On this occasion they were peasants with red ponchos, men and women with hats, coming from afar, from the highlands. Then they joined those from the city of Alto, those who could get there, others were held back as they tried to reach the center. La Paz has become the scene of daily mass mobilizations, town councils, repressions, a raging river against a coup d’état.

This time the day ended without tear gas or motorcycles. The police and military maintained their usual encirclement of Plaza Murillo, center of national political power, where the seat of government, the legislative branch and the vice-presidency are located, among other institutions.

Thursday’s central events took place in those blocks. The Senate elected a new president: Eva Copa, a native of the city of El Alto, as well as the president of the Chamber of Deputies elected the night before, Sergio Choque. With the swearing in of both new presidencies, belonging to the party of the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), which holds two-thirds of the seats, the direction of the legislative power was redefined.

Simultaneously, the self-proclaimed president Jeanine Añez appointed five more ministers to her cabinet. Two of them, appointed yesterday, had statements alerting them to the policies to be pursued by the government appointed outside the Constitution in an attempt to build an institutional image.

The first was the Minister of the Transitional Government, Arturo Murillo, who announced that he will undertake a “hunt” against three former officials of the overthrown government: Raúl García Linera, Juan Ramón Quintana, Hugo Moldiz, all wanted for “sedition”.

The second was Communication Minister Roxana Lizarraga, who threatened “journalists or pseudo-journalists”, both national and international, who engage in “sedition”.

The few announcements made by the transitory government, where high commanders of the Bolivian Armed Forces and the Bolivian National Police were also elected, have been a double threat within a general framework of news of repression, deaths, injuries, confrontations, military deployed in the streets and highways.

The coup strategy faces an inevitable contradiction. The coup d’état denies being a coup d’état, seeking to build an institutionality outside the law to sustain this narrative, but in the acts of self-proclamation and announcements of hunting of leaders and journalists it reveals its anti-democratic character.

That has been made clear to those who mobilize day after day and have among their main demands the resignation of Añez, whom they accuse of being a coup plotter and a racist. For these reasons, together with the demand for Evo’s return – which is not homogeneous in the mobilizations – they have set in motion an uprising in different parts of the country in a process of confluence towards La Paz.

It is expected that between Friday and Saturday those who mobilize from rural areas of the interior of the country will arrive, including the coca growers of the Tropic, who this Thursday protested in the city of Cochabamba.

Therefore, the situation is uncertain for the coup d’état. On the one hand, it is facing a growing national mobilization process increasingly marked by racial cleavages: those who mobilize recognize the self-proclaimed Añez, Fernando Camacho and Carlos Mesa, leaders opposed to Indigenous nations, due to their ancient and recent history and the trampling of the Whipala flag.

On the other hand, those who lead the coup must fulfil the announced pledge: the holding of presidential elections within ninety days. There are four central steps in the process: the overthrow, the formation of a new transitional government, the call for elections, and the holding of elections.

The process is currently at the moment of the establishment of the government, and is facing difficulties: it must appoint new authorities of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, something that must proceed through the legislative branch, where the MAS has presidencies and majorities. Will it seek an agreement with those who are persecuted or will it advance against the legislative branch, further evidencing its coup character? Will the MAS accept an agreement with the objective of achieving an electoral channel?

The mobilizations are expected to increase in the next few days with the arrival of people from different departments of the country and the massive presence of El Alto, where the dead are guarded this Thursday night. There is speculation of more than ten dead in the country, and more than two hundred arrested, a provisional and approximate figure within which the rule of law has been broken and journalists who do not comply with the coup order are being persecuted.

Source: Internationalist 360°

The Counter-Coup from El Alto Forced Jeanine Áñez’s Self-proclamation

During the colonial era, Cerro Rico de Potosí in Bolivia was the focus of Europe’s looting of gigantic quantities of silver ore. At the beginning of this century, specifically in Cochabamba, the transnational water privatization plan was woven, with the authorship of the Bretton Woods institutions and the faithful accompaniment of then-president Hugo Banzer.

