Throughout the week, some people in
The opposition attempts to divide the country with talk and hunger strikes over where the country’s capital should be in the new constitution. Some people have accused Evo’s government of seeking to divide the country after it encouraged cocaleros (coca-growers) to come to
Tens of thousands of people gathered in Plaza San Sebastian, as well as on the hill behind it and in the surrounding streets, to demonstrate unity. The protest was initially called in retaliation to a call by the prefect of
Braving the heat, using Bolivian and Whipala flags (a rainbow flag that symbolises both the diversity and equality of the indigenous populations) for shade, campesinos, cocoleros, indigenous people and urban workers gathered to listen to Evo speak, as confetti and chewed coca covered the plaza floor.
The president’s speech emphasised unity — “We are all Bolivian” — argued with the countless “lies and accusations” of the right, and congratulated the revolution’s progress in “liberating
Finally, the communities with their tractors — decorated in flowers, vegetables and Evo posters — paraded through the crowd and past the president, throwing confetti, setting off fireworks and waving, with giant grins and yells of “Thanks!” to the president and the crowd.
The opposition would have loved the day to be violent. The people who attended the rally have demonstrated that they are not at all what opposition characterises them as — they have suffered a lot of violence in the past, during the coca wars, in their poverty, and from dictatorships.
Today was peaceful, but the struggle is a long one. As Leonida Zurita Vargas, female cocalera leader and now senator in Morales’s Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) government, told Green Left Weekly, referring to the recent indigenous mobilisation in
Visit Tamara Pearson’s blog at http://gringadiary.blogspot.com.
First published in Green Left Weekly
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