In educated Sucre: “On your knees, shitty Indians”
Racist Fascism
05/06/2008
- Opinión
Over
the past month, the political landscape in Bolivia has become
increasingly polarized between the MAS (Movement Towards Socialism)
party
of President Evo Morales and social movements, on the one hand, and
the opposition and European-descendent elite, on the other. Last
month's illegal autonomy referendum in the Eastern department of
Santa Cruz, a bastion of opposition to the MAS project of
decolonizing and refounding the nation, exacerbated the conflict. On
Monday June 2nd, two more departments in the East (Pando and Beni),
known as the Media Luna region, also voted for autonomy. The growing
tensions, however, are not as simple as Media Luna vs. Morales, as
even within Santa Cruz there is a growing indigenous movement for
land redistribution and other reforms supported by the Morales
government. This movement, mainly organized by the Guarani people,
has been met with violent opposition by the large landowners that
dominate Eastern Bolivia. In addition to the Media Luna region, the
city of Sucre has also become a site of tension in Bolivian politics.
Sucre is the nominal capital of Bolivia (but not the seat of
government, which is in La Paz) and was the location of the historic
Constituent Assembly; it is also becoming a stronghold for the
opposition. One of their main demands is that Sucre become the full
capital of Bolivia, a strategy to weaken MAS support, which is strong
in the twin cities of La Paz and El Alto. The links below provide
more information on all of these issues.
---------------
"On your knees, shitty Indians, yell long live the capital," "Respect Sucre, goddamit," "Llamas, ask for forgiveness," were the orders imposed by a group of young people from the Bolivian department (province) of Chuquisaca by means of kicks and punches, forcing around 50 Quechua campesinos to take off their shirts, get on their knees, and burn the MAS flag and the Wiphala flag (symbol of indigenous nations) in front of the Casa de la Libertad, located in the main plaza of Sucre.
It was on May 25th, 199 years ago, that the continent's first cry for liberty was sounded in this same place. 2008, paradoxically, heard cries full of racism, hate and discrimination against representatives of the national majorities, exactly those who liberated this country from the Spanish yoke.
"Kill the Indian, they said, and all of this occurred in the presence of the President of the Municipal Council of Sucre, Fidel Herrera, and the Mayor Aidée Nava; they applauded everything these violent groups did," reported the Mayor of Mojocoya, Ángel Vallejos, who also was brutally punched and forced to walk on his knees.
On May 24th, the President of the Republic, Evo Morales Ayma, was supposed to arrive in Sucre to present a series of projects and two ambulances at each of the municipalities of the department of Chuquisaca. However, violent conflicts halted these activities.
In spite of police and military intervention, forces whose membership is composed of an indigenous majority, the force and organization of the youth groups-armed not only with sticks and stones but also tear gas and dynamite-resulted in many human rights abuses.
The images of violence captured in different neighborhoods of Sucre were simply bloodcurdling: the youth, many of whom were inebriated, used sticks and stones to attack the campesinos, who fell to the ground. Neither women nor children were spared.
Medical reports show that 35 people were wounded, and in addition the campesinos suffered the theft of their documents, watches and the little money they had.
A blow to freedom of expression
"They pushed me, I felt hits, kicks, punches, shoves, and they doused me with alcohol. I approached an ambulance asking if they could take me away from there. The rocks entered the car, because the window was open, and they didn't let us leave, they stood in front of us," was the story related by Marianela Paco Durán, a journalist for the Loyola Cultural Action radio station in Sucre (Aclo-Sucre) and a member of the Bolivian Radio Education (Erbol) network, who was also hit and insulted by the groups involved in the confrontation.
This journalist, who was carrying out her work in the moment of the aggression, reported live the attack on the campesinos.
"I went to cover the Atabi zone (a rural area), I assume that someone identified me as a worker for Aclo and began to point at me. I heard very strong insults and I saw a crowd coming upon me. Someone, that I didn't identify, went to take me out of there, and then people pushed away the person trying to help me," related the assaulted journalist.
In a public communication, Erbol held "Aydée Nava, Tommy Durán, Jaime Barrón and Fidel Herrera" responsible for this act "for having called out violent groups with the aim of assaulting and inciting hatred against people that do not share their ideological line."