Following this line, the Bolivian State, under the presidency of Evo Morales, found itself immersed in a series of global corporate pressures and aggressions. From an attempt to Balkanize Bolivian territory in 2008, to the recent cycle of armed violence that, with police and military support, consummated the coup d’état.

However, in the face of every offensive by the elites, the Bolivian people have responded with gigantic street demonstrations. And perhaps the social and class conflict that developed in Bolivian territory in 2003: the “Gas War” will serve as a sufficient example.
The Alteños were protagonists in the “Gas War,” a social and political conflict that was significant for the contemporary history of Bolivia.

The Times

The plan of privatization and sale of gas to the United States undertaken by the government of Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada (of which Carlos Mesa was the vice-president), met with the strongest resistance in the municipality of El Alto, where the Dantesque “October Massacre” would take place.

Both in the era of privatizations and in the current events, El Alto has been a bastion of struggle and resistance in the anti-democratic, commotion and fascist onslaught scenarios.

El Alto: “October is not forgotten”

In the contemporary history of Bolivia, El Alto has been characterized by a powerful organization among its inhabitants.

When the potable water services transnational “Suez”, in alliance with the company Aguas del Illimani, refused to make investments to expand the service in El Alto, the service rates increased considerably. As a result, the people of El Alto joined an indefinite strike that forced the government of Carlos Mesa to conclude the contract with the transnational.

The strike had great economic repercussions, so much so that the French water company withdrew from Bolivia. It pressured the Bolivian state to obtain soft loans in order to expand its concessions and thus its profits.

Part of the arguments of the people of Alteño in the face of this situation was that these credits should go to a national public company and not to a transnational company that centralized profits.

Likewise, in the full growth of energy demand with the use of oil and gas, Bolivia was not lagging behind in corporate plans for the management of these energy sources.

In 2003, after several decades of exploitation of its strategic resources, the Bolivians in El Alto joined together to stop the unjust management of these resources, holding multiple demonstrations to demand that gas be directed towards national development.

Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, popularly known as “Goni”, ordered the Armed Forces to combat the protests. By October 13 of that year, the intense repression had claimed the lives of more than 60 Alteños, leaving more than 500 wounded.
The Armed Forces repressed the Alteños during the “Gas War” using tanks and other heavy weapons.

It should be noted that during this political crisis, on the international front, the Organization of American States (OAS) gave its support to “Goni”, completely ignoring the human rights violations of his government. In El Alto, protests in defense of natural resources continued, and popular organizations established a scheme of self-defense groups, blockades, and permanent mobilization.

Days after these events, specifically on October 17, “Goni” resigned and fled the country with the help of the United States. This is how the people of El Alto demonstrated their strong organization and forcefulness against the imposition of corporate measures. It is the epicenter of a series of historical demands of the Bolivian people.

Currently, in the face of the coup offensive, El Alto has done the same.

Since the beginning of the change of regime, El Alto has demonstrated against the actions of Luis Fernando Camacho and in support of Evo, configuring a situation of counter-coup that has been forcefully reprimanded by the military and police.

On November 5, at the International Airport, the Alteños forced Camacho’s return to Santa Cruz, blocking his intention to approach the Palacio Quemado to bring a letter of resignation to Evo.

In synchrony with these events, the anti-coup mobilizations were strengthened by the initiative of the Federation of Neighborhood Councils of El Alto (FEJUVE), which gave Camacho 48 hours to leave his spaces, showing a rejection of the destabilization and violence perpetrated by fascist armed groups.
The population of El Alto came out in support of President Evo Morales and against the self-proclamation of Áñez

The police, who turned their backs on President Morales, continued to carry out riots and reprimands against the supporters of MAS. Faced with this, FEJUVE assured that they would build a Civil Union Police to protect citizens from the waves of violence directed by the security agencies.

As for the Bolivian Armed Forces, which give the final blow to Evo, they initiate a wave of repression of the population that goes out into the streets to denounce and reject the coup d’état and violence. The thousands of peasants of El Alto, armed with sticks and carrying the Wiphala, shouted the slogan “now yes, civil war”.

The anti-coup protests have persisted to date, despite the attacks of the security forces against the indigenous people, and with the planes of the Armed Forces flying over the municipality, replicating the modus operandi of “Goni” in the middle of the “Gas War”.

