In this Spanish language article, CONTIOCAP “reaffirmed its rejection of left and right extractivism and accuses the Evo Morales government of relying on "these colonial systems." "For us ... there are no right or left political systems. (...) all these systems violate our rights with extractivism; with roads, oil explorations, mining, hydroelectric, deforestation for transgenics, all for money" indicates CONTIOCAP. The statement denies Evo Morales' arguments that there was a coup d'etat. What happened is that the government committed fraud "to proclaim itself the winner of a fourth illegal re-election." In addition, he notes that Evo Morales violated the principle of rotating government of indigenous peoples "by wanting to perpetuate himself in power as if you were the only one entitled to represent Bolivia." You can view the entire statement here.
After Evo: As Right-Wing Senator Declares Herself President, What’s Next for Bolivia?
On November 13, Democracy Now! interviewed Pablo Solon (former ambassador to the United Nations under President Evo Morales until 2011 and former chief negotiator on climate change for Bolivia), and Kevin Young (Assistant Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst). Democracy Now! is a daily, global, independent news hour.
During the second part of the 2-part interview, Pablo Solon discussed why he broke ties with President Evo Morales: “Well, I was very close to Evo Morales, and we were friends. And the reason why I broke with him was because there was this repression to the indigenous march of TIPNIS, an indigenous territory and a national park, that happened in 2011. Five hundred policemen went and beat 1,000 indigenous people. And the government said, “Oh, we didn’t order that.” But nobody has been punished. The minister of government at that time was — went now to the — went at that time to the U.N. So, for me, that was terrible, because you can make mistakes, but there are principles. An indigenous government cannot use repression against another indigenous group or anyone.”
Pablo Solon also stated: “Second, Evo Morales began to change when he was in the government…once we were able to have the new Constitution, once Evo Morales won the second election, and he got two-thirds in the Parliament, he began to control all the other institutions — the Supreme Court, the Electoral Court, the Constitutional Court — all the institutions….began to do alliances with right-wing forces, the same right-wing forces that now are against him. For example, all the laws that benefit the big agribusiness in Santa Cruz were approved by the government and by the opposition. That is why, when we had these forest fires in Bolivia this year of 5 million hectares and we began to see what laws allowed the situation, it was clear that the laws had been approved by both the government and the opposition. He tried to give them some concessions in order to have their support.”
Solon concluded that: “we expected Evo Morales to change, really, the economic structures of Bolivia, not to be dependent only on gas export, not to have big agribusiness that exists because we, as the state, give them subsidies. We wanted a real respect to indigenous rights, to the environment. But that was not the case. We went back to GMOs. We went back to biofuels. Evo Morales had plans of building new big megadams. So, you you had these problems. And that is why Evo Morales began to be very much criticized. And you had also cases of corruption, that didn’t involve him directly, but involved very high-level persons in the government, and also in indigenous and social organizations.”
Although Pablo Solon disagreed with Kevin Young regarding whether the events leading to President Morales’ resignation qualified as a coup, Kevin Young agreed with Pablo Solon that “the government of Evo Morales was mixed in terms of its record.”
You can view the interview and read the transcript here.
Bolivia’s Anti-Indigenous Backlash Is Growing - The ouster of President Evo Morales has reignited the country’s long-standing racism against its indigenous peoples.
Although this article in the progressive weekly The Nation acknowledges that “Morales’s tenure was far from perfect” and that it “allowed transnational extractive projects on indigenous lands, including a dam project in the Beni lowlands and the revival of a highway to be constructed along the Bolivian Amazon,” it claims that “Bolivia’s far right has exploited the power vacuum and stoked anti-indigenous sentiment.” It further states that: “The potential return of a conservative government after Morales’s 14-year rule has brought with it a resurgence of a virulent strain of anti-indigenous hatred with deep roots in Bolivia, reminiscent of the country’s “gas wars,” in which discontent over the government’s exploitation of Bolivia’s natural gas grew into large-scale protests led in part by Morales.”
Ruth Alipaz is quoted in the article: “This is a very dangerous scenario,” said Ruth Alipaz, an environmental activist from the northeastern lowlands of Bolivia. “The climate on Sunday was one in which anything could happen.” However, in separate correspondence, Ruth Alipaz expressed concern that her quote was taken out of context and that the article omitted key facts and did not tell the whole story. See her CNN interview to learn more.
Bolivia in crisis: how Evo Morales was forced out
On November 10, President Evo Morales resigned following 3 weeks of protests nation-wide. According to this article in The Conversation, “The events represent both a military coup d’état and a moment of mass protest that unseated the government…The opposition to Morales is…comprised of multiple different – and contradictory – currents. First, there is a group concerned with the abstract notion of representative democracy, comprised of the urban middle-classes and university students. This is probably the largest opposition group and is found in all nine departmental capitals.
