The People Rise Again
What a week it has been in Bolivia. The people stood their ground, encountered mass mobilization of the right and the US government and said "no vamos a permitir a Vaca Diez de Presidente", we will not permit Vaca Diez to be President.
And they didn't permit him. In what turned out to be an incredibly tomultulous day in Bolivian politics, the uncertainty of who would govern the country was not resolved until 11pm at night. There were mass mobilizations in La Paz, Cochabamba and Sucre (where the congress was due to meet), the people were preparing themselves for a long, and possibly bloody fight.
It was a long and stressful day. There didn't seem to be a clear solution, unlike the Water Wars and Black October 2003. The mass meetings resolved to continue fighting for the complete nationalization of gas and an Assemblea Constityente, and that they would not accept Vaca Diez or Cossio as President.
In Sucre the miners has converged on the city. Thousands and thousands of workers blocked the Congress so they couldn't meet. Vaca Diez was in negotiation with the US embassy and the nephew of former President Goni to be installed as President.
Then a miner was killed by security forces. According to Luis Gomez from Narco News, Vaca Diez ordered the killing by the elite police force. If this is true, this was his greatest mistake. Once this got out, other right wing parties withdrew their support for his bid for Presidency and he was alone. It wasnt until around 10.30pm he finally announced he would decline the role, as would Cossio. Hence a new Bolivian President was installed, Eduardo Rodrigez.
On a personal note, in the meantime in Cochabamba, the airline workers had gone on strike so all flights out of Cochabamba had been cancelled. This meant that if anyone had connections in Santa Cruz, we would miss them. I had friends who missed their flights, I got a phone call at 7am saying that if I could be at the airport in 30 mins, I could catch the only flight out of Cochabamba in the morning and hence meet my connections home.
I ran and caught this flight and I left many friends in Cochabamba without saying a proper goodbye. The stress of the last week meant coming home to Australia was not as hard as I thought it would be, but more on that later.
So, another victory for the Bolivia. On a side note, President Bush blamed the Bolivian crisis on Chavez and also told the people of Latin America that the answer to their poverty and problems is to embrace the free market. He just doesnt get it. The answer to their problems is to fight the free market and build a society based on justice and equality, not profit.
I have no doubt the people of Bolivia will contine to fight for this and will eventually achieve it.
For an excellent run down of events in Bolivia read:
http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2005/6/12/214534/676
And they didn't permit him. In what turned out to be an incredibly tomultulous day in Bolivian politics, the uncertainty of who would govern the country was not resolved until 11pm at night. There were mass mobilizations in La Paz, Cochabamba and Sucre (where the congress was due to meet), the people were preparing themselves for a long, and possibly bloody fight.
It was a long and stressful day. There didn't seem to be a clear solution, unlike the Water Wars and Black October 2003. The mass meetings resolved to continue fighting for the complete nationalization of gas and an Assemblea Constityente, and that they would not accept Vaca Diez or Cossio as President.
In Sucre the miners has converged on the city. Thousands and thousands of workers blocked the Congress so they couldn't meet. Vaca Diez was in negotiation with the US embassy and the nephew of former President Goni to be installed as President.
Then a miner was killed by security forces. According to Luis Gomez from Narco News, Vaca Diez ordered the killing by the elite police force. If this is true, this was his greatest mistake. Once this got out, other right wing parties withdrew their support for his bid for Presidency and he was alone. It wasnt until around 10.30pm he finally announced he would decline the role, as would Cossio. Hence a new Bolivian President was installed, Eduardo Rodrigez.
On a personal note, in the meantime in Cochabamba, the airline workers had gone on strike so all flights out of Cochabamba had been cancelled. This meant that if anyone had connections in Santa Cruz, we would miss them. I had friends who missed their flights, I got a phone call at 7am saying that if I could be at the airport in 30 mins, I could catch the only flight out of Cochabamba in the morning and hence meet my connections home.
I ran and caught this flight and I left many friends in Cochabamba without saying a proper goodbye. The stress of the last week meant coming home to Australia was not as hard as I thought it would be, but more on that later.
So, another victory for the Bolivia. On a side note, President Bush blamed the Bolivian crisis on Chavez and also told the people of Latin America that the answer to their poverty and problems is to embrace the free market. He just doesnt get it. The answer to their problems is to fight the free market and build a society based on justice and equality, not profit.
I have no doubt the people of Bolivia will contine to fight for this and will eventually achieve it.
For an excellent run down of events in Bolivia read:
http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2005/6/12/214534/676
posted by Paula Pfoeffer at
4:43 pm