Demonstrations of El Alto against the self-juramentation of Áñez

With an empty Plurinational Legislative Assembly, without quorum, the opposition senator, Jeanine Áñez, proclaimed herself President of Bolivia and made symbolic use of the Bible in the process of breaking the constitutional order.
With the Bible in hand and violating the Constitution from end to end, Senator Jeanine Áñez proclaimed herself president.

In addition, neighborhood leaders from the city of El Alto and the other provinces announced mobilizations to the city of La Paz. On Wednesday, Áñez named a new military high command who was sworn in in front of an altar of crosses, in the middle of the repression of the protests in La Paz.

At the same time, the MAS bench tried to enter the Assembly, but the police prevented the passage, making barriers, using force and even using chemical agents. Even the president of the Senate, Adriana Salvatierra, of the MAS party, was blocked from access to prevent Jeanine Áñez’s self-proclamation from losing its effect.

The conscious destruction of the line of presidential succession that led to the self-proclamation of Áñez is explained by the counter-coup in El Alto, a situation that has been repressed to sustain the coup and undermine the mobilization that, as in 2003, threatens the crystallization of a new offensive by the elites.

Source: Internationalist 360°

No al golpe

We join with people around the world to condemn the military coup in Bolivia, and extend our solidarity to the Bolivian people! The people of Bolivia, who are struggling to defend the massive gains won under the leadership of President Evo Morales, are fighting in the face of this counter-revolution. U.S. imperialism is clearly the sponsor of the coup and we are outraged at this crime against Bolivian sovereignty and democracy. We know the goal of the coup is to restore the absolute authority of the Bolivian elites who rule as clients of the United States. They despise the country’s Indigenous majority and want to repress the rights of the working class.

The Bolivian ruling class and their military are following the dictates of the U.S. government, which has worked overtime to turn back the leftwing tide sweeping Latin America. We see in Chile, Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti, and in the failed coup of Venezuela. The battle in Bolivia and all of Latin America continues between the forces that want to empower the people and those that want to restore the power and wealth of the rich.

BUT WE SAY NO! Our role is to stand with Bolivia, with Latin America here in the United States and demand that this government ends its war on the people in Latin America and the Caribbean! U.S. hands off Bolivia!

En las últimas horas distintas autoridades actuantes en el Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia han presentado la idea de que colaboradores cubanos alientan las protestas que se están produciendo en Bolivia, a lo que se une un enfoque similar en redes sociales, a través de cuentas de dudosa procedencia y perfiles falsos que incitan a la violencia contra el personal de la salud.

En ese contexto, el 13 de noviembre cuatro miembros de la Brigada Médica en El Alto fueron detenidos por la policía cuando se trasladaban hacia su local de residencia con el dinero extraído de un banco para pagar servicios básicos y alquileres de los 107 miembros de la Brigada Médica en esa región.

La detención se produjo bajo la calumniosa presunción de que el dinero se dedicaba a financiar protestas. Los representantes de la policía y del Ministerio Público, visitaron las sedes de la Brigada Médica en El Alto y La Paz y corroboraron, a partir de documentos, nóminas y datos bancarios, que la cifra de dinero coincidía con la cantidad extraída regularmente todos los meses.

Los cuatros colaboradores detenidos son:

• Amparo Lourdes García Buchaca, Licenciada en Electromedicina. En Cuba se desempeñaba en el Centro Provincial de Electromedicina de la provincia de Cienfuegos antes de iniciar la misión en Bolivia en marzo de este año.

• Idalberto Delgado Baró, Licenciado en Economía del Municipio Especial de la Isla de la Juventud, quien trabajaba en el Centro Municipal de Electromedicina de la Isla de la Juventud al incorporarse a la misión en Bolivia el pasado mes de marzo.

• Ramón Emilio Álvarez Cepero, Especialista en Terapia Intensiva y en Endocrinología que se desempeñaba en Cuba en el Hospital General Gustavo Aldereguía de la Provincia de Cienfuegos hasta comenzar su misión en Bolivia en julio de 2017.

