Latin American News in Brief

Bolivian masses in motion

The mobilizations that have shaken this Andean country for three weeks continued over the last weekend in May despite the Corpus Christi holiday and calls by some leaders for a recess until May 31.

On May 27, Mother’s Day in Bolivia, there were two marches in La Paz led by women—one by the “Bartolina Sisa” National Federation of Peasant Women of Bolivia and the women of the Tropico of Cochabamba, and the other by urban teachers who have been on strike for several days.

In El Alto, Aymara (indigenous) peasants and rural teachers blocked roads in two separate actions. The teachers, while laying rocks in two segments of the highway that links El Alto with La Paz, smash ed a toll booth and confronted the police who shot tear gas at the demonstrators.

On May 30, some 20,000 people marched from El Alto to La Paz, in the big gest demonstration so far. Aymara peasants from the northern provinces and workers from El Alto Workers Regional Federation joined peasant farmers from southern La Paz, mine workers and others.

They continued demanding the nationalization of hydrocarbon (gas) and its use for the benefit of the Bolivian people, and they protested the government’s criminalization of their demonstrations. In a statement, President Carlos Mesa had accused protest leaders of irresponsibility, calling the demonstrators a “minority.”

Charges of conspiracy were filed by his minister of government against Jaime Solares, head of the COB, the Bolivian Workers Federation, and against Roberto de la Cruz, an Aymara city council member.

More mobilizations were expected for May 31, the first day of a session of congress when the Constitutional Assembly, one demand of a large sector of the demonstrators, will be discussed. So far, according to Indymedia, thousands of people—miners, workers, teachers and students—are demonstrating in La Paz, in front of the National Congress. The police tried in vain to disperse the crowd with tear gas.

Venezuelans remain vigilant against U.S. threats

A day after the Bush administration rejected a petition to extradite Luis Posada Carriles to Venezuela, tens of thousands of people marched in Caracas May 28 to demand the extradition and in support of the Bolivarian government. The march’s slogan was: terrorism and in defense of our new PDVSA { Petróleos de Venezuela S.A.], Venezuela should be respected.”

At the massive rally, the first major event since President Hugo Chávez stated that he was a socialist, Vice President José Vicente Rangel cautioned that there are still opposition forces trying to destabilize the revolution. Saying that “coups, terrorist acts and possibility of an attempt against Chavez” are still possible, he cautioned the opposition: “Do not dare raise your hand against Hugo Chávez Frías! Do not dare! Do not attempt to provoke chaos in the Republic! The Empire should not be mistaken either!”

In a release by the Venezuelan Bolivarian News Agency, Rangel was also quoted as saying, “We are going forward in democracy, in peace and in socialism”—that is, that the project of social change and the socialist road have growing support from the people.

Work stoppages, protests grip Peru

In Peru, while President Alejandro Toledo leaves for a 16-day trip to Asia, protests and work stoppages are increasing. Coca growers in the north confront ed police who were carrying out the Peruvian and United States anti-drug program. In the region of Tocache, 500 kilometers north of Lima, more than 200 police were repelled by 3,000 peasants. (eluniversal. com)

For centuries, peasants in Peru and Latin America have grown coca for medi cinal and traditional cultural purposes. The Peruvian peasants had signed an agreement with the National Coca Enter prise, Enaco, which allows sales of the coca leaf. Despite this, the police destroyed 40 hectares of the plantation, shooting at and repressing the growers. Coca growers now plan a strike for June 27.

In a manner resembling the corrupt and repressive government of former presidents Fujimori and Montesinos, Toledo’s administration has been imposing Inter national Monetary Fund and World Bank dictates along with Washington’s “anti-drug” war at the expense of the Peruvian people. The result has been an increase of militant mass responses. Peasants, state workers, nurses and Aymara Indigenous people in several parts of the country are rising up.

Rice producers are staging a strike because of the low prices of the produce. Peasants are blocking vital main roads. Residents of the Espinar province surrounded the copper mine Tintaya, owned by the British-Australian firm BHP Billi ton, protesting contamination and demanding social investment in roads and protection of the environment. The firm had to close and send employees to another city when the people set fires around the mine to press for their demands.

Seven thousand Social Security nurses were in their second day of a strike for higher pay over the May 29 weekend. State workers in the north, fighting for a new labor law, set tires on fire and threw paint on an airline office. Aymara Indigenous people from the Uros Island in the Titicaca Lake staged a 48-hour strike to gain access to the natural resources in their area.

—Berta Joubert-Ceci