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Note #7968 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

Undermined
03429
October 6, 2003

Undermined

A missionary letter from Bolivia

by Susan Ellison
PC(USA) mission co-worker

LA PAZ, Bolivia - After spending several days on the phone, members of the
Bolivian Joining Hands for Life network (UMAVIDA) decided it was too risky to
hold the workshop. We'd have to cancel.

The UMAVIDA network is part of the Presbyterian Hunger Program's Joining
Hands Against Hunger Program, which pairs networks around the world with
presbyteries in the United States.

For weeks, UMAVIDA members had been anticipating our workshop on spirituality
and ethics. This ecumenical group of Bolivian non-governmental organizations,
grassroots groups, and churches (Protestant and Catholic) wanted to sit down
and discuss our shared values.

Much of UMAVIDA's work centers around social and economic justice issues. In
the workshop, the group planned to discuss the spiritual and ethical basis
for its efforts: addressing the root causes of hunger in Bolivia. But as we
prepared for our round table discussions and guest speakers, more immediate
justice issues took precedence: thousands of Bolivians took to the streets.

A week ago, six people, including a child, were killed in clashes between
campesinos (farmers) in the town of Warisata and the Bolivian military, which
was escorting trapped tourists. The people of Warisata were among thousands
of Bolivians protesting the sale of Bolivia's natural gas, as well as several
laws that aren't favorable to rural communities.

The deaths in Warisata radicalized national protests. By the time we decided
to postpone the workshop, the situation was looking grim.

Approximately 700 people were on a hunger strike at the radio station, San
Gabriel, demanding the release of indigenous leaders who are being detained.
Twenty-four days after they began, they're still striking.

A series of small clashes broke out between troops and protesters in the
capital city of La Paz and surrounding rural communities. People were
wounded, others picked up by the military. Farmers began blocking the
transport of food into La Paz, causing shortages and higher prices in the
markets.

More and more people and organizations have begun to participate in
nationwide mobilizations, many of them from Bolivia's impoverished indigenous
communities. And while the different groups participating in the protests
represent a range of demands, the unifying cry has been against the sale of
Bolivia's natural gas reserves.

Bolivia has long based its economy on the export of raw material, an approach
that has failed to enrich the country.

I am often reminded of Kentucky and the coal mines there. Those mines
generated wealth for a small group of mine owners who lived far from
Appalachian reality. The miners developed black lung and continued to live in
Third-World conditions while the wealth left the region. Eastern Kentucky
never developed any other economic base to sustain itself. When the miners
would strike for their rights, for health care and better wages, they were
often terrorized and killed.

For centuries, Bolivia's economy was also based on mining: tin and silver.
Millions of African slaves and indigenous Bolivians died in those mines. And
now Bolivian officials have developed a project to export another raw
material: Bolivia's natural gas supplies, intended for American and Mexican
markets.

Bolivians know that they're getting a raw deal. Many people carry signs that
say, "Don't sell the gas, industrialize it." People understand that an
economy based on raw materials will never be sustainable and will only bring
in a small percentage of the overall wealth generated by the product once
it's refined.

They also would like to see their natural resources go to serve the people
more directly. As one woman told me, "We want the government to annul the
agreements they've signed and start over - with good negotiations that will
really favor Bolivia and not intermediaries."

Of course, there are arguments in favor of the sale of gas. Many claim it's
Bolivia's only option to generate wealth. Bolivia's overwhelming external
debt and stagnant economy require that the nation seek policies or ventures
that will let it generate income to continue paying off loans.

I tend to see this issue as part of a much larger whole: people angry at a
government that is unresponsive to their demands.

I spoke with UMAVIDA's coordinator, a Presbyterian pastor named Luis Perez,
to get his perspective. We talked about the generalized anger spreading
through many of the "social sectors" of Bolivia (peasant farmers, workers,
teachers, etc.). Luis said, "Sometimes I think people are excessive in their
demands. Now people are calling for (president Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada] to
resign. Will that solve the problem? No. We will still face the same
pressures, the same external debt.

"At the same time, the government makes threats, tries to tie leaders like
the Mallku [a well-known indigenous leader] to Shining Path [a terrorist
group from Peru]. The government is looking for excuses to associate
indigenous leaders with these groups as a pretext for arresting them,
detaining them."

Luis went on to explain that many of the groups that are marching,
blockading, and protesting are divided. He said, "Nobody is united. If they
were really united they might be able to achieve real change. Think how much
more powerful it could be! But no. There are many divisions. There is no
coordination. Everyone wants to be the hero and march for their cause.

"One week the teachers declare strike, and the next, the drivers. The
campesinos of the altiplano call for blockades, and in Cochabamba they refuse
to support them. A month later, Cochabamba is blockading and there's nothing
in the Altiplano. Yesterday we had no meat. The meat packers went on strike.
Since they were a small group, the government tear-gassed and dispersed them.
And that was it."

The only conclusion we could come to was that the situation is incredibly
complicated, and there are problems within the different movements that we
must recognize. Some divisions stem from personality conflicts between
leaders or substantive differences in ideologies. Other divisions are caused
when the government deftly plays one group against the other. Others still
because groups are so intent on the survival of their own people and
interests that they develop tunnel vision.

Now in their third week, the once-scattered protests are growing stronger,
more unified. In response, the government has begun to militarize the western
region. When I met with a group of North American missioners recently, we
reflected on this increasing violence.

One friend said, "I don't want to hear about dialogue and signing accords and
promises. I'm sick of it. We have to see real, tangible change."

We talked about how 50 years ago indigenous people were "given" their rights.
They were now recognized as human beings, not animals, not slaves. And yet,
50 years have passed and what substantial change have they seen?

I met with a good friend of mine last week, Enriqueta, an Aymara woman. We
were talking about the current situation when she began to weep over the dead
in Warisata. She said, "We are less than animals. They [European/elite
Bolivians] treat their dogs better than they treat us. They don't mourn when
we die."

Right now the government is pushing a return to dialogue, calling for peace
and tranquility. But there's a difference between peace in the sense of no
overt unrest, which masks a broiling undercurrent of anger and desperation
below a seemingly calm surface, and peace that is achieved because of just
policies that address people's needs and give real voice and power to people
who have been marginalized.

As another Aymara friend told me, "The government isn't one of us. They've
never lived what we live, suffered what we suffer. How could they ever feel
what we feel? The people are tired. Poor people no longer know how they will
survive."

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