Sunday 11/18/01 Bolivia Update ENGLISH

Hi all PGA friends,
I got this from bolivia: Translations from local
newspapers...

See you 
Louca

" ...so far the
> ultra-militarization
> has kept things "down" and I got a bunch of US
> Congresspeople to write a
> strong letter of support for us - whatever you can do
> from Europe would be
> great - abrazos y solidaridad" - ga
> 
> 
> 
> >La Opinion Sunday 11/18/01
> >	At yesterday's assembly of Chapare peasants in Lauca
> Ene (the military had
> >first taken over the locale in the early morning but
> then left) the 6
> >Federations declared that they would form armed self
> defense units since
> >the GOB protects US not Bolivian interests and that the
> road blockade would
> >start tomorrow. The Human Rights Commission of the
> Bolivian House of
> >Representatives (Diputados) entered the zone to
> investigate human rights
> >abuses, but Morales, himself a Congressman, doubts its
> "weight" with the GOB.
> >
> >Opinion published in full in Spanish the letter sent to
> US Ambassador Rocha
> >from members of the US Congress expressing their
> concerns regarding HRs
> >abuses associated with the US sponsored War on Drugs in
> the Chapare
> >
> >US Ambassador Rocha gave an interview - follows a brief
> translation:
> >Thre are now 18,000 families in the Chapare who benefit
> from alternative
> >development (my note: I am conducting a several year
> study on this very
> >subject and NO other source, including US, has quoted
> such a high number).
> >The promise of the US to the GOB for alt dev will
> continue because it is
> >the best option that we can offer all those peasants who
> grow coca." (MY
> >note- none of my or other studies have justified this to
> date)
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >----------  
> >	
> >My partial translation from an editorial -no author
> cited - in today's Los
> >Tiempos (CBBA's "premier" and most centrist newspaper)
> >
> >	"There is no easy task in finding culprits (in the
> Chapare conflict)and
> >moreover culpability of the various GOBs over the last
> 30 years is
> >evident.In truth, before the problem became as big as it
> is now, various
> >GOBs should have been working toward alternative
> sustainable development in
> >the Chapare. But those GOBs did nothng, maintaining the
> Chapare as the
> >source of greatest illicit drug income and as an example
> of the greatet
> >national inefficiency and negligence to Bolivian
> citizens. These
> >consecutive GOBs (including this and the former) served
> us no purpose other
> >than to export an illegal substance. In the Chapare
> there have been
> >hundreds of millions of dollars donated from
> international sources (mostly
> >US) over the last decade. But here comes the question?
> Why no real
> >development? The answer lies in the bureacrats of all
> these GOBs, including
> >the actual Bolivian Drug Czar (Vice Minister for Social
> Defense), Oswaldo
> >Antesana (and ex-NAS employee, and Minister of
> agriculture and VM for
> >alternative development). Thus, it would seem that the
> cocaleros of Evo
> >Morales have all reason on their side. 
> >	Confronting this despair and complexity, there is other
> option but action,
> >according to our great Boliviaan thinker, Franz Tamayo.
> We are aware that
> >the Chapare needs to be discontaminated of coca, but
> there should be an
> >equal dedication and intelligent and sensitive actions
> by the GOB which
> >provide the peasants who live there a dignified way of
> life (income),
> >stopping us not only from killing each other but which
> also guarantees our
> >national independence and sovereignty (implied impaired
> by the USG).
> >
> >ALSO FROM TODAY'S LOS TIEMPOS NEWS SECTION
> >
> >Starting tomorrow, Monday, the Chapare peasants will
> begin road blocks
> >again unless President of GOB Quiroga himself goes to
> the region to
> >dialogue. Today they intend to fill the main road with
> alternative
> >development produce (such as pineapples) that they can't
> sell. Mallku still
> >say he will begin national blockades on Tuesday.
> >
> >Some 700 peasants (mostly women) attended the funerals
> of 3 peasants killed
> >by the armed forces last week -they were surrounded by
> 500 armed combined
> >GOB forces
> >	
> >The Minister of Agriculture, Nunez, said he is willing
> to discuss
> >alterntive development but not the peaasants' request
> for a "cato" of coca
> >per family (last year's 19 point accord which ended last
> year's blockades
> >contained 13 points related to alt dev, none of which
> the GOB has fulfilled
> >- indeed, the current VM for Alt Dev told me 3 weeks ago
> that the GOB never
> >intended to fulfill the accords). Nunez added thst
> Morales is currently
> >legally accused of sedition and incitement to violence
> but that as a
> >Congressman, Morales falls under Bolivian Congressional
> jurisdiction. In a
> >final note, Nunez said the GOB is unwilling to even
> discuss zero coca
> >(their and the USG's own Plan').
> >
> >Both the GOB and the 6 Feds have responded favorably to
> the Church's offer
> >to facilitate a dialogue but after talking to both
> sides, the Church says
> >there is no room for such dialogue at this time - it
> would only be a war of
> >words
> >
> >Morales was finally allowed to leave Eterezama yesterday
> after a week of
> >virtual military containment (where he and other peasant
> leaders had been
> >seeking refuge in the HRs office there-gassed at least
> twice) to lead a
> >meeeting in Lauca Ene. At the Lauca Ene meeting, it waas
> decided to sell no
> >food or refreshments (beverages) to the military. Some
> peasants attending
> >the meeting expressed their fear of new blockades.
> >
> >
>