Bolivian road dispute-Indigenous vs Indigenous

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

http://english.aljazeera.net/video/americas/2011/09/20119254351643646.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-15048897

Bolivia Amazon road protesters break police blockade

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/55569000/jpg/_55569244_013004970-1.jpg Some of the protesters brandished bows and arrows as they marched
Continue reading the main story (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-15048897#story_continues_1) Related Stories



Bolivians voice road march fears (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-14985281)
Bolivia Indians in road protest (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-14536163)
New highway sparks anger in Bolivia (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-14525659)


Indigenous protesters in the Bolivian Amazon have broken through a police blockade to continue a long-distance march on the main city, La Paz.
The protesters forced their way through police lines by taking the Foreign Minister, David Choquehuanca, hostage, officials said.
Mr Choquehuanca - who had come to negotiate with the protesters - has since been released.
The marchers oppose plans to build a road through a rainforest reserve.
Bolivian officials said Mr Choquehuanca was used as a "human shield" by the protesters, along with another government minister and a police commander.
"I was preparing for talks when women surrounded me and then there were problems. There were some who were angry and they forced me to walk," Mr Choquehuanca told the Spanish news agency Efe after his release.
"The fact that they decided to free me is a sign that they want to resolve matters through dialogue," he added.
Bows and arrows Riot police had been blocking the march for several days to prevent clashes with communities along the route who support the road project.
Indigenous protesters waving flags and brandishing traditional bows and arrows surged through the lines of riot police.
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/55569000/jpg/_55569307_012996670-1.jpg Supporters of the indigenous marchers have staged protests in cities across Bolivia
One officer was wounded, apparently by an arrow which struck his face.
The marchers were advancing on the town of Yucumo, which is populated by migrants from highland Bolivia who have promised to halt their progress.
The dispute over government plans to build a road through the Isiboro-Secure Indigenous Territory and National Park - known by its Spanish acronym TIPNIS - has sharply divided opinion in Bolivia.
The indigenous tribes that live in the reserve say the road would encourage illegal settlement and deforestation in their ancestral Amazon homeland.
But President Evo Morales says the road is vital for national integration and development.
He has also promised strict environmental safeguards.
Hundreds of protesters set off in August on the 500km (310 miles) march from the Amazon town of Trinidad to La Paz, the seat of Bolivia's government in the high Andes.
But last week they were stopped outside Yucumo by police who said they wanted to prevent possible clashes with supporters of President Morales.
The marchers said they had been blocked for political reasons, and were being denied access to food and water.
The protest is an embarrassment for President Morales, who is a prominent advocate of indigenous rights.
The road project has alienated some of the social movements who helped him become Bolivia's first indigenous president, provoking demonstrations across Bolivia.
The highway linking the highland city of Cochabamba with San Ignacio de Moxos in the Amazon lowlands is being funded by Brazil and built by a Brazilian company.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-14525659

[The Vegan Marxist]

http://www.revleft.com/vb/bolivia-against-green-t161689/index.html?p=2243047#post2243047

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

http://www.revleft.com/vb/bolivia-against-green-t161689/index.html?p=2243047#post2243047


Green Imperialism:laugh: saving the rainforest is "Imperialism"? There are legitimate concerns about migrant workers moving in and cutting trees or farming coca. On the other hand it is imperialistic for a nation-state to build roads through the territory of small isolated minority communities communities who just want to be left alone. Bolivia probably does need this road but the point is that the government did NOT consult indigenous residents as they had promised to do before such major construction efforts. The government obviously hasn't done enough to convince the natives that their lifestyle can be kept safe despite the road. He made the same top-down decision that every other central government in Latin America made to develop territory without first consulting with the communities in question. The same kind of decisions which Evo Morales protested with great gusto during the 90s and early 00s. There are two sides to this story and so it is silly to accuse the indigenous people from this forest reserve and their advocates of being "Imperialists".


