The indigenous campesino encounter will be held on September 10, in the capital of the republic. The social organisations condemned the discriminatory attitudes of those who “raise the banner of the capital in order to divide the country”. Campesinos, indigenous peoples and workers of Santa Cruz condemn the stoppage, declaring to be of a political nature.
La Paz, Santa Cruz and Tarija, August 24 (ABI) – The leaders of the social movements that met this Friday in the headquarters of the government rejected the “political stoppage” organised by the “half moon” and called for a Social and Cultural Summit to be held on September 10 in the capital of the republic.
During a press conference, the United Confederation of Unions of Campesino Workers of Bolivia (CSUTCB), the Union Confederation of Colonizers of Bolivia (CSCB), the National Federation of Campesino Women of Bolivia “Bartolina Sisa” (FNMCB-BS), the Indigenous Confederation of the Bolivian East (CIDOB), the National Confederation of Unionists and Small Merchants, the Federation of Neighbourhood Councils of El Alto and La Paz, amongst others, resolved to declare themselves in a state of emergency in defense of the process of change being driven by the president Evo Morales.
In an agreed upon action in defense of national integrity, and in the face of risks due to the sectarian interests of some radical, political, civic and business groups intent on provoking the failure of the constituent assembly, the social movements anticipated that their actions would be in favour of the unity of the homeland and in defense of natural resources.
The Social and Cultural Summit will deal with the defense of democracy, the constituent assembly and regional and indigenous autonomies, amongst others issues.
The convocation sustained that they would analysis with special attention the current political, social and cultural conjuncture, defending, before anything else, the unity pact and the social organizations.
Political stoppage
The same aforementioned social organizations, after backing the trial against the four magistrates of the Constitutional Tribunal: Elizabeth Iñiguez, Martha Rojas, Artemio Arias y Walter Raña, demanded respect for, and compliance with, the Political Constitution of the State, as well as the current laws of the country.
“We declare the stoppages of the Civic Committees of the oligarchy as a bribed political stoppage to destabilse the government of the Democratic and Cultural Revolution, under the pretext of the issue of the capital and a democracy that avoids the processing of the magistrates, because they do not represent the people”, manifested the executive of the CSUTCB, Isaac Avalos.
For his part, the president of CIDOB, Adolfo Chavez, said that another resolution of the social movements is to reject and condemn the racist actions, full of hate and discrimination carried out by minority fascist groups such as the Cruceñista Youth Union, which discriminates against women of the pollera [indigenous dress], underminding the dignity of the president of the constituent assembly, Silvia Lazarte.
During his intervention, the executive of CSCB, Fidel Surco, assured that the encounter on September 10 would be totally pacific.
“We are not going there to provoke, to disturb or to fight with anyone. It will be a concentration with music: we calculate that between 50,000 and 100,000 companeros will be present during the totally pacific action”, sustained the colonizer leader.
For his part, the executive of the CSUTCB, Issac Avalos, expressed that they would demonstrate a different attitude in Sucre “and no one will be attacked or mistreated”.
“We are simply going to go there to defend our constituent assembly so that it can continue to work and hold its sessions: in no way are we going there to insult, nor to offend anyone, that is why we want to ask for guarantees from the people of Sucre for this Social Summit” he added.
“We are going to begin to mobilize against this neoliberal system, it seems that the groups of criminal corrupt ones who are starting to lose political and economic power and their large land holdings, are beginning to react because their pockets are being affected” assured Avalos.
In this context, the stoppage programmed for Tuesday August 28 by the ‘half moon” divided the people of Tarija, who have already expressed their discontent, arguing that the decision was taken in a totally unilateral way.
Jorge Blacud, first vice president of the Civic Committee of Tarija explained that no vote was taken to make the decision, and that it was a decision made solely by the Social Club and part of the directive of the civic entity.
“The unionists, campesinos, the Civic Committee of Bernejo, the Youth Civic Committee, rural teachers, retirees and other sectors do not agree with the stoppage” pointed out the leader, leaving clear that the measure was not consensual.
The opposition deputy, Willman Cardozo, expressed a similar position assured that the Chaco region and the provinces would not be joining the stoppage promoted by the Civic Committee of Tarija and the Prefecture of this department.
In Santa Cruz, representatives of different social sectors of the department expressed their rejection of the stoppage convoked by the Assembly of Cruceñidad, arguing that this entity only defends the interests of business owners, large landowners and wealthy politicians who benefited from neoliberalism.
Esteban Alabi, executive of the Federation of Colonizers of Santa Cruz, informed that the colonizers settled in different zones of the departments had been instructed to not participate in the stoppage imposed by the Pro Santa Cruz Civic Committee.
The leader also denounced that last night, in the Assembly of Cruceñidad, the civic leaders utilized in a “token” manner the presence of the ex-leader of the colonizers, Primitivo Montano, who was expelled from the Federation of Colonizers.
For his part, Lucio Vedia, maximum representative of one sector of the divided Departmental Workers Central (COD), commented that those that had convoked the stoppage for Tuesday are the same ones who are trying to safeguard the interests of the groups of power, of business sectors.
“They are involving themselves in the issue of the capital, which is not a competency of the departmental authorities. What they are trying to do is divide the country, prejudicing the ability of the government to advance in its projects. A small group of people are pretending to speak on behalf of all the population, attributing to themselves the representation to speak in the name of the social organizations,” pointed out Vedia.
The president of the Civic Committee of San Julian, Freddy Martinez, said that the citizens of this zone would defend the continuity of the constituent assembly and respond to any provocation by the Pro Santa Cruz Civic Committee.
“They [the Pro Santa Cruz Civic Committee] have the match, we have the gunpowder”, he declared.
Following a similar line, the leaders of the neighbourhood committees of Plan Tres Mil and the neighbourhood Primero de Mayo [poor neighbourhoods surrounding the city of Santa Cruz] announced that they would not participate in the stoppage, classifying it as a political act.
Translated from ABI
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