The second are indigenous groups which do not share the developmental agenda of the MAS government, and are in the pathways of extractive or large-scale infrastructure projects. The most visible of this opposition has come from the lowland indigenous groups, particularly those in the Isiboro Sécure National Park and Indigenous Territory and groups in the Chaco regions affected by hydrocarbon extraction. Others include groups in the Madidi national park opposing the megadams Bala and Chapete and the ayllus, socio-territorial units of Aymara indigenous communities, of North Potosí.”
'We need radical change' to protect the Amazon - Conservationist Paul Rosolie discusses the importance of the Amazon and how current generations can still save it.
Al-Jazeera’s interview with conservationist Paul Rosolie regarding the Amazon fires, global deforestation, and how threats to indigenous peoples and their lands are just a harbinger for what awaits us all should we fail to act.
Says Rosolie, “We don't have that relationship with natural systems whereas [indigenous] people, their sacred places - their temple, their church, their mosque - is the forest. Their medicines come from the forest, their food comes from - the monkeys, the trees, the rivers - so as these systems are depleted, we're actually losing indigenous cultures, we're losing entire languages as these people are pushed out of their lands and as their ability to make a living is destroyed...they know what's affecting them is soon going to affect the [planet].”
Neocolonization: China's plan to conquer Latin America and the dangerous consequences
This Spanish-language article raises concerns regarding the negative impact of Chinese investment in Latin America. “A report prepared by the Collective on Chinese Financing and Investments, Human Rights and Environment (CICDHA) -composed by a consortium of NGOs from Ecuador, Argentina, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil- documented “the failure of the Chinese State to comply with its extraterritorial obligations in terms of human rights for at least 18 projects operated by 15 Chinese business consortiums, which have acted with the support of 6 Chinese banks in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru. Of the 18 documented cases, 7 belong to the mining industry, 6 to the oil industry and 5 to the water sector. Also, 15 affect indigenous territories, 11 protected natural areas, 5 are natural and cultural heritage recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and 12 correspond to the Ecuadorian, Bolivian Amazon region and Brazilian.”
The article gives specific mention to the negative impact in Bolivia: “In most of the projects, China disregards international recommendations and runs over communities - mostly native ones - and the environment. In Bolivia, for example, “the Nueva Esperanza oil block overlaps with one of the three territories of the Tacana indigenous people, which houses an indigenous people in voluntary isolation, Toromona. Although the Tacana opposed oil exploration, the Bolivian State imposed the project, and carried out a consultation process in which conditions were agreed to safeguard the territory and protect the Tacana and Toromona peoples. However, BGP Inc. ignored the agreements and caused environmental damage affecting their livelihoods, ”says the same document.”
Indigenous Leader Claims "Evo is committing crimes against humanity"
After a week of political unrest provoked by the Bolivian Presidential Elections, Bolivian President, Evo Morales, asked his followers to fence in the nation’s cities. As a response, the Departmental Coordinator for Change (Codecam) threatened to prohibit food from entering cities, an action seen as contrary to the progressive 2009 Constitution promoted by the Morales Government. This video, shows a taped CNN interview with Ruth Alipaz Cuqui, the General Coordinator of the National Coordination for the Defense of Indigenous & Campesino Territories, and Protected Areas of Bolivia (Contiocap). Contiocap is currently defending two national parks: Madidi National Park and Pilon Lajas National Reserve, from two mega dam proposals. Alipaz believes that Morales is repressing the people of Bolivia and that he is committing crimes against humanity.
Dolphins of the Amazon, threatened by hydroelectric plants and mercury contamination
This Spanish-language article discusses the negative impact of the use of mercury in mining, fires, deforestation and river degradation in the Amazon. “The investigation showed that the life of these animals is affected by the construction of dams in the region, because it threatens their life cycle and isolates populations…with the dams the migration of fish - the main food of dolphins - is interrupted, which creates a significant threat to its reproduction.”
Next administration will manage debt of more than US $ 10,747 MM
“For his part, the expert and energy analyst, Hugo Del Granado, questioned the electricity projects promoted by the Government, such as the mega-hydroelectric Chepete and Bala, when the country has a surplus of 2,000 megawatts (Mw) without insured markets for export. He proposed the modification of the energy matrix with less commitment to fossil fuels. “With the inauguration of the Entre Ríos and Warnes thermoelectric plant, the generation capacity is 3,500 megawatts. Why do they continue to promote power generation projects if they don't know what to do with that surplus? ”, he asked” See the rest of this Spanish-language article from Los Tiempos here.
Evo Morales and the Power of the Past in Bolivian Politics
This article contains excerpts from the author’s recent book The Five Hundred Year Rebellion: Indigenous Movements and the Decolonization of History in Bolivia
“The contradictions inherent in the Morales administration’s decision to deepen extractivist projects in mining, gas, and mega-dams while simultaneously cheerleading Mother Earth will impact the nation and its indigenous movements for decades to come.”
A related article by the same author with the same quote can be found here.