Julia ‘Pachamama’ Fernández

Julia “Pachamama” Fernández on the the U.S. coup against Bolivia’s first Indigenous president, Evo Morales of the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS): 

“I was just told by a woman in Bolivia that the Juana Azurduy program has been suspended by the de facto government. And, it’s a stipend program that’s designed to provide health and nutrition benefits, basically for pregnant mothers and young children in underserved sectors of the population — so that’s been suspended. 

“And it’s clear that most of the most vulnerable communities which predominantly comprise our Indigenous peoples in the rural areas are the ones being most affected. That, along with the expulsion of our Cuban medical doctors, has basically created panic within the sectors. 

“We have elders, we have children, pregnant women and men, which includes those protectors of democracy who were assaulted and shot during those peaceful marches in Senkata and Sacaba, who still have not received medical attention, so they are the most vulnerable. For me that spells out G-E-N-O-C-I-D-E. For me that’s what’s happening.

“Basically, the Indigenous movement is being forced to rebuild amid all the chaos happening in Bolivia. Right now, there’s like a series of intimidations, of persecution and unlawful detention of innocent MAS supporters, false accusations against grassroots journalists and against MAS political leaders — even, you know, false allegations against the presidential candidate Luis Arce Catacora. 

“The focus–in spite of what they’re facing–is to really stay together against all odds. And the Bolivian Indigenous peoples have fought and won the gas and water wars in the past. The May elections may not be fair, but international volunteers will arrive to be witnesses of the upcoming historical events happening in Bolivia. And as for the Bolivian people, their courage and their strength will pull them through.”

Read the full interview at tinyurl.com/ta2hbre