Bolivia - an eyewitness account
solitage - forwarded from a-infos newswire. | 16.10.2003 18:42 | Social Struggles
Marching through the streets near government headquarters, more rebels appear, residents of the area, adding to the march, with clubs and stones. It is the people,
humiliated and massacred with machine guns and rifles for more than 48 hours. It is the people that has decided to kick out the government of millionaire Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada.
humiliated and massacred with machine guns and rifles for more than 48 hours. It is the people that has decided to kick out the government of millionaire Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada.
[13/10/2003 - 12.30pm] A human tide, coming from El
Alto, is already in the centre of the capital La Paz. They
hurry towards the Palace. Marching through the streets near
government headquarters, more rebels appear, residents of the
area, adding to the march, with clubs and stones. It is the people,
humiliated and massacred with machine guns and rifles
for more than 48 hours. It is the people that has decided to
kick out the government of millionaire Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada.
The neighborhoods of the north, of the east and of the
west are already in the hands of the people. In the city
centre, at the government's headquarters, workers, unemployed and
students control the main streets, awaiting the arrival of the
residents of El Alto before occupying the Praça Murillo, home to
the Government's vast Palace, protected by a ring of fire
and machine guns.
The military, heavily armed, are holding on to the
symbol of power. The president, a recluse in his official
residence in the South of the city, is alone and desperate, meeting
with those ministers who still back him. Journalists already
speculate on his dismissal, which seems imminent.
The human tide continues to move forward. Everone is
screaming, everyone is furious. Some say that there are 20,000 -
others calculate more than 30,000. But it is certain that are
more than ever intent on avenging the massacre, they cannot
forget the 30 plus who have died and the 150-odd wounded in the last
48 hours.
From the city of Oruro, in El Alto, the padrecitos of
the Church bless a countless crowd of shopkeepers, workers,
miners and students who have decided to march on La Paz, leaving
behind their children, their brothers and sisters, to remove
Sánchez de Lozada.
"Goni, murderer, we want your head", screams the crowd
coming from El Alto. They are men, women, children, it is the
people that is getting rid of the democracy of the rich. They
are 2 kilometers from the Palace. The millonaire, in the
south of the city, follows in silence, a car with diplomatic plates
waiting at the door.
Source: Econoticiasbolivia.com
[translation - nmcn/ainfos]
Alto, is already in the centre of the capital La Paz. They
hurry towards the Palace. Marching through the streets near
government headquarters, more rebels appear, residents of the
area, adding to the march, with clubs and stones. It is the people,
humiliated and massacred with machine guns and rifles
for more than 48 hours. It is the people that has decided to
kick out the government of millionaire Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada.
The neighborhoods of the north, of the east and of the
west are already in the hands of the people. In the city
centre, at the government's headquarters, workers, unemployed and
students control the main streets, awaiting the arrival of the
residents of El Alto before occupying the Praça Murillo, home to
the Government's vast Palace, protected by a ring of fire
and machine guns.
The military, heavily armed, are holding on to the
symbol of power. The president, a recluse in his official
residence in the South of the city, is alone and desperate, meeting
with those ministers who still back him. Journalists already
speculate on his dismissal, which seems imminent.
The human tide continues to move forward. Everone is
screaming, everyone is furious. Some say that there are 20,000 -
others calculate more than 30,000. But it is certain that are
more than ever intent on avenging the massacre, they cannot
forget the 30 plus who have died and the 150-odd wounded in the last
48 hours.
From the city of Oruro, in El Alto, the padrecitos of
the Church bless a countless crowd of shopkeepers, workers,
miners and students who have decided to march on La Paz, leaving
behind their children, their brothers and sisters, to remove
Sánchez de Lozada.
"Goni, murderer, we want your head", screams the crowd
coming from El Alto. They are men, women, children, it is the
people that is getting rid of the democracy of the rich. They
are 2 kilometers from the Palace. The millonaire, in the
south of the city, follows in silence, a car with diplomatic plates
waiting at the door.
Source: Econoticiasbolivia.com
[translation - nmcn/ainfos]
solitage - forwarded from a-infos newswire.