• Alexander Torres Enríquez, especialista en Medicina General Integral quien laboraba en Cuba en el Policlínico Carlos Verdugo de la provincia de Matanzas cuando partió a cumplir misión el 3 de febrero de 2019.

Se ha mantenido el contacto permanente con estos cooperantes cubanos, a través de la Embajada de Cuba en la Paz y la Jefatura de la Brigada Médica.

Los cuatro colaboradores cubanos tienen una reconocida trayectoria acorde con su perfil ocupacional y como los restantes que prestan misión en Bolivia, se han atenido estricta y rigurosamente a la labor humanitaria y de cooperación motivos por los que viajaron a ese país con arreglo a acuerdos intergubernamentales.

El Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores rechaza las falsas acusaciones de que estos compañeros alientan o financian protestas que se basan en mentiras deliberadas sin fundamento alguno.

En las circunstancias descritas, se ha decidido el retorno inmediato a la Patria de los colaboradores cubanos.

El Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores demanda que los cooperantes detenidos sean liberados de inmediato y que las autoridades bolivianas garanticen la integridad física de cada uno de los colaboradores cubanos de acuerdo con las responsabilidades adquiridas por el Estado boliviano con la seguridad y protección de los colaboradores en correspondencia con los convenios intergubernamentales firmados.

El Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores llama a las autoridades de Bolivia a detener la exacerbación de irresponsables expresiones anticubanas y de odio, difamaciones e instigaciones a la violencia contra los cooperantes cubanos, quienes han brindado su aporte solidario a la salud de ese hermano pueblo boliviano. Los millones de bolivianos que han recibido la altruista atención de los cientos de médicos cubanos, conocen perfectamente que las mentiras no podrán ocultar la meritoria contribución y noble propósito de nuestros profesionales de la salud.

Friday, November 15, 2019 at 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM EST

Intersection of N Charles St & North Ave, Baltimore

Hosted by Youth Against War and Racism and Socialist Unity Party – Baltimore

Palestine has called for the 1st International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian Resistance on November 15, 2019

Israeli air strikes against Gaza have killed more than 30 people – including children and families – and wounded dozens more in just 2 days. The Israeli attacks seem calculated to provoke a renewed war, and escalation seems likely.

Show solidarity with the Palestinian Resistance and #StandWithGaza!

On Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/AnswerCoalition/videos/2410069345777728/

Saturday, November 16, 2019 at 12:00 PM – 3:00 PM EST

1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC

Hosted by Answer Coalition and CODEPINK: Women For Peace

A violent fascist coup is underway in Bolivia against President Evo Morales and the progressive project of the Plurinational republic of Bolivia. Using the charge of electoral fraud in the recent election, the fascist opposition is viciously attacking pro-Morales forces, burning government offices and homes. SATURDAY AT NOON AT THE WHITE HOUSE Join us to say NO Coup in Bolivia!

At the current moment, it is reported that Evo Morales has resigned. This coup will not end with the overthrow of President Evo Morales, it will unleash even more fascist violence and repression than we have seen in recent days. Then will come the sacking of Bolivia’s wealth, neoliberal package of cutbacks, privatization and much more. But there will also be resistance by the progressive people in Bolivia. We must continue to protest this U.S.-engineered coup and stand with the resistance. Hands off Bolivia!

Make no mistake, the U.S. government is financing and supporting the opposition. This coup must be understood in the context of the U.S. drive to turn back all the leftist and liberal governments of Latin America. It began openly with the June 2009 overthrow of President Mel Zelaya of Honduras, and has continued with Brazil, Ecuador, Chile, Panama, Argentina. Washington has turned the screws on Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua, but despite severe sanctions has been unsuccessful. In each of those countries experiencing coups, new rightwing leaders have abolished economic and social programs, have waged repression and handed over their country’s wealth to international capital.

We urge all supporters of Latin American and Caribbean sovereignty and independence, to come out to the White House on Saturday, 11/16, at noon, to stand with the Bolivian people and demand No U.S.-backed fascist coup in Bolivia. U.S. Hands Off Bolivia and all Latin America and the Caribbean!

