Protests Continue in La Paz

Nationwide protests began stirring in La Paz last week. Roadblocks, strikes, demonstrations, closing of government offices, and halting of all public transport have delayed my move to the capital city. Last night, Vivi described to me her experiences during protests of the wide spread constitutional changes two years ago (not to worry, nothing nearly as intense as the current wave of unrest). Below is her account of the events of July and August 2008.

Note: In addition to my hand clearly visible in the translation, I’ve attempted to label places, people, and companies that might not be known to all those at home. I’ve tried to avoid altering Viviana’s depiction as much as possible.

Going Public: The Making of Public Institutions in Bolivia

July-August 2008

Bolivia was undergoing major internal conflicts after battles between the Western and Eastern provinces regarding the distribution of economic resources generated from a direct tax on hydrocarbons. The incumbent government, led by President Evo Morales, was preparing negotiations with Santa Cruz, [the petroleum powerhouse in the East], which would put a stop to the growing anti-Evo movement pressuring the administration. But protester’s confrontations grew stronger with each subsequent demonstration. In La Paz, the government had given up its direct fight against protestors. Filling the streets and dominating the News, I could only see marches led by the Bolivian Central Labor Union [known by its Spanish acronym, COB], university students who marched in front of the Presidential Palace to voice their complaints.

Back in Santa Cruz, a climate of insecurity overcame the city. A group of student activists, the Santa Cruz Youth Union, joined forces with the Santa Cruz Civic Committee, which had taken drastic measures to pressure Evo Morales to listen their demands.

With the streets taken by the COB and with students from the public college Gabriel Rene Moreno University waving banners and shouting, people took to the streets demanding the fair distribution of economic resources throughout the country. 80% of hydrocarbon royalties generated by Santa Cruz are devoted to La Paz. Only 20% stays in the province, even though Santa Cruz has the highest population growth rate and is the second largest department in Bolivia.

Talks resulted without any agreements. No one was willing to compromise in negotiations. While the Unionists were preparing a coup to seize all public institutions, such as the National Agrarian Reform Institute (INRA), the newly nationalized telecommunications company ENTEL, the Office of Public Defense, the Internal Revenue Office, and the Ministry of Forestry. In the latter, I was completing an internship with the legal department. For two weeks we arrived at the office every morning with the overpowering fear that mobs would storm the building at any moment. Anyone inside was in danger of being attacked. Police guarded the place, but we felt no security. The mobs had already taken the other aforementioned institutions, and at this point, only ours remained untouched. The violent clashes and the physical and economic damage at the other institutions had us all on edge. We had to take precautions. In the back of our office was a primary school. My boss placed three ladders on the wall to escape into the school if and when mobs seized the last institution on their “hit list.”

At work, we were all nervous. In the distance we heard the fireworks, the smell of tear gas, the screams of those confronted by the military police. Every noise felt closer to us than the previous. When we finally heard a loud noise nearby, we ran to the stairs. But silence always followed and we returned to work.

At night the universities closed their doors, including mine (Domingo Savio Private University). But during daylight, it was business as usual. I went to normal classes. I took tests. All the while, my friends were outside. Many decided not to go class. Public transportation wasn’t in operation. Insecurity filled the empty streets.

One day, I was chatting outside of school with classmate who belonged to the Santa Cruz Youth Union. He informed me that in two days, the student activists would take control of the Ministry of Forestry, where I was working. I immediately called my boss to inform him. We agreed to meet at the office. We removed the most valuable documents and some important computers. We didn’t have much time and could only take our most valued possessions to a safe place. The police still guarded the site.

The next day I woke up early to the TV news reporting that the Ministry of Forestry had been taken by the Unionists at dawn. I could see images of my destroyed office and scattered documents. I watched as the mob stole computers and air conditioners, which was well beyond politically holding hostage office buildings -- blatant criminal acts that destroyed everything. And what they could not destroy, they lit up in flames. I could only watch as our workplace burned to the ground.

During the next two months, nobody worked. The situation only worsened in the country as clashes and deaths were daily bread in the news. These we were dreary, awful, sad days.

After a long period of negotiations of the governors of the departments [provinces] of Pando, Tarija, Beni and Santa Cruz, the politicians all reached an agreement. To this day, we still do not exactly know how, but everything returned to normal. Miraculously officials acted as though nothing happened. Nobody addressed any changes. Was it bribery? Was it threats? Nobody knows. But everything returned to normal.

Protests Continue in La Paz