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Note #7986 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

Hope renewed with Bolivian president's resignation
03453
October 24, 2003

Hope renewed with Bolivian president's resignation

A missionary letter from Bolivia

By Susan Ellison
PC(USA) mission co-worker

LA PAZ, Bolivia - Last Friday afternoon [Oct.17], the rumors started. Rumors
that "Goni" - Bolivian president Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozado - would resign.

"Turn on your radio, are you listening?" asked a friend. I was.

Radio Pachamama was trying to respond to listeners: "We must not repeat
rumors. Yes, word is circulating that Goni will resign, but that is not
confirmed, we must not say so until it is confirmed."

Presbyterian pastor Luis Perez called from the center of town where he had
been marching with Roman Catholic and Protestant church members, demanding an
end to the violence. "We're hearing Goni may resign," he shouted into the
phone. The marchers set off noisemakers in the background. "People here are
already celebrating."

Five hours later, the Bolivian congress convened for a special session. It
took longer than expected to get everyone there - many of the congresspeople
had to be picked up and flown in because of the blockades that surrounded La
Paz. But now we knew the rumors were true. Goni had turned in his letter of
resignation. And he was leaving the country.

My neighbors and I hunkered in front of their TV, listening to a government
official read the letter. Some members of Congress erupted into shouts of
"Goni, assassin! Goni, butcher!" One elderly congressman was escorted from
the floor, hobbling with a cane and waving his free arm in anger. The
moderator called for calm and took a vote. Congress accepted the president's
resignation.

Immediately La Paz filled with the snap of fireworks. La Paz is shaped like a
bowl, a deep crater. From our apartment building on the mountainside, we
watched as white flares glimmered across the city, in poor and middle-class
neighborhoods alike.

My neighbor, Gabriela, and I rushed to her balcony. She laughed, "You'd think
our national soccer team had just won the championship!" Bolivia was
celebrating. Some of our neighbors lit a loud string of fireworks in the door
of their crumbling adobe home and cheered. Gabriela turned and said, "Of
course they are celebrating. This is about their lives." Her 2-year-old
grandson covered his ears and shrieked. Gabriela comforted him, "It's nothing
bad, it's good!"

We only needed to hear one more thing: that the vice president, Carlos Mesa,
would accept his place in the constitutional order and become the new
president of the republic. Cameras turned to Mesa's home, where he emerged
from the house, waving, and began greeting neighbors. "He's going to accept,"
cried Gabriela, and giggled.

Mesa took office Friday night around midnight. Since then we have all been
speculating on what this will mean for Bolivia. His first decision as
president was to immediately demilitarize El Alto and La Paz.

That night, gathered around the TV, many of us collapsed into our chairs,
breathing deeply for the first time since the conflict exploded a month ago.
Gabriela sat silently, lightly clapping her hands and closing her eyes,
relieved.

For many, Mesa represents just that: relief and hope.

But we also know that the challenges that Bolivia and this administration
face are complex, overwhelming. Mesa has shown he "gets it," that he
understands that the demands of Altenos and Bolivians in general represent
broad sectors of Bolivian society, not a "conspiracy of sedition by armed
groups, 'narco-syndicalist' groups, terrorist groups, and cartels who created
a confrontational situation, leaving me no way out but to resign," as Goni
recently claimed to the BBC.

Goni spoke from Washington D.C., where he fled just as his resignation letter
was read to the Bolivian people. Many Bolivians are outraged at how Goni has
portrayed recent protests, denigrating Bolivians and dismissing their
demands. In his letter he neither took responsibility nor showed remorse for
the dead.

Mesa spoke differently. In his acceptance speech on Friday he said of
Bolivia's indigenous communities: "We cannot look at Bolivia if we do not
look at who, for centuries, has been excluded, and if we do not look at what
kind of mechanisms we need to give them an answer to [their] legitimate
demands, a legitimate right to be true, first-class citizens in a country of
equals. And Bolivia is not yet a country of equals."

But for all of Mesa's understanding, it does not remove the challenges ahead.

Ely Lopez, who works with the Center for Andean Peoples and Cultures,
explained, "He's presented a very theoretical analysis of the situation, but
now we need to see what that will look like concretely. People look to him
with hope, but we must not forget that the political system hasn't changed,
just the person heading it.... Still, he recognizes that the issue of
indigenous peoples is vital. You cannot even talk about Bolivia without
addressing this issue. It is absolutely fundamental."

One major struggle will be to overcome the deep east-west regional division
in Bolivia, divisions that have pitted indigenous farmers in the west against
wealthy businessmen in the east. Divisions that have widened in this past
month.

Bolivia will also have to decide how it will hold the military and police
accountable for the more than 74 dead. Goni has left the country, but people
are already talking about how to open a case against him.