On Facebook

Saturday, November 16, 2019 at 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM EST

Harriet Tubman Solidarity Center
2011 N Charles St, Baltimore

Hosted by Socialist Unity Party – Baltimore

Partido Socialismo de Unidad/ Socialist Unity Party and Youth Against War and Racism will caravan from Baltimore to D.C. to join ANSWER and other groups to protest against the U.S. backed coup in Bolivia.this Saturday in Washington, DC. We are leaving from the Harriet Tubman Solidarity Center located at 10 AM from 2011 N.Charles Street.. This is the link to the event in D.C. https://www.facebook.com/events/427912681455593 . If you would like a seat or can drive please call or text 410-218-4835.

On Facebook

“Welcome to the dictatorship,” said one woman as she ran from tear gas, motorcycles, pickup trucks with arrested youth, and military tanks. The scene was in the center of the city of La Paz, in the afternoon, after the president of the Senate, Adriana Salvatierra, had been detained and the self-proclaimed president Jeanine Añez had appointed a new military leadership.

Events are happening at dizzying speed in Bolivia. The bloc carrying out the coup d’état has taken a series of steps to carry them forward. Añez’s self-proclamation, gospel in hand and with the tricolor band placed by the Bolivian Armed Force was one of them. On Wednesday, the next one took place, that of fictifying the government, that means putting oneself in a position to give orders. These steps are paradoxical: while they are trying to prove that there is a new government adhering to the laws, the unconstitutional way in which they do so testifies to the dimension of state slaughter. Not only for analysts, parties and diplomats, but for a segment of the population that regards self-proclamation as impossible to justify democratically.

That was reflected in the uprising in the city of El Alto that began on Monday, which this Wednesday began as a massive assembly and then descended in a unified manner to La Paz. The number of people mobilized is growing, and their radicalism is consolidating. The situation in this key territory of Bolivian history and political dynamics reflects the tensions and unity. On the one hand, the mobilizations are characterized by two indisputable points of unity: the defense of the Whipala that was trampled by the coup plotters – “it is the revolution of the Whipalas,” said an Aymara leader – as well as the fact that Añez, who made declarations against the indigenous peoples, must leave an illegal presidency.

On the other hand, there is a debate: the return of Evo Morales. One group is chanting it, asking for it and struggling to make it a reality, while another affirms that they do not belong to the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) – “we are not masists,” they say-, but they are clear that they must confront the coup d’état that does not distinguish between masists or no masists, and equally persecutes, represses and murders. This situation seems to be in an upward spiral where police violence reinforces the uprising. There have already been two deaths in El Alto -possibly three- and the prolonged crackdown lasting hours this Wednesday exacerbates the already clear separation: El Alto, the Whipala, the indigenous nations, against the coup d’état led by those who despise and humiliate them.

The direction of the coup attempts to build messages in response to this, such as placing Whipalas on top of military tanks, or broadcasting videos of Fernando Camacho – the main civilian and business face of the coup – and Añez where they claim to be united and respect diversity and lawhipala. The messages do not produce the expected effect and the conformation of a process of resistance-advance. It is not only in El Alto, but also in rural areas, with local mobilizations, in highways, cities, and other areas that converge toward the city of La Paz, where the Ponchos Rojos arrived on Wednesday. Will there be a siege of La Paz? It is one of the main fears that we face at this time. Fear is precisely what drives many who support the coup, celebrate it, and organize themselves in their middle class and wealthy neighborhoods to defend themselves from what they see as the invasion of El Alto by the Indigenous people. Fear and revenge are two of the forces that are driving the coup. The overthrow of Morales had several objectives, among which was to return to the configuration of the country lost to the ruling classes: a Bolivia governed by them and for them.

They are advancing in that objective, and on Wednesday night eleven ministers of the new cabinet were appointed after the crackdowns and the news of the dead. According to several newspapers, there were two: one in Montero and another in Yapacaní, in the department of Santa Cruz. News of repression, persecution, arrests, gunfire against demonstrators are multiplying in social networks, but speed, censorship, the rupture of the rule of law and the lack of government open a field of impunity that appears to have no limits. Who commanded the Bolivian Armed Forces until tonight? Who commands the right-wing armed groups that have lists of masists to be assassinated? The process of consolidation of the coup is advancing in its steps and has international backing.