Anyways, last night Evo Morales did the right thing and offered a referendum for the road (http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2011/09/20119262719973198.html), then did the wrong thing and ordered the storm troops to clear the protesters, arrest them, and ship them back to their homes. Evo Morales may be a well-intentioned reformist socialist but it's just as wrong when his government clears out protesters by force than when the Greek, American or Chilean governments do.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-15065442


Witnesses said about 500 police surrounded the protesters
Continue reading the main story (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-15065442#story_continues_1) Related Stories



Bolivia protesters break blockade (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-15048897)
Bolivians voice road march fears (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-14985281)
Bolivia Indians in road protest (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-14536163)


Bolivian Defence Minister Cecilia Chacon has resigned in protest at the government's decision to deploy police to break up an anti-road march.
Her resignation came amid growing public anger at the police action which saw some 500 officers fire tear gas and round up indigenous demonstrators.
The protesters had been marching since mid-August against plans to build a road through a rainforest reserve.
President Evo Morales says the road is essential for Bolivia's development.
However, on Sunday he offered to put the issue to a regional referendum.
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/55596000/jpg/_55596562_013021802-2.jpg Demonstrators blocked a landing strip on Monday to prevent police flying detainees out
Hours later, police wielding batons moved to clear the demonstrators from their camp outside the town of Yucomo, where they were stopped last week.
Protest leaders said dozens of people had been put on buses and driven away.
Local police chief Oscar Munoz said they were being taken back to their hometowns.
The Bolivian ombudsman, Rolando Villena, criticised what he said was excessive use of force by the police.
"Injured children, disappeared mothers who didn't want to separate from their children - this does not talk well about our democracy. This is not democracy," he said.
And on Monday, trade unions, indigenous associations and opposition parties all condemned the police action.
In a letter to President Morales, Ms Chacon gave notice of her "irrevocable" resignation.
"I do not agree with the decision to intervene in the march and I cannot defend or justify the measure when other alternatives existed," her letter said.
Deforestation Also on Monday, people seized the landing strip in the Amazon town of Rurrenabaque to prevent police from flying detained protesters out of the area.
Hundreds of people set off last month from Trinidad to walk 500km (310 miles) to Bolivia's main city, La Paz, but were stopped at Yucomo, with about half the journey covered.
On Saturday, they briefly detained the foreign minister, David Choquehuanca, forcing him to walk with them.
Mr Choquehuanca, who had come to negotiate with the protesters, said the fact that he was freed showed "they want to resolve matters through dialogue".
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/54619000/jpg/_54619726_012656653-1.jpg The road is already under construction
Plans for a road through the Isiboro-Secure Indigenous Territory and National Park - known by its Spanish acronym Tipnis - have divided opinion in Bolivia.
Indigenous people who live in the reserve say the highway would encourage illegal settlement and deforestation in their ancestral Amazon homeland.
But others, including Mr Morales, say the road would help bring basic services to isolated communities, and also boost the local economy by giving farmers better access to markets.
The road, which would link the highland city of Cochabamba with San Ignacio de Moxos in the Amazon lowlands, is being funded by Brazil and built by a Brazilian company.
The march is the latest in a series of challenges Mr Morales is facing from the indigenous groups and social movements that helped make him Bolivia's first indigenous president.
The argument for building the road is quite compelling for economic and development reasons alone but that doesn't change the fundamental fact that the indigenous people in this area also have a right to demand consultation.

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

Well, the good news is that after his government cracked down on the protest Evo is taking a more conciliatory approach. He agreed to pause the road and admitted that a national debate needed to be held.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-15072166


Bolivia's Evo Morales suspends Amazon road project

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/55604000/jpg/_55604030_013024378-1.jpg Allegations of police violence towards protesters triggered further protests in Bolivian cities
Continue reading the main story (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-15072166#story_continues_1) Related Stories



Bolivia road protest row spreads (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-15065442)
Bolivia protesters break blockade (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-15048897)
Bolivians voice road march fears (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-14985281)