As Lopez explained, "We must demonstrate that we will not permit impunity. I
liked what Mesa said to the armed forces. We are all responsible for saying
'no' to death, for refusing to carry out orders if we believe they are
unjust. This is an important discussion for all of us as Bolivians."

Bolivia will still face many of the same pressures it has in the past:
pressure to adopt policies that the U.S. government, the International
Monetary Fund (IMF), and World Bank have pushed for nearly 20 years. External
forces have long-dictated Bolivia's destiny, and Bolivians are sick of it.
Many of those same policies were the impetus for recent mobilizations. And
they are still present.

Leading opposition groups and popular movements have said that they want to
give Mesa a chance, want to support him if his talk translates into real
action, real change. But they also warn that should this administration
repeat the mistakes of the past, they will mobilize again.

And this time they know their power.

Felipa, an Aymara leader, reflected on what lies ahead for Bolivia's
indigenous movements. She said, "This was a big achievement. I've never seen
anything like it before. But it isn't over. The struggle isn't over. Little
by little we must construct our own vision, our own project for this country.
Our brothers and sisters are now conscious of their power, and the need to
keep working.

"This isn't about Evo or Mallku (two well-known indigenous leaders). This is
about all of us participating. We are seeking autonomy, a day when we
ourselves will truly govern. This was a big achievement, getting rid of the
butcher. But it isn't over. We must continue in this struggle."

On Monday the 20th, after Goni's resignation, a Maryknoll missionary friend
of mine, Cati, was riding in a taxi with an Aymara driver. They listened to
the radio and a speech someone was delivering in El Alto. The speaker closed
his talk, and shouted in Aymara, "Jallalla Tupac Katari! Long live Tupac
Katari, he is present with us, in the people."

Katari led an indigenous uprising for dignity, autonomy, and an end to
Spanish colonial rule in the 18th century.

Unsure, Cati turned to the driver and asked, "Who's speaking?"

I've received so many letters from friends and strangers expressing their
support for the Bolivian people during these past weeks of violence - and
their dismay that they didn't know about what was happening earlier.

Bolivia, like many developing nations, is rarely covered by the U.S. media.
And yet, much of what is happening in Bolivia is related to U.S. policies and
politics.

This lack of coverage can be exasperating for people like you and me. We
don't know what's happening in another part of the world, then learn that we
are somehow tied to events there. Many people have asked what they can do to
help.

*Express your concern: all the expressions of support and concern that the
UMAVIDA network and I have received from people in the United States have
been overwhelming, moving. I continue to compile those letters and translate
them for people here. That growing pile of messages of concern from average
North Americans has been a powerful statement of support. Over the past 20
years, U.S. policies on a broad range of issues have given many Bolivians an
extremely negative image of the United States. Your letters give Bolivians a
different image of Americans. That is powerful and important.

*Learn more: encourage your church's mission committees to dig deeper. It's
important to understand the long-term, underlying causes of poverty and
injustice. Some Web sites with information about PC(USA) programs that work
for international justice - the Presbyterian Hunger Program Web site:
www.pcusa.org/pcusa/wmd/hunger; Joining Hands Against Hunger (the program I
work with): www.pcusa.org/pcusa/wmd/hunger/hands.htm; Enough for Everyone
Program: www.pcusa.org/enough; and the Presbyterian Washington Office:
www.pcusa.org/washington.

*Action: look into your community's ecumenical and interfaith groups working
on issues in Latin America and other parts of the world; call, write or email
the editor of your newspaper and the news director of the stations you watch
for national and international news and tell them you want more news from
South America. When they respond with an informative story, praise them.

*Pray: your prayers are important. Thank you for keeping all of the people of
Bolivia and me in your prayers during these past weeks of violence. Now, pray
for Bolivia's new leader, Carlos Mesa, and his cabinet; pray for Bolivian
families who lost daughters, sons, mothers, husbands, wives, fathers, and
friends in the violence of the past month; pray for those wounded and killed,
but also for those who pulled triggers; pray that Mesa's commitment to
justice and his promise to listen to the people's demands result in real and
lasting changes in Bolivia's unjust social structures; pray that Bolivia's
varied social movements and groups are able to offer concrete proposals for
the kinds of changes they need so they can help construct a new Bolivia, not
merely attack the old; pray that the international community, including the
World Bank and International Monetary Fund, will examine its role in making
Bolivia a dependent nation and fueling recent protests; pray that those of us
f!
 rom the United States examine the impact of U.S. policies and lifestyles on
nations like Bolivia; pray that our leaders craft policies that foster life,
not death; and pray for guidance as we all work for abundant life for all of
God's children.

Editor's note: for more information about the lives and work of Presbyterian
missionaries around the world, visit the website
www.pcusa.org/missionconnections. -- Jerry Van Marter

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