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Latin American roundup

Published Mar 16, 2005 3:11 PM

BOLIVIA
Historic unity of social movements

In October 2003, Bolivian President Gonzalo “Goni” Sánchez de Lozada was forced out of office by massive demonstrations of the poor and Indigenous population. The people firmly and militantly opposed his neoliberal measures, particularly the privatization and takeover by transnational corporations of the country’s water, gas and other natural resources.

Carlos Mesa, who took Sánchez de Lozada’s place on a program against neoliberalism, has clearly aligned himself with the wealthy and the transnational corporations. At the same time President Mesa vowed to penalize the massive social movement that helped put him in office.

On March 6 Mesa announced he was resigning. He said the country was ungovernable due to massive protests in the form of widespread militant roadblocks. His resignation had to be approved by Congress. Many suspected it was a ploy to mobilize support for himself. Three days later the Congress made it known that it would refuse his resignation.

In a theatrical pronunciation, Mesa then summoned his wealthy allies to stage demonstrations against the roadblocks. This reminded many of the tactics of the Venezuelan opposition.

The rich mobilized the middle classes to follow Mesa’s orders. They poured into the streets waving white handkerchiefs, shouting viciously racist slogans against the Indigenous leaders of the social movement, particularly Evo Morales, who is Aymara.

The result has been a profound polarization of Bolivian society.

This crisis has produced an historic unity among the social movements that had been divided until now. The Bolivian Workers Central of mine worker Jaime Solares, Felipe Quispe’s Bolivian Workers Confederation, the coca growers federations and Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) led by Evo Morales, Coordination for the Defense of Gas, Federation of Neighborhood Boards of El Alto, and many other organizations of peasants, the landless, students, teachers, unemployed and small businesses joined to sign a “Revolutionary Pact of Unity.”

The new front will meet to deepen the struggle for dignity and sovereignty that they had been carrying on as independent entities.

URUGUAY
Victory of left-center front

On March 1 Uruguay inaugurated a new president, Dr. Tabaré Vázquez, an oncologist from a poor family, born in the working-class barrio of La Teja.

Vázquez is the first Uruguayan president from the left. He won the elections through a Broad Front representing the various progressive forces, from the Tupamaro guerrillas to some of the left-center parties.

His victory put an end to a succession of administrations of the conservative par ties of Blancos (Whites) and Colorados (Reds).

Coming in the wake of Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, Vázquez’s election has created high expectations. On March 1 people greeted each other with salutations of “Happy New Year.” They are looking forward to the possibility of a Uruguay whose youth, long forced to emigrate in search of jobs, might now have reason to come back and help create a new country.

Tabaré and Uruguay face a very difficult road ahead, with high poverty, unemployment and a dwindling economy. Extra ordinary measures are needed to raise up the masses and the country without betraying the population who put their trust in a progressive candidate. At the same time, the constant threat of imperialist intervention must be kept at bay.

COLOMBIA
Regime extradites revolutionaries to U.S.

The government of President Álvaro Uribe Vélez has complied with Wash ington’s demands that it extradite revolutionaries from Colombia to be tried in U.S. courts. This tactic sets a dangerous precedent that goes against the international standard of respect for national sovereignty.

Last December, Colombia extradited revolutionary Ricardo Palmera, alias Simón Trinidad, an international representative of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP), to the U.S.

Now Uribe plans to extradite another high-ranking member of the same revolutionary group. This time it is a woman, known as Sonia, who Washington wants to use as a witness against Palmera.

Sonia was taken from El Buen Pastor women’s prison in Bogotá under heavy security and is being kept under strict surveillance in the north of the country, awaiting extradition to the U.S.

Both the FARC-EP and the National Liberation Army (ELN) are popular revolutionary guerrilla organizations arising from the extreme poverty caused by imperialism’s plunder of Colombia.

Peace- and justice-loving people all over the world should oppose this dangerous move by the Bush administration and the Colombian regime. The FARC and the ELN have the right to fight for the construction of a new and just Colombia.

VENEZUELA
Coup plotters can be retried

A landmark pronouncement by the Venezuelan Supreme Tribunal of Justice on March 11 will allow four former military officers aligned with the organizers of the infamous April 2002 coup against President Hugo Chávez to be retried for military rebellion.

The pronouncement invalidated an earlier decision on Aug. 14, 2002, setting the four officers free. At that time the charges against Army Gen. Efrain Vasquez Velasco, Air Force Gen. Pedro Pereira, Vice-Admiral Hector Ramirez Perez and Rear Admiral Daniel Comisso Urdaneta were dismissed, prompting continued protests from the pro-Chávez population.

The Chávez administration viewed the earlier ruling as another assault by the ruling-class-backed opposition. Vice President José Vicente Rangel called it a “true assault on democratic legality, committed by a group of judges who proceeded to embarrassingly serve interests that were contrary to justice.”

One of the major problems affecting the Bolivarian Revolution has been the legal impunity of the opposition. When they were apprehended and charged for their crimes against the population and the Bolivarian process, they were quickly acquitted, since most judges were aligned with the anti-Chávez forces.

During 2002, half of the 22 judges on the Supreme Tribunal of Justice were from the opposition. Two pro-Chávez judges were inappropriately recused or removed from that decision, leading to a vote of 11-9 in favor of dismissal of the charges against the coup plotters.