José Antonio Aruquipa 10/9/2000 A wave of protests against gov

BESIDES BEING UNDER SIEGE from campesinos, La Paz, the seat of Bolivia’s government, has become the scene of daily street demonstrations as public school teachers have protested and faced off against riot police.

After two weeks of protests that paralyzed much of the country, opposition parties and some political analysts say President Hugo Bánzer has lost his ability to govern effectively. Former President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada (1993-97), leader of the Nationalist Revolutionary Movement (MNR), said Bánzer lost his authority in April, when violence caused five deaths despite the state of siege he had imposed.

Sánchez de Lozada said Bánzer “is paying the price of doing things badly.”

Campesinos are demanding changes in a land law and permanent suspension of a proposed law that would privatize water utilities (LP, March 20 and April 24, 2000). They also oppose the construction of three military bases and continued eradication of coca crops in the Chapare region of the central department of Cochabamba, and call for alternative development programs.

On Sept. 27, Felipe Quispe, executive secretary of the United Confederation of Campesino Workers of Bolivia (CSUTCB), instructed his followers to “lay siege” to La Paz “the way Tupac Katari did during colonial times.” In 1990, Quispe was head of the Tupac Katari Guerrilla Army, for which he spent several years in prison.

His command was carried out in an orderly manner by campesinos from the Altiplano and Los Yungas, the tropical zone north of La Paz. Although troops were called out along the highways leading to La Paz, the campesinos succeeded in isolating the city, cutting off food supplies from neighboring regions. Markets were empty and scarcity caused food prices to quadruple.

The country’s nine departments were cut off from one other because of roadblocks set up by campesinos. Roadblocks have caused losses amounting to more than US$100 million in production and agriculture sectors, according to private business estimates.

Between Sept. 24 and Oct. 2, 10 people had been shot to death and more than 100 injured in confrontations between campesinos and combined army and police forces. During a 12-day state of siege decreed by Bánzer in April, five people died in confrontations between civilians and military forces (LP, May 1, 2000).

Meanwhile, 130,000 public school teachers are demanding a 50-percent pay raise. They presently earn an average of 400 bolivianos, about $63, per month.

On Sept. 8, more than 1,000 educators reached La Paz after a two-day march from Oruro, 239 kilometers to the east. The teachers were received by about 2,500 students from the Siglo XX University in Potosí, who had arrived the night before to demand a more equitable distribution of funds to institutions of higher learning.

After stating that any attempt at negotiation between the government and campesino leaders would amount to “a dialogue of the deaf,” on Sept. 26 Government Minister Guillermo Fortún announced that the armed forces would disperse the campesinos “no matter what the cost.”

Sacha Llorenti, secretary of judicial affairs for the Permanent Assembly of Human Rights in Bolivia, said the country was under “a de facto state of siege.” Ana María Romero de Campero, human rights ombudswoman, charged that military forces were searching houses and detaining people without court orders in towns in the Altiplano outside La Paz.

Bánzer, meanwhile, held secret meetings with the armed forces high command and heads of military divisions. While Government Information Minister Manfredo Kempff said the meetings were to inform the military about the situation, the news agency Jatha reported that they were an attempt by Bánzer to “gain the support of those who were his faithful supporters” during his seven years as dictator (1971-78).

Politicians aligned with both the governing coalition and the opposition expressed concern over the president’s actions and warned that the “armed forces must be subordinate to the president, who is their commander in chief.”

In a message to the nation on Sept. 28, Bánzer said he faced a seditious movement “that wants to put an end to democracy” and announced that the government would not tolerate further upheaval.

The university students won a victory that day when the government agreed to provide $500,000 a year in funding for their university. While that deal provided some relief to the government, other protesting groups redoubled their efforts and began to call for Bánzer’s resignation, saying he was incapable of governing.

“The roadblocks set up by the coca-leaf producers of Chapare are going to continue until Bánzer leaves,” Evo Morales, a national legislator and leader of the coca growers, said.

Oscar Olivera, leader of the Cochabamba Coordinating Committee for Defense of Water and Life, a grassroots organization that led protests in April against water-rate hikes, also called for Bánzer to step down “because he has not been able to resolve the crisis afflicting the country.”

The government reacted almost immediately. In a press conference at the presidential palace, Walter Guiteras, minister of the presidency, accused Morales of instigating subversion and warned that “if Bánzer goes, that will be the end of democracy.” Fortún claimed the grassroots protests were financed by drug-trafficking.

The MNR, the main opposition party, issued a statement in which it questioned whether the principal parties of the governing coalition — the Nationalist Democratic Action party (ADN), Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR) and Civic Solidarity Unity (UCS) — could “continue to govern the country and get us out of the difficulties in which we find ourselves.” Guiteras called the statement a call to subversion.

After expressing concern about the use of “any method contrary to democracy,” on Sept. 28 the Catholic Church, Human Rights Ombudsman’s Office and Permanent Assembly of Human Rights in Bolivia offered to bridge the gap between the government and representatives of the protesting sectors.

Negotiations by sector were scheduled to be held in Santa Cruz and La Paz. Morales and Olivera agreed to meet with Fortún and Agriculture Minister Oswaldo Antezana, with La Paz Archbishop Edmundo Abastoflor and Llorenti of the Permanent Assembly of Human Rights as intermediaries. Although Morales said the coca growers would step up their pressure by occupying buildings in Cochabamba beginning Oct. 2, the government put a helicopter at his disposal to transport him from Chapare to Santa Cruz.

In La Paz, government representatives were scheduled to meet Sept. 29 with campesino leader Quispe, along with Romero de Campero and Waldo Albarracín, president of the Permanent Assembly of Human Rights. Quispe, however, said he would need authorization from his organization’s members.

Bishop Jesús Juárez of El Alto, vice president of the Bolivian Conference of Bishops, facilitated the dialogue, which began Oct. 1 in Pucarani, 50 kilometers from La Paz. But talks broke off after the first session, during which Quispe blamed government ministers for the 10 deaths that had resulted from confrontations between police and campesinos, coca growers and teachers.

The following day, Quispe agreed to resume the dialogue on Oct. 2.

Meanwhile, leaders of the rural teachers’ union signed an agreement to end their strike. In La Paz, urban teachers were nearing agreement with the government.

From La Paz, José Antonio Aruquipa Z.