In addition to the U.S. government and the secretary of the Organization of American States, Luis Almagro, the Colombian government also joined, and the high representative of the European Union’s foreign policy, Federica Mogherini, supported Añez’s appointment as interim president. The next step of the coup will be to advance the legislative power, where the MAS has the majority in both chambers. While that takes place, the resistance process will grow, spurred by demands, indignations and forces, uncertain about its direction and strategy for confronting the coup.

Source: Internationalist 360°

Repression increases in Bolivia against Evo Morales’ supporters

La Paz, Nov. 13 (Prensa Latina) Bolivian police today violently prevented Senator Adriana Salvatierra from entering Parliament as evidence of increased repression against Evo Morales’ supporters.

The official asked the colonel in charge of the supposed security of the facility to allow them access to begin their work and restore the constitutional order of the South American country.

Through the social network Twitter, a video began to circulate showing the confrontation between the police and Salvatierra who was willing to hold the parliamentary session in order to assume the presidency of the plurinational State.

Those mobilized in the Bolivian capital in repudiation of the self-proclamation of the vice-president of the Senate, Jeanine Añez, as interim president of the country condemned the presence of snipers in the streets, and assert that the right wants the extermination of the native communities.

They also denounced the dropping of tear gas bombs against members of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) near the Legislative Assembly.

In this regard, the indigenous representatives notified that a large military contingent was headed towards the province of Chapare to repress the mobilizations denouncing the coup d’état against the constitutional president of Bolivia.
Residents of that community, one of the 16 provinces of the department of Cochabamba, requested help through Twitter after the cold-blooded murders of the indigenous people by members of the armed forces.

They also condemned the silence of the national press and explained that helicopters shoot indiscriminately at the population of the area.

In an interview with the Telesur, President Morales pointed out that ‘it seems it is now a crime to be indigenous. I ask the state security forces not to stain themselves with the blood of the people’.

From Mexico, the MAS leader emphasized the need to resolve the nation’s political differences through peaceful dialogue.

“I urge the police not to threaten the peoples’ lives; weapons are not to intimidate the people. To the mobilized, take care of your lives, do not take risks”.

Police and demonstrators clash in the center of La Paz, Bolivia

La Paz, Nov. 13 (Prensa Latina) Police and demonstrators who do not recognize the self-proclaimed president Jeanine Áñez clashed this afternoon in the center of the capital, according to witnesses.

Television media also show uniformed officers repressing protesters with tear gas and antiriot tactics to quell the peaceful protest of residents of El Alto, who are calling for Añez’s resignation.

At the beginning of the day hundreds of people, many members of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS), ‘ponchos rojo’ from the city of El Alto and ordinary citizens, advanced towards Plaza Murillo, located in front of the Parliament, and where later on, in the presidential palace Quemados, the new military leadership of the nation was sworn in.

The directive body of the military was composed of Major General Carlos Orellana Centellas, as Commander of the Armed Forces of the country, instead of William Kaliman, who served when the civil-military coup against Evo Morales took place.

The new military leadership also includes Major General Pablo Arturo Guerra Camacho, Chief of Staff; Brigadier General Iván Patricio Inchauste, Commander of the Army; General Ciro Orlando Álvarez Guzmán, Air Force; and Rear Admiral Moisés Orlando Mejía Heredia, of the Bolivian Navy.

The ceremony was presided over by Áñez while in the surrounding area groups of people tried to advance on the seat of Parliament.

According to the latest reports released by the Ombudsman’s Office, since October 20, the day of the elections, clashes resulted in eight deaths, 508 injuries and 460 arrests following different incidents.

Among the victims is Herbert Antela, commander of the special operations unit of the La Paz Police, after an accident last Sunday on a city highway when he was trying to control protests.

In the city of Cochabamba, where clashes are taking place today, three people were reported killed.

jha/lb

Source Prensa Latina/Internationalist 360°