The accused people, along with Jhon Cava, are representatives of the Inter-Institutional Committee of Chuquisaca, who under the demand that Sucre be the only capital city, attempted to make the Constituent Assembly fail and now are trying to push forward the departmental autonomy of Chuquisaca.
The attack suffered by the Aclo-Sucre journalist is not the only one recorded in this Chuquisacan political process, which dates back exactly one year. Unfortunately, no perpetrator has been prosecuted, let alone punished.
Of this city, that formerly, has had four names--Charcas, La Plata, Sucre and Chuquisaca--the "educated city" remains only as a memory.
He who does not jump is a llama
According to the data of the last population and housing census, in Bolivia 63.3% of the population is considered indigenous.
However, the small groups who held power in the last neoliberal governments and benefited from corruption and shady deals do not accept this reality.
These lampoons and humiliations of recent days are not new.
During the Constituent Assembly sessions, the indigenous representatives that are the face of multicultural and multilingual Bolivia have been assaulted and insulted at various instances.
Shouts of "He who does not jump is a llama," "Out of here, fucking collas [highland people]," "A cross between llamas and mud-huts," and other adjectives accompanied by physical aggression are part of history, and have also been met with impunity.
Moreover, the death of three Chuquisacans, in November of 2007, remained unpunished.
Regrettably, for the past year, no citizen or authority has been prosecuted by the Bolivian justice system, even though according to the images, testimonies and reports, those directly responsible as well as the intellectual authors of the violence can be identified.
Beyond the traditional excuses--"it is under investigation" or "we will act with the law in hand"--of some government representatives, nothing concrete has been done.
The confrontation between country and city, whites and Indians, the k'aras and t'aras, the oligarchs and the indigenous, is increasing every day, even as government officials and departmental authorities deny their responsibility.
The president of the Inter-Institutional Committee, Jaime Barrón, did not rule out that there may have been infiltrators among the Sucrenses [people from Sucre] who took campesinos hostage and forced them to take off their shirts and kneel in front of the Casa de la Libertad.
"This should not have happened. The campesino brothers deserve all of our respect. When I saw them on their knees I made them get up immediately, I brought them to the City Hall and to the exit to Tarabuco, because they were totally frightened," he said.
According to Sabina Cuéller, the candidate for prefecture of the Inter-Institutional Committee-Popular Citizen Movement alliance (ACI-MPC), indigenous people were forced to go to Sucre to receive the President of the Republic under the threat of fines of 100 Bolivianos [Bolivian currency].
When the Federation of Campesinos of Chuquisaca requested the expulsion of Inter-Institutional Committee representatives it also threatened to close the water valves in the locality of Turupampa and Villa Fernández that connect to the capital city.
From Cobija, the Head of State referred to the issue, requesting that "some youth" from "some universities" regain their respect, ethically and morally, for indigenous peoples, campesinos, and the poor. "What sort of university students do we have? This is not every student in all the universities. But it is important to improve the ethics, the morality of a respectful young person in solidarity, who is always attentive to social problems," he stated.
Dangerous Impunity
Beyond these statements, there is no concrete action being taken to halt the series of abuses. The government must act in accordance with the law.
In January of 2007, there were violent confrontations between groups organized by the Prefecture and the Civic Committee, against campesinos and indigenous peoples in Cochabamba, but no one was punished.
There is evidence of participation by both citizens and authorities.
In Santa Cruz, the vice president of the Santa Cruz Civic Committee, Luis Núñez, asked those who are against autonomy to "abandon Santa Cruz, or beware of the consequences."
To this racist discourse he added: "They (the Bolivians of the west) have arrived. Adapt to our way of life, which is about peace, work, and tranquility, but do not continue to provoke us, insult us, or denigrate us as you did yesterday, or beware of the consequences."
Members of the Union of Young Crucenistas (people of Santa Cruz) attacked several people on various occasions in Santa Cruz. The physical violence was also accompanied by attacks with dynamite, threats, persecution, and other acts against human rights, but nobody did anything.
In the last few days in Sucre, Representative Wilber Flores was attacked, as were the parliamentarians from Potosi, Carmen Flores and Cesar Navarro, and the Senator from Cochabamba, Leonilda Zurita.
