Some small and some big indications of change in Bolivia

Graffiti like this is common on the walls of the Bolivian town of Uyuni - a dry, barren, otherworldly place of 15,000 people situated 3,600 metres above sea level. Uyuni is an extremely popular destination for tourists as it is the main access point for tours of the incomparable 'Salar de Uyuni' (salt flats). The overwhelming majority of the town are Bolivian indigenous peoples. We don't know much about the politics of 'POR' but the fact that there are revolutionary slogans written of the walls of this relatively isolated place indicates that a growing enthusiasm for fundamental social change among the people of Bolivia.

On the other hand is has been impossible to miss (even for people who speak Spanish as poorly as us!) the protests, strikes and blockades that have gripped Bolivia over the past few days. The bloqueras led by the radical campesinos appear to have been quite a successful demonstration of strength in response to the abortive strike called over week ago by conservative, old-elite interests who have their largest base of support in the eastern city of Santa Cruz.

Another unmistakable example of Bolivia's political direction was present in the speech Bolivian president Evo Morales gave to the United Nations General Assembly mid week. Morales' full speech can be accessed at www.boliviarising.blogspot.com. In the speech Morales explained that Bolivia is just at the beginning of a process of refounding the nation based on the principles of social justice, inclusion of the oppressed indigenous majority, and public ownership of the nation's natural resources. He also strongly defended the right of indigenous Bolivian farmers to continue growing coca leaf as part of Bolivias cultural heritage. He had smuggled a coca leaf into the UN headquarters in Washington (defying ridiculous US laws outlawing it as a narcotic) and whipped it out during his address declaring that 'this is not a drug' but an important part of indigenous culture.

On the other hand the contradictions and weaknesses in Bolivias revolutionary process are also becoming clearer to us. The Bolivia Rising site contains a number of articles regarding the recent resignation of the Minister of Hydrocarbons and Energy, Soliz Rada, which was partly in protest against the more conservative wing of the government who are dragging their feet in carrying out the popular policy of re-nationalising Bolvia's huge natural gas reserves. Another article in the most recent Green Left Weekly by Pablo Stefanoni anaylses some of the growing internal fractures between the more radical “confrontation” and more reformist “negotiation” lines within Morales’s party, the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS). This extremely interesting article can be accessed at:

The two blocs within MAS
http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2006/685/685p17.htm