[Milton]

Today's Combat in La Paz<br /> By Luis Gomez,<br /> Posted on Tue Jun 7th, 2005 at 09:31:22 PM EST<br /> (Posted in Spanish at 4:30 pm)<br /> <br /> Guest what, kind readers…. as authentic journalist Claudia Espinoza said at midday, when we ran into each other in the middle of today’s marches: “Once again, we have to write about thousands of marchers who shut down La Paz and clash with the police as they try to take Plaza Murillo.” Well, exactly right… today, everyone again descended from El Alto into La Paz, this time with the addition of several contingents of miners. The miners numbered several thousand today, and arrived heavily armed with dynamite.<br /> <br /> And while the clashes with police have still not ended at this hour of the afternoon, the “professional” politicians are still wrapped up in Carlos Mesa’s resignation, the presidential succession and the pressure from the Santa Cruz right wing… but nothing has changed, except for a considerable rise in the people’s anger. <br /> <br /> Last night, while crybaby Carlos Mesa said that he was again putting up his resignation for consideration by the National Congress, Narco News asked an Aymara leader (from the Omasuyos province) if that would change the situation… “No, this doesn’t resolve things. As long as we haven’t nationalized, our position does not change. We will come down into La Paz tomorrow, prepared to fight,” was his brief anwer.<br /> <br /> Evo Morales, a few minutes after the resignation (and yes, kind readers, Mesa appeared once again before national television cameras), said that it had all been just “a new show from the president of the republic.” And Evo, making it clear that Hormando Vaa Diez could not be allowed to take power by right of succession, said that the best thing would be for Vaca Diez and the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Mario Cossio, to renoune that right.<br /> <br /> If those two congressional leaders will not accept the office, the president of the Supreme Court, Eduardo Rodriguez, has already announced that he would accept, in order to guarantee that general elections would be held within three months.<br /> <br /> Today, while the politicians of the National Congress, particularly from the right, spoke of whether to accept the resignation of still-president Mesa, the Aymara peasant farmers united with the residents of the two slopes of poor neighborhoods rising above La Paz. Then unionized miners and miners organized into cooperatives arrived. Everyone arrived, between 10:30 and 11:30, at the enter of the protest, the Plaza de los Héroes. “Let’s go to Plaza Murillo,” said the miners; “let’s go,” said the Aymara peasant farmers… “let’s go…” and today’s battle began.<br /> <br /> The combatants carry dynamite blast caps and rocks on one side, and tear gas and rubber bullets on the other. There have been several arrests and the police confiscated hundreds of dynamite cartridges and a few Molotov cocktails. The explosions shook nearby windows, and white clouds have been rising constantly from various points in downtown La Paz.<br /> <br /> Confidentially, we had learned that, since an emergency session of congress was expected for today to consider Carlos Mesa’s renunciation, the social movements did not plan to take the capital buildings today… they were going to give the politicians a chance, one last chance, to answer them.<br /> <br /> But Hormando Vaca Diez and the members of congress from the eastern departments of Bolivia (those working for autonomy), refusing to meet “while there are no guarantees (of security).” That is, not in La Paz…. Are they afraid of something here?<br /> <br /> Are they afraid of the more than 100 blockades around the country. Because, for example... Santa Cruz is now living through its third day with all the highways connecting it to the rest of the world blockaded… the region’s peasant farmers and indigenous have not moved. In La Paz as well, the shortages are now obvious… since yesterday there is no bread being sold, no gasoline, no gas for cooking…<br /> <br /> Or are Hormando Vaca Diez and the other politicians afraid of the groups fighting in the streets of La Paz? Today, one of the slogans was clear: “Send Vaca to the slaughterhouse!” (“Vaca” is Spanish for “cow.”) The shouts of “die!” hurled against the Congress president (who seemed quite excited yesterday at the prospect of taking power) were no joke… the leader of the Movement of Unemployed Workers of La Paz, Jaime Alanoca, told us at the beginning of the day: “This is the big one… we won’t allow Hormando to govern for even two hours.”<br /> <br /> “Tomorrow, we will sack this place,” was one of the slogans heard among the Aymara… and, surely taking that as a warning, the police tried to disperse the people unsuccessfully. This, and, for example, the march of more than 20,000 people today in Cochabamba (which the local farmers, the same ones behind the “water war” of 2000) have also blockaded, is what Hormando Vaca Diez is afraid of: he knows that we are now in outright civil war, and that if he assumes the presidency, it could get worse.<br /> <br /> The basic demands on the Bolivian state, which have caused it its worst crisis in two decades, have not changed… as the Aymara leader said, nationalization (and, for many, going ahead with a constitutional assembly) remain the most important.<br /> <br /> A few blocks from where Carlos Mesa sits in turmoil, while the guillotine of fate falls on him, the demonstrators are regrouping, enduring the teargas, raising barricades, and nothing can stop them…<br /> <br /> What is next? We don’t know, but in these moments we are heading towards the front lines of combat to find out what the people, fighting for democracy from below, have to say… prepare yourselves, readers, because the teargas can take your breath away…

[Dr Caleb]

Craziness! I've been following this in the news too.