If these acts of violence are happening in Sucre, in the rural areas of Santa Cruz the situation is as bad or worse.
Days after the Autonomy Referendum in San Ignacio de Velasco, civic representatives and the primary Chiquitano indigenous leader attacked the priest Adalid Vega Veizaga, who they accused of being a MAS militant and against the Autonomy process. They demanded that he leave the region, and no authority stopped them from doing so.
The aggression was not only directed at campesinos, indigenous people, or the poor, but also toward government ministers and even the President and Vice-President of the Republic, who practically cannot set foot in some regions of the country.
Enough!
In Bolivia, no one is unaware of the fact that "justice" is driven by representatives of the old neoliberal model. The apparatus of justice that was "raffled off" by the neoliberal parties is controlled by people tied to the previous administration of Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada.
Although the office of the District Attorney of Chuquisaca promised an investigation of the facts of Saturday May 24, after an accusation was made, it remains uncertain. The District Attorney of Chuquisaca, Ana Maria Lia, affirmed that the Public Ministry would proceed with an investigation following established laws.
The Public Defender, Waldo Albarracin, asked that a District Attorney from elsewhere than Chuquisaca investigate the violent acts against campesinos in Sucre, because he considers that Chuquisacan justice lost impartiality by being forced to yield to the civic groups.
He stated, "These acts should not only be condemned, they should be punished. (But) the District Attorney of Chuquisaca, let alone the courts, does not meet the conditions for an impartial investigation, because in the last few months it demonstrated its absolute subordination to the civic authorities."
In reaction to these fascist, racist actions has risen a popular clamor from different points of the nation to say "enough," and also to demand governability.
In the process of the Democratic Cultural Revolution it is time to stop the violence and racism, it is time to look for a dialogue and consensus, it is time to consolidate change and unity.
- Alex Contreras is a Bolivian journalist and writer. Article first published in Spanish on ;ay 26 2008)
For further information on the situation in Bolivia:
Polarizing Bolivia: Santa Cruz Votes for Autonomy
By Benjamin Dangl
08 May 2008
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1275/31/
Santa Cruz Divided: Report from the Streets on Referendum Day in Bolivia
By Alexander van Schaick and David Bluestone.
08 May 2008
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1270/31/
Landowners' Rebellion: Slavery and Saneamiento in Bolivia
By Alexander van Schaick
28 April 2008
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1254/31/
Illegal Autonomy Referendum Deepens Division in Bolivia
By the Andean Information Network
25 April 2008
Source: Andean Information Network
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1251/31/
Bolivia: Referendum plan raises tensions
By Igor Ojeda
17 March 2008
http://alainet.org/active/22880
Bolivia: Three Dead in Capital Conflict
By Andean Information Network
26 November 2007
Source: Andean Information Network
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1018/31/
---------------
"On your knees, shitty Indians, yell long live the capital," "Respect Sucre, goddamit," "Llamas, ask for forgiveness," were the orders imposed by a group of young people from the Bolivian department (province) of Chuquisaca by means of kicks and punches, forcing around 50 Quechua campesinos to take off their shirts, get on their knees, and burn the MAS flag and the Wiphala flag (symbol of indigenous nations) in front of the Casa de la Libertad, located in the main plaza of Sucre.
It was on May 25th, 199 years ago, that the continent's first cry for liberty was sounded in this same place. 2008, paradoxically, heard cries full of racism, hate and discrimination against representatives of the national majorities, exactly those who liberated this country from the Spanish yoke.
"Kill the Indian, they said, and all of this occurred in the presence of the President of the Municipal Council of Sucre, Fidel Herrera, and the Mayor Aidée Nava; they applauded everything these violent groups did," reported the Mayor of Mojocoya, Ángel Vallejos, who also was brutally punched and forced to walk on his knees.
On May 24th, the President of the Republic, Evo Morales Ayma, was supposed to arrive in Sucre to present a series of projects and two ambulances at each of the municipalities of the department of Chuquisaca. However, violent conflicts halted these activities.
In spite of police and military intervention, forces whose membership is composed of an indigenous majority, the force and organization of the youth groups-armed not only with sticks and stones but also tear gas and dynamite-resulted in many human rights abuses.
