A spiral of violence that began in mid-January in Bolivia’s coca-growing Chapare region and spread across the country leaving at least nine dead, was at least temporarily braked on February 9 when the government agreed to reverse several actions which had sparked the initial Chapare confrontation. The conflict threatens to flare again, however, as protests continue over an ever-broadening set of social and economic issues.
The epicenter of the strife was Sacaba, a town outside the city of Cochabamba, where soldiers closed the main coca-leaf market on January 14 in accord with two December 27 presidential decrees outlawing the sale and transport of coca leaves in the Chapare. The right to produce and sell coca for "traditional" (non-cocaine) uses is backed by the Bolivian constitution and legal code, and regulated coca sales were previously permitted in the Chapare. Mid-January confrontations between armed forces members and coca growers trying to "retake" the Sacaba market led to the deaths of two growers and four soldiers. Two of the soldiers were allegedly killed by sharpshooters, the bodies of the other two were found bearing signs of torture.
Government officials accused coca grower leader and Congress member Evo Morales of being the "intellectual author" of the soldiers’ killings and backed Morales’ ouster from his congressional seat, which came after a quick and dramatic congressional vote on January 24. But unions and campesino organizations rallied behind Morales and the Chapare growers, staging roadblocks, transport strikes and protests in various parts of the country.
In Cochabamba city—previously the center of so-called "Water War" protests over the privatization of the regional water system—solidarity marches which had begun peacefully on January 14 subsequently turned violent. In La Paz, national peasant union leader Felipe Quispe, known as "Mallku," tried to forcefully take over the country’s land reform offices and declared an escalating national strike over a broad set of issues, including utility rates, pensions, small debtor relief and political corruption.
On January 19, a special government security unit known as "Dalmatas" forcefully entered the coca growers federation’s offices in Cochabamba, indiscriminately attacking those present, including children and representatives of the press and human rights groups. On January 22, armed forces members shut down the coca growers’ Chapare-based Radio Soberanía.
On January 29, a Chapare coca grower was shot to death, allegedly by soldiers, during a peaceful protest over Morales’ ouster. Another campesino was killed and six more injured February 6 in clashes with police in Chapallata, between the cities of Oruro and Potosí.
The Bolivian government initially refused to negotiate with Morales or other union leaders—most of whom were in prison after being arrested during the protests—until those guilty of killing the four armed forces members in Sacaba had been identified. Catholic Church groups which had previously acted as facilitators for talks between the coca growers and the government at one point dropped out of the process, expressing concerns about past manipulation and a desire to "speak openly and denounce what happens day by day." Later, however, Church leaders, the national ombudsperson and the National Permanent Assembly of Human Rights were able to help broker a truce. In the February 9 agreement, campesino groups agreed to suspend blockades in Cochabamba in exchange for the government’s reopening of the Sacaba coca market and Radio Soberanía, a review of the decrees which led to the coca market closing, the release of 69 people arrested during the protests, suspension of coca eradication in the Yungas region, and indemnization for those killed or hurt in the conflict. The growers dropped their demand for Morales’ return to Congress; Morales later announced he would run for president in June’s national elections as the candidate of the Movement to Socialism (MAS).
Meanwhile, protests and blockades continued in many parts of the country, though "Mallku" called for a temporary halt to the actions on February 20 as a response to a freak hail and rain storm that killed 27 people and caused extensive damage in the capital, La Paz.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
George Ann Potter is an economic anthropologist who lives in Cochabamba, Bolivia and works on viable alternative development.
Latinamerica Press is a bi-weekly publication of information and analysis about Latin America and the Caribbean.
http://www.latinamericapress.org
