of a coup and the Armed Forces and the Police have been declared in “state of high alert”.

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=52&ItemID=7946

[struggle4progress]

6. Why the 'original ones' protest in Bolivia

By Karl Penhaul
Thursday, May 26, 2005 Posted: 8:53 PM EDT (0053 GMT)

LA PAZ, Bolivia (CNN) -- If you're close enough, you can hear their sandals cut from old car tires slapping on the asphalt. If you're several blocks away, the protesters announce their approach with the blast of dynamite.

These men and women have been toughened by years of hard labor harvesting potatoes and herding llamas on the high-altitude plains or toiling deep in Bolivia's veins -- the nearly exhausted tin, gold and silver mines. <snip>

They say they've covered more than 100 miles. But just two blocks from their target -- the national congress building and the presidential palace -- their way is blocked by riot police - the so-called Special Security Group, or GES in Spanish. <snip>

This is a battle between the haves and the have-nots, between the downtrodden and desperately poor Indian and mestizo majority against the political and economic elites -- a fight some analysts say could be contagious across Latin America. <snip>

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/05/26/penhaul.bolivia/