The images of violence captured in different neighborhoods of Sucre were simply bloodcurdling: the youth, many of whom were inebriated, used sticks and stones to attack the campesinos, who fell to the ground. Neither women nor children were spared.
Medical reports show that 35 people were wounded, and in addition the campesinos suffered the theft of their documents, watches and the little money they had.
A blow to freedom of expression
"They pushed me, I felt hits, kicks, punches, shoves, and they doused me with alcohol. I approached an ambulance asking if they could take me away from there. The rocks entered the car, because the window was open, and they didn't let us leave, they stood in front of us," was the story related by Marianela Paco Durán, a journalist for the Loyola Cultural Action radio station in Sucre (Aclo-Sucre) and a member of the Bolivian Radio Education (Erbol) network, who was also hit and insulted by the groups involved in the confrontation.
This journalist, who was carrying out her work in the moment of the aggression, reported live the attack on the campesinos.
"I went to cover the Atabi zone (a rural area), I assume that someone identified me as a worker for Aclo and began to point at me. I heard very strong insults and I saw a crowd coming upon me. Someone, that I didn't identify, went to take me out of there, and then people pushed away the person trying to help me," related the assaulted journalist.
In a public communication, Erbol held "Aydée Nava, Tommy Durán, Jaime Barrón and Fidel Herrera" responsible for this act "for having called out violent groups with the aim of assaulting and inciting hatred against people that do not share their ideological line."
The accused people, along with Jhon Cava, are representatives of the Inter-Institutional Committee of Chuquisaca, who under the demand that Sucre be the only capital city, attempted to make the Constituent Assembly fail and now are trying to push forward the departmental autonomy of Chuquisaca.
The attack suffered by the Aclo-Sucre journalist is not the only one recorded in this Chuquisacan political process, which dates back exactly one year. Unfortunately, no perpetrator has been prosecuted, let alone punished.
Of this city, that formerly, has had four names--Charcas, La Plata, Sucre and Chuquisaca--the "educated city" remains only as a memory.
He who does not jump is a llama
According to the data of the last population and housing census, in Bolivia 63.3% of the population is considered indigenous.
However, the small groups who held power in the last neoliberal governments and benefited from corruption and shady deals do not accept this reality.
These lampoons and humiliations of recent days are not new.
During the Constituent Assembly sessions, the indigenous representatives that are the face of multicultural and multilingual Bolivia have been assaulted and insulted at various instances.
Shouts of "He who does not jump is a llama," "Out of here, fucking collas [highland people]," "A cross between llamas and mud-huts," and other adjectives accompanied by physical aggression are part of history, and have also been met with impunity.
Moreover, the death of three Chuquisacans, in November of 2007, remained unpunished.
Regrettably, for the past year, no citizen or authority has been prosecuted by the Bolivian justice system, even though according to the images, testimonies and reports, those directly responsible as well as the intellectual authors of the violence can be identified.
Beyond the traditional excuses--"it is under investigation" or "we will act with the law in hand"--of some government representatives, nothing concrete has been done.
The confrontation between country and city, whites and Indians, the k'aras and t'aras, the oligarchs and the indigenous, is increasing every day, even as government officials and departmental authorities deny their responsibility.
The president of the Inter-Institutional Committee, Jaime Barrón, did not rule out that there may have been infiltrators among the Sucrenses [people from Sucre] who took campesinos hostage and forced them to take off their shirts and kneel in front of the Casa de la Libertad.
"This should not have happened. The campesino brothers deserve all of our respect. When I saw them on their knees I made them get up immediately, I brought them to the City Hall and to the exit to Tarabuco, because they were totally frightened," he said.
According to Sabina Cuéller, the candidate for prefecture of the Inter-Institutional Committee-Popular Citizen Movement alliance (ACI-MPC), indigenous people were forced to go to Sucre to receive the President of the Republic under the threat of fines of 100 Bolivianos [Bolivian currency].
When the Federation of Campesinos of Chuquisaca requested the expulsion of Inter-Institutional Committee representatives it also threatened to close the water valves in the locality of Turupampa and Villa Fernández that connect to the capital city.
