Workers and peasants' groups join forces

For several weeks, the Bolivian masses have mounted effective protests and blockades in every department in Bolivia. Indigenous people, trade unionists, peasants, women and students have come together in the streets to press for the nationalization of gas, electricity and oil, among other demands on the government of Carlos Mesa, a U.S.-educated politician.

Bolivia is the second-poorest country in Latin America and the Caribbean, just ahead of Haiti. Nearly half of the 8.7 million Boli vians live on less than $2 per day. Seventy percent live below the poverty level. The gap between rich and poor, Euro pean descendant and Indigenous, is widening.

However, Bolivia is rich in natural resources, including the second-biggest reserves of natural gas in Latin America, after Venezuela. These reserves remain mostly untapped. But these resources are in the hands of private corporations, bringing about the social and economic contradictions that dog Bolivia.

Who should benefit from the country’s natural resources? The 26 foreign oil companies in Bolivia, such as Exxon-Mobil (U.S.), Total (France), British Gas and Repsol (Spain) have their answer.

The masses, disciplined and well organized, have their own answer. “First they took our silver, then they took our tin, they took everything,” said Carmelo Colque. “The oil and gas is all we’ve got left. We Bolivians have awakened, we won’t let them have it.” (Houston Chronicle, March 19)

Class war over water, gas

For many years now, the rich oligarchy in Bolivia has been trying to sell off the country’s resources. In 2000, in what became known as the “Water War,” their attempt to privatize the entire water supply aroused fierce protests.

Then, in October 2003, in the “Gas War,” President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada fled the country after massive blockades and protests against his plan to sell off the country’s oil and gas to the U.S. and Mexico. The plan failed.

Seventeen months later, the presidency of Carlos Mesa, who replaced Lozada, is again facing massive protests, even after a referendum last year that allegedly gave Mesa a mandate to increase the exploitation of the natural resources.

For example, in El Alto, the French com pany Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux runs the water supply. It controls a large proportion of the world water services market and is allied with the World Bank. Many residents of El Alto live on 50 cents a day. To set up water services with the French company costs $450 per household.

Because Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux denied water to more than 80,000 families, the people of El Alto mobilized and forced the Mesa government to cancel its contract with the company in January of this year. But that wasn’t good enough. The people demanded that the company leave immediately and receive no compensation. El Alto, which started as a shantytown suburb of La Paz, the capital, and now houses 800,000 people, is still raging with blockades and protests.

One of the main demands of the national protests and blockades has been a hike in royalties paid by the foreign oil companies from 18 percent to 50 percent. After Congress refused to accept Mesa’s resignation on March 8, street blockades and protests escalated, bringing the country to a virtual standstill by March 10. Nearly 1,500 trucks were stranded with their supplies rotting outside of the main cities. The road to La Paz, the capital, was completely blocked.

Although Mesa tried to call out the middle class to support him, the numbers did not match those of the workers and peasants. So Mesa resorted to threatening to arrest all the protesters. Bolivian Workers Confederation leader Felipe Quispe responded, “Let him first arrest the real blockaders—the IMF and World Bank—they are the ones blocking any progress.”

On March 17, the Lower House of Congress dealt the president another blow by passing a bill that added a 32-percent tax on top of the 18-percent royalty paid by the foreign oil companies, and made it non-deductible to boot.

As a result of this vote, the blockades were called off to await a Senate vote on Tuesday, March 22. Evo Morales, leader of the Movement Towards Socialism and a member of the Lower House, explained that the protest would continue outside of Congress. He vowed that blockades would resume unless the oil companies were made to pay.

The struggle has led to the formation of the “Pact for the Dignity and Sovereignty of the Bolivian People.” This pact was signed by many organizations carrying out the protests, including the Bolivian Workers Central, the Bolivian Workers Confederation, the Movement Towards Socia lism, the Coordination for the Defense of Gas and the Federation of Neigh borhood Boards of El Alto.

Who will control the riches of Bolivia? This historic unity could be the catalyst for future struggles to determine who it will be.