Bolivian President Evo Morales has suspended work on a highway being built in the Amazon, amid a national furore over the way opposition to the road has been handled.
On Sunday police fired tear gas and rounded up hundreds of activists staging a march against the road.
A minister quit in protest and Mr Morales condemned the action when he announced the project's suspension.
He now says he will allow local regions to decide on the future of the road.
"There needs to be a national debate so the two provinces [Cochabamba and Beni] involved in this can decide... In the meantime the project is suspended," said Mr Morales, according to Reuters news agency.
He did not specify how the two provinces would decide, but on Sunday he said a referendum could be held - though government sources say this could take six months or more to organise.
The issue triggered anti-government protests in Cochabamba, Beni and La Paz - where thousands of protesters, mainly college students, gathered around the Quemado government palace.
Barricades The proposed 300km (190-mile) road, financed by Brazil, would link Brazil to Pacific ports in Chile and Peru.
Mr Morales says the road is essential for Bolivia's development, but it will run through a rainforest preserve and its construction is bitterly opposed by indigenous inhabitants.
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/55585000/jpg/_55585012_bolivia.jpg

Witnesses said about 500 police surrounded the protesters

About 1,000 protesters were staging a 500km march on the main city La Paz when they were stopped by riot police on Sunday in the Yucumo region.
Police forced protesters on to buses, but hundreds of local people lit fires on the roads, forcing authorities to detour to the airport in the Amazon town of Rurrenabaque.
But residents there blocked the runway with flaming tyres and barricades and police were forced to free the detainees.
Protesters complain that "extreme violence" was used when police surged into the demonstrators' camp.
They say an infant was killed and that some protesters remain missing - allegations denied by Interior Minister Sacha Llorenti, who claimed the police action was aimed at preventing clashes with pro-government groups who were approaching to try to halt the march.
But this explanation has been brushed off by protesters.
"We don't understand why the government has acted in this brutal manner," Rafael Quispe, one of the protest leaders, told AFP.
"This is a government that says it is of the indigenous people, yet it has attacked them."

[RedSonRising]

While this conflict is complex and a bit worrying, I do want to point out that I think it is very cool that a political space is being opened up for a national discussion of indigenous rights, concepts of development, environmentalism, and so on. I may not be Evo's biggest fan, but the method of trying to reconcile the conflict through cooperative discourse seems like an innovation which I would venture to guess didn't exist in prior neo-liberal administrations. I'm interested in where this is going.


The police need to chill the fuck out though before what goes around comes around.

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

So since this whole dust-up, a sizable portion of Evo Morales's ministers quit and there have been massive protests in the country. People are angry and he is facing the same kind of storm that earlier Bolivian leaders have faced under his leadership.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-15101253


Bolivia highway protests spread, paralysing La Paz

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/55643000/jpg/_55643404_boliviamorales.jpg Demonstrators expressed their anger at President Evo Morales for backing the road

(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-15101253#story_continues_1) Related Stories



Bolivia road row minister quits (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-15086046)
Bolivia halts work on Amazon road (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-15072166)
Bolivia protesters break blockade (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-15048897)


Tens of thousands of demonstrators in Bolivia have brought traffic to a standstill in central La Paz.
They were protesting against the construction of a highway which would pass through a nature reserve in the Amazon.
The Bolivian government says the road is essential for development and would encourage trade by linking remote communities to market towns.
But indigenous communities fear it could encourage illegal settlements.
Bolivia's largest labour union had called for a day of protest on Wednesday.
Public anger
Thousands blocked the streets of central La Paz, carrying banners opposing the road and criticising President Evo Morales.
One of the demonstrators told the Associated Press news agency that Evo Morales' government was "the worst and it should go because it attacked human beings, the indigenous compatriots who had given it their support, and now it's turned its back on them".
Many of the protesters called into question President Morales' commitment to indigenous rights and the protection of "Mother Earth", which he advocated during his election campaign.
President Morales has suspended work on the road until a referendum is held, but the furore over the construction and the government's handling of the protests has not abated.
Indigenous groups opposed to the road said on Wednesday they would resume their 500km (310-mile) march to La Paz.
Their trek was broken up by police firing tear gas on Sunday and protesters complained that "extreme violence" had been used.
Defence Minister Cecilia Chacon resigned in protest at the police action.
Interior Minster Sacha Llorenti and his deputy Marcos Farfan stepped down on Tuesday.
They had defended the break-up of the march, but denied ordering the use of force.