From Cobija, the Head of State referred to the issue, requesting that "some youth" from "some universities" regain their respect, ethically and morally, for indigenous peoples, campesinos, and the poor. "What sort of university students do we have? This is not every student in all the universities. But it is important to improve the ethics, the morality of a respectful young person in solidarity, who is always attentive to social problems," he stated.
Dangerous Impunity
Beyond these statements, there is no concrete action being taken to halt the series of abuses. The government must act in accordance with the law.
In January of 2007, there were violent confrontations between groups organized by the Prefecture and the Civic Committee, against campesinos and indigenous peoples in Cochabamba, but no one was punished.
There is evidence of participation by both citizens and authorities.
In Santa Cruz, the vice president of the Santa Cruz Civic Committee, Luis Núñez, asked those who are against autonomy to "abandon Santa Cruz, or beware of the consequences."
To this racist discourse he added: "They (the Bolivians of the west) have arrived. Adapt to our way of life, which is about peace, work, and tranquility, but do not continue to provoke us, insult us, or denigrate us as you did yesterday, or beware of the consequences."
Members of the Union of Young Crucenistas (people of Santa Cruz) attacked several people on various occasions in Santa Cruz. The physical violence was also accompanied by attacks with dynamite, threats, persecution, and other acts against human rights, but nobody did anything.
In the last few days in Sucre, Representative Wilber Flores was attacked, as were the parliamentarians from Potosi, Carmen Flores and Cesar Navarro, and the Senator from Cochabamba, Leonilda Zurita.
If these acts of violence are happening in Sucre, in the rural areas of Santa Cruz the situation is as bad or worse.
Days after the Autonomy Referendum in San Ignacio de Velasco, civic representatives and the primary Chiquitano indigenous leader attacked the priest Adalid Vega Veizaga, who they accused of being a MAS militant and against the Autonomy process. They demanded that he leave the region, and no authority stopped them from doing so.
The aggression was not only directed at campesinos, indigenous people, or the poor, but also toward government ministers and even the President and Vice-President of the Republic, who practically cannot set foot in some regions of the country.
Enough!
In Bolivia, no one is unaware of the fact that "justice" is driven by representatives of the old neoliberal model. The apparatus of justice that was "raffled off" by the neoliberal parties is controlled by people tied to the previous administration of Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada.
Although the office of the District Attorney of Chuquisaca promised an investigation of the facts of Saturday May 24, after an accusation was made, it remains uncertain. The District Attorney of Chuquisaca, Ana Maria Lia, affirmed that the Public Ministry would proceed with an investigation following established laws.
The Public Defender, Waldo Albarracin, asked that a District Attorney from elsewhere than Chuquisaca investigate the violent acts against campesinos in Sucre, because he considers that Chuquisacan justice lost impartiality by being forced to yield to the civic groups.
He stated, "These acts should not only be condemned, they should be punished. (But) the District Attorney of Chuquisaca, let alone the courts, does not meet the conditions for an impartial investigation, because in the last few months it demonstrated its absolute subordination to the civic authorities."
In reaction to these fascist, racist actions has risen a popular clamor from different points of the nation to say "enough," and also to demand governability.
In the process of the Democratic Cultural Revolution it is time to stop the violence and racism, it is time to look for a dialogue and consensus, it is time to consolidate change and unity.
- Alex Contreras is a Bolivian journalist and writer. Article first published in Spanish on ;ay 26 2008)
For further information on the situation in Bolivia:
Polarizing Bolivia: Santa Cruz Votes for Autonomy
By Benjamin Dangl
08 May 2008
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1275/31/
Santa Cruz Divided: Report from the Streets on Referendum Day in Bolivia
By Alexander van Schaick and David Bluestone.
08 May 2008
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1270/31/
Landowners' Rebellion: Slavery and Saneamiento in Bolivia
By Alexander van Schaick
28 April 2008
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1254/31/
Illegal Autonomy Referendum Deepens Division in Bolivia
By the Andean Information Network
25 April 2008
Source: Andean Information Network
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1251/31/
Bolivia: Referendum plan raises tensions
By Igor Ojeda
17 March 2008
http://alainet.org/active/22880
Bolivia: Three Dead in Capital Conflict
By Andean Information Network
26 November 2007
Source: Andean Information Network
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1018/31/
https://www.alainet.org/en/active/24535
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