[Milton]

Thursday Brings a New Assault on Power in Bolivia<br /> By Luis Gomez,<br /> Posted on Thu Jun 9th, 2005 at 02:00:14 AM EST<br /> The day was a bit rough in La Paz, but not so much as in the last few weeks: the tension has moved to other places, mainly Sucre, the nominal capital of Bolivia where the National Congress will supposedly meet to decide on whether Carlos Mesa will leave the presidency.<br /> <br /> In El Alto, the organizations there decided this afternoon to create a Popular Assembly, to begin, now, the first moves towards self-government. Meanwhile, thousands of miners and many Aymara peasant farmers are on their way to Sucre, which in these hours is already surrounded by that area’s rural poor.<br /> <br /> Downtown La Paz was nearly deserted this morning after weeks of mobilizations. There were a few small marches, such as the El Alto bus drivers’ union and several hundred peasant farmers from around the country allied with the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS). But what is now well known is that the gasoline is gone, the food scarce, and because of this, urban life is declining.<br /> <br /> The great majority of the miners who faced the police with dynamite downtown yesterday have already departed towards Sucre. And thousands more head there as well. Among them, hundreds of rural Aymaras, who decided to go as well this morning to surround the National Congress and stop its president, Senator Hormando Vaca Díez, from taking the office of president of the republic.<br /> <br /> Vaca Díez, in a conference early this morning, said that he is willing to assume command and reaffirm the weakened Bolivian right’s political line.<br /> <br /> Tomorrow, we will try to learn whether this conflict will deepen, who decided its end, or if there is a possibility of calling early elections, as Mesa proposed last night…<br /> <br /> Kind readers, renew your strength tonight and wait for tomorrow…<br /> Posted from <a href="http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2005/6/9/2014/37723">Narconews</a>

[Milton]

June 8, 2005<br /> Please Distribute Widely<br /> <br /> Dear Colleague,<br /> <br /> Breaking news: First, we have learned that former Bolivian president Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada’s son-in-law, political operator Mauricio<br /> Balcázar, arrived this morning in Sucre to support Senator Hormando Vaca Diez in his presidential aspirations. (Evo Morales denounced this in a press conference this morning from Sucre, the official Bolivian capital).<br /> <br /> A half hour ago, the national director of conflict resolution from Carlos Mesa’ s government, Gregorio Lanza, confirmed on Radio Erbol that Balcázar traveled to Sucre on the same plane as Vaca Diez. Flying<br /> from Santa Cruz (a one-hour trip), Balcázar and Vaca Diez held a cordial conversation, according to the Mesa administration official.<br /> <br /> But there’s more…<br /> <br /> Apart from the information Gregorio Lanza has reported, it was also learned yesterday afternoon that Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR) ideologue Oscar Eid held a meeting with U.S. embassy officials to guarantee Vaca Diez’s succession and the demobilization of all sectors<br /> opposed to the government: Vaca Diez’s party already had ready a dishonest gas “nationalization” decree in order to achieve this. This information, obtained by journalist Walter Chávez (director of the local paper El Juguete Rabioso), has already further shaken the scenario.<br /> <br /> Meanwhile, a rumor has been circulating that, shaken by the military’s statements this morning, Vaca Diez could take a step back. The Bolivian military leaders, though they defended the Constitution and said they<br /> would accept any constitutional successor to the presidency, also left this very clear: “the demands of the demonstrations,” which have occurred every day for nearly four weeks, “should be heard.”<br /> <br /> Despite these doubts, Vaca Diez let out a Freudian slip during an interview in Sucre, where he said he was still “President of the Republic,” quickly correcting himself to say “…of the Senate.” Ten minutes ago, the Congressional president entered the House of Liberty<br /> and is expected to impede the meeting of the anticipated session, trying to buy himself some time.<br /> <br /> In Sucre, soldures are carrying boxes of ammunition to the local government headquarters, and the tension is relentless. The miners’ contingents have already reached Yotala, a town less than 50 kilometers from the capital.<br /> <br /> The murderous coalition from October 2003 is forming and arming itself once again. Hormando Vaca Diez has their support and is trying to take power… and meanwhile, the combatants are beginning to arrive in Sucre to stop him.<br /> <br /> Don’t abandon your posts now…<br /> <br /> AND THIS JUST IN:<br /> <br /> A few minutes ago the miners that were headed for Sucre, to stop Hormando Vaca Diez from becoming president of Bolivia, faced repressive forces in the town of Yotala… and one of those miners has died.<br /> <br /> It seems that a peaceful miners’ march was held back with gas and bullets by a combined group of military and police. Mineworker Juan Toro, president of the March 27 Miners’ Cooperative, received a gunshot wound and died on the spot. Four others are injured.<br /> <br /> The Federation of Bolivian Miners’ Cooperatives (FENCOMIN) has confirmed that this came from an “order from Vaca Diez,” part of his plan to take power.<br /> <br /> In several communities around Sucre, the military has begun to arrest social leaders and stop the demonstrators heading towards the capital to surround the National Congress, or join the blockades. <br /> <br /> The first victim has fallen… the scenario has gotten much darker…<br /> <br /> From somewhere in a country called América,<br /> <br /> Luis A. Gómez<br /> Acting Publisher<br /> The Narco News Bulletin<br /> http://www.narconews.com<br /> Email: luisgomez@narconews.com<br />

