Bolivia: blockade of the gas conveyor system

The Guaraní people in the Bolivian Chaco region are about to accomplish a de-facto blockade of the gas producing conveyor systems, which are owned by the transnational oil companies Maxus, Repsol, Petrobras and TGS.

The most important demand of the Guaraní is the annulment of the coal hydrocarbon law, which was approved by the former president Gonzalo Sánchez de Losada in 1996, and which finally threw the doors wide open to the profits of the companies by leaving the production and marketing of the oil wells to their discretion.

"We don't want to die any longer from hunger", says Nelly Romero, the vice president of the assembly of the Guaraní people (Asamblea del Pueblo Guaraní - APG) in Carini, where the social protest movement started on the 30th of April. She stressed determinedly that "there will only be negotiations in the presence of the president Carlos Mesa".

In these days when symbolic actions to blockading activities of the petroleum companies took place, the plenum of the APG declined any approach of subordinate authorities because the social organisations and movements have a long history of non-compliance with agreements.

At present more than 500 indigenous Guaraní having made the journey from their municipalities to the facilities of the petroleum companies. However, the APG vowed that more brothers of the 500 communities ("capitanías") of the Guaraní people, who are scattered in 16 districts on 5 provinces of the Bolivian Chaco, would join one after the other.

"We have blockaded already everything moving on earth, but not what is moving in the air", explained Nelly Romero, referring to the small aeroplanes which are used by the entrepreneurs to maintain their supplies whilst their enterprises are closed.

Ms Nelly Romero stressed that the women in the frontlines of the protest movement "stand up til the very end", and called on the people to "defend the gas, because it is the property of all Bolivians". "We have now lost all our resources and are still suffering from hunger, that's why the people of the Guaraní have risen up," she declared.

Collective answer

In the same social struggle, but on a different ecological basis, the authorities of the Aymará in the Andes region answered on May 3rd after the indigenous council meeting ("cabildo") which united the 20 provinces in La Paz, that it was decided to grant the Bolivian government a period of 4 days to explain their proposals for solutions [planteamientos] and in this order: Hydrocarbon and to be responsive to the 72 points of the federal trade union of the agricultural workers of Bolivia (Confederación Sindical Unica de Trabajadores Campesinos de Bolivia -- CSUTCB).

If there no positive answer was received, which was predicted as being unlikely [deshauciado] by several leaders, road blockades would be imminent.
The technique inherited by the ancestors of the Aymará communities prepared them for this.

The main position of the members of the communities heads for: " Mesa -- traitor ", as the president hasn't met his obligations made on October 20th, 2003 and he hasn't made any good use of his position as president either.

"Since then he hasn't even replied to our five letters, which we sent to the president," complains the leading member of the CSUTCB, Felipe Quispe. "In the communities there are many Jilakatas and Kuracas, who can not write, but if they want to communicate by letter, they call on a school graduate or teacher to write one for them or to read it to them. The government can't even do that, it seems to be ignorant."

Rufo Calle, a leading member of the association Tupaj Katari of La Paz, added:
"it can not be that the president doesn't come to the people to find out what is needed, and what is wanted in this time of suffering".
"Don't we want to eat what we have produced? Don't we want to be properly clothed, to be educated, to have electricity for light and streets, too?" asks Quispe [...]

Although the leaders hadn't received any answer, they said that they would be ready for the dialogue. Quispe affirmed: "We want a frank, sincere and long continuous dialog at which neither the ministers nor the president become tired ... "

Further signals

After this prelude amongst Guaranís and Aymarás, other social groups spoke out about the demands for the provision of workplaces. Members of the unemployed union positioned themselves at the doors of the church of San Agustín beside the municipal authority of La Paz, loaded with dynamite.
They threatened to sacrifice themselves, together with their wives and children, if the government doesn't want to listen to their demands for work.

In the mining centre Caracoles, members of miner collectives occupied the facilities of the enterprise managed by the mining group Bajadería which has signed a treaty with Comibol about distributed risk.
The workers demanded that the enterprise should come under their control, so that the workers could market the unprocessed tin, now that the prices for ore have risen at the international markets.

Finally, the workers trade union of Bolivia hopes that the different attached branches of professions will gradually follow the unlimited general strike arranged for May 3rd. Slowly, some areas like teaching staff and health services have started with the measure and it was announced that the trade union members will take to the streets this week to mobilize.