Bolivia--City Hall Burned
Date: Sun, 4 Jun 2000 04:03:02 

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      A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
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On May 29,  2000, at 7 a.m., in the city of Alto, thousands of
demonstrators blocked the country's most important highway. The three main
groups of people who participated in this demonstration were young people
and their families who were demanding the creation of an autonomous
university for this city of one million, unionists who were challenging the
draconian tax reforms, and local residents challenging the increases in
charges for electricity, sewage and fuel. There were also unionists who were
protesting the fascistic policies of the genocidal former dictator, now
President, Hugo Banzer.

The three main groups began marching from separate points and converged at
the city hall at about 11 a.m. The police guarding the building sprayed the
demonstrators with tear gas. The demonstrators reacted by throwing rocks and
large firecrackers. After a while, they entered the building and smashed
computers, furniture, and windows, and set fire to parts of a reactionary
display of the Virgin Mary that the mayor had in an office. Finally, they
set parts of the building itself on fire.

About 20,000 people participated in the protest, chanting denunciations of
the demagogic mayor and the President, the murderer, General Hugo Banzer.
The police pulled back in fear of the popular fury. Then, at 1 p.m. they
returned to attack the protesters. Several people were injured, and six
people were arrested and charged with damaging public property.

The following day, the government accused anarchists of instigating the
rebellion.

The people who participated in these events are residents of the poorest
city in Bolivia. And Bolivia was classified by the UN at the end of March as
having the second poorest economy in the world; only the economy of
Bangladesh is poorer. Bolivia is a country which is currently governed by a
murderer, who, in the 1970s headed a brutal military dictatorship which
perpetrated numerous disappearances, hundreds of murders, tortured thousands
and sent thousands into exile. It incarcerated thousands in concentration
camps.

During February and April of this year, the people of Cochabamba took direct
action and created an openly pre-insurrectionary situation to expel the
multinationals International Water and Abengoa, which had raised the water
rates by 300 percent.

Also this year, university students in the cities of Potosi, Sucre, Santa
Cruz and La Paz fought the repressive forces with dynamite. In some cases,
they were able to stop the plans for the privatization of education.

During the 1940s, popular demonstrations culminated when a huge crowd
overwhelmed the army and the police, entered the government palace and
proceeded to hang then President Villarroel from a lamppost.

During the 1950s, urban and rural workers' militias defeated the army, even
though later sections of the rising bourgeoisie stole the social revolution.

Today the Bolivian state  has been weakened by a nonhierarchical movement
>>from below. On several occasions this movement has gone beyond the tutelage
of the union and Leninist party bureaucracies. Mass spontaneity and popular
initiative have been of great importance in the movement, even though there
have been very few local anarchists involved. The basic weakness of
anarchist organizations has made it difficult for them to be involved as
much as they should.

Still, there are many reasons for hope in this so-called forgotten corner of
the world.

JUVENTUDES LIBERTARIAS.
Contact:  juventudes_libertarias@latinmail.com
Bolivia 31.05.00