Tens of Thousands of Anti-Government Protesters Paralyze Bolivian Capital

[NNN0LHI]

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBFI1K3N9E.html

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) - Tens of thousands of Indians, miners and labor protesters staged their largest anti-government march in weeks on Monday, paralyzing downtown La Paz as embattled President Carlos Mesa struggled to defuse a political crisis amid calls for early elections.
Riot police firing volleys of tear gas canisters fought scattered clashes in the capital against groups of rowdier demonstrators on the fringes of an otherwise peaceful demonstration. More than 500 protesters were turned away by acrid tear gas as they tried to reach Mesa's seat of power at the Government Palace. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

The protests began Monday as long lines of rowdy demonstrators, including indigenous women in black bowler hats and farmers in baseball caps, snaked down from poor hilltop slums above this capital as bottle rockets screeched overhead and disgruntled miners created thunderous booms by tossing dynamite sticks.

"A people united will never be defeated!" protesters shouted, as they pressed for the nationalization of Bolivia's energy industry and greater indigenous rights, among other demands. The protesters clogged La Paz's streets.

I'm pretty sure when AP says nationalization of Bolivia's energy industry they know it actually means the nationalization of Bolivia's oil industry that these people are talking about here. And by the way. Why can't we nationalize the oil industry here in the US?

[GOPFighter]

1. Ah, if only Americans cared that much....

...sigh...

[Mizmoon]

7. Perhaps if most of us lived in "impoverished slums"

we would. As it is, everyone here is urgently trying to hold on to their middle class life. IMHO anyway.

[Karenina]

2. "A people united will never be defeated!"

[struggle4progress]

3. kick

[Judi Lynn]

4. How many people have wondered about this scheme?

In Bolivia, 70 percent of the population of 9.2 million identify themselves as indigenous, and the indigenous movement, along with other sectors, is demanding a constituent assembly to rewrite the constitution and ”re-found the republic” to grant self-determination to the country's 36 native groups, added de la Cruz Vilca.

The activist, the former president of Bolivia's Confederación Sindical Unica de Trabajadores Campesinos de Bolivia, a peasant farmer union, accused foreign oil companies of backing the demands for regional autonomy put forth by business and large landowners in the wealthy eastern regions of Santa Cruz, Tarija, Pando and Beni, where the country's natural gas reserves are concentrated.

”Behind that movement lies a hidden plan aimed at generating a violent reaction by the indigenous movements, in order to justify external military intervention,” he maintained.
(snip/...)

http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=28960

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I hope more and more people start watching _Bush's behavior concerning Latin America and the Caribbean, whether they're rightwingnuts or normal people.

Wingnuts need to have their eyes opened and their consciences awakened. The rest of us probably already know how underhanded and treacherous he is.

Uniting all the rightwing dictator militaristic wackos in the hemisphere would probably be the finest dream he could ever imagine. Blood flowing in the street will ALWAYS be the people's blood. The ones who order the troops around are always protected.

[NNN0LHI]

5. I think thats how it always works to be honest

Thats how it worked in Columbia where US soldiers are at under the guise if fighting drugs when they are actually there to protect oil pipelines. That is what almost (maybe?) happened in Venezuela. That is what the Contras were/are.

Don

[bemildred]

6. Bet on it.

With what success remains to be seen, but that is the standard
method, and these guys in Washington have not shown a sign of
original thought in a long time. One of the striking disciplines
one sees in the Venezuelan revolution is the avoidance of violent
reaction against the Golpistas, the people have learned to act
in unison, to play the game for the long haul. Let us hope the
Bolivian people have learned the lesson well too.

Much as I hate to say it, I would bet money that we will see an
attempt to get some violence going soon.