[Milton]

June 9, 2005<br /> Please Distribute Widely<br /> <br /> Dear Colleague,<br /> <br /> Kind readers, the battle of many armies and one death has reached its<br /> end. In these moments, several deputies are in the headquarters of the<br /> Supreme Court to invite the "new constitutional president," as Hormando<br /> Vaca Diez called him, to assume command of the executive.<br /> <br /> The new president is Dr. Eduardo Rodríguez, head of the court, a man<br /> with grey hair and glasses, connected to the Revolutionary Nationalist<br /> Movement (MNR)... But some social movements, like those in El Alto,<br /> haven't let themselves be demobilized so easily. As long as "the issue<br /> of hydrocarbon nationalization" has not been touched upon, as Edgar<br /> Patana of the Bolivian Workers' Federation said, the demonstrations and<br /> blockades will continue.<br /> <br /> http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2005/6/9/235156/3341<br /> <br /> Hormando Vaca Diez himself presided over the Congressional session.<br /> Just before 10:00 at night, all the members of Congress present in<br /> Sucre sat down to deliberate in the House of Liberty, the legislature's<br /> first center in 1825.<br /> <br /> Vaca Diez asked for the two proposed resolutions to be read: the first<br /> to accept Carlos Mesa's resignation as president of the republic, and<br /> the second the establish that Vaca Diez, as well as Chamber of Deputies<br /> President Mario Cossío, would decline the presidential succession<br /> outlined in the Constitution.<br /> <br /> Both resolutions were approved, the first unanimously and the second by<br /> majority... in the end, Vaca Diez asked for a committee to find the<br /> president of the Supreme Court, Rodríguez Veltzé, who he now gave the<br /> title "constitutional president."<br /> <br /> Now only the formalities remain, but the El Alto residents keep watch<br /> in the streets with bonfires burning, as do many groups in Cochabamba,<br /> and the Ayamara peasant farmers; the issue of nationalization has not<br /> been forgotten.<br /> <br /> And while Rodríguez Veltzé enters the House of Liberty for those<br /> formalities, we're going to rest, because tomorrow, as always in this<br /> brave land, we don't know what will be next in this immediate<br /> history...<br /> <br /> Thank you for being with us on this day... un abrazo, and we'll see you<br /> tomorrow...<br /> <br /> http://narcosphere.narconews.com/<br /> <br /> From somewhere in a country called América,

[Milton]

<br /> June 12, 2005<br /> Gary Webb - Presente<br /> <br /> Please Distribute Widely<br /> <br /> Memo to Copublishers and Readers:<br /> <br /> This is to thank each of you who participated, who reported, who commented,<br /> who “distributed widely,” and who responded to my appeal of last week, “Help<br /> Protect Your Journalists at an Hour of Moral Crisis.”<br /> <br /> You made possible what happened in Bolivia – and on these pages – this week.<br /> Together we showed what a dedicated network of Authentic Journalists and<br /> supporters can do, in tandem with social movements, when we pool our<br /> talents, resources, and keypads together.<br /> <br /> In case you blinked – because it all happened so fast – I’ve prepared this<br /> summary of the action-packed series of breaking news reports from Luis Gómez<br /> and our entire team in Bolivia, and the considerable helping hand lent them<br /> from diverse points in our América and around the world.<br /> <br /> As during previous hours of crisis, the lies got swatted down, the truths<br /> were shone bright, new advances were made in how to wage a popular Netwar,<br /> and Authentic Journalists drove, in recent days, the coverage of most<br /> Commercial Media organizations to be more truthful than ever before when<br /> reporting events in Latin America…<br /> <br /> An Authentic Chronology<br /> <br /> Monday, June 6: Narco News Predicts a Resignation<br /> <br /> Acting Publisher Luis Gómez reported at 3:37 p.m. that Bolivian President<br /> Carlos Mesa was close to resigning. Managing Editor Dan Feder swiftly<br /> translated his report to English, too. Gómez reported that “according to a<br /> source within the Catholic Church who asked to remain anonymous, Carlos Mesa<br /> has a resignation letter ready and could present it, at latest, tomorrow<br /> night.”<br /> <br /> At 9:45 p.m. Mesa began his resignation speech. It was up on Narco News –<br /> and on hundreds of other newspaper and newswire pages - 11 minutes later.<br /> But if you had read Narco News earlier in the day (as so many other<br /> reporters tipped off to what was in the works by our report were now paying<br /> attention), then you already knew it was likely to occur.<br /> <br /> Tuesday, June 7: The Tumult That Would Not Be Silenced<br /> <br /> Gómez reported on Tuesday that Mesa’s resignation had not silenced nor<br /> stopped the blockades and protests that were still shaking the country,<br /> demanding a new constitution and the nationalization of the country’s gas<br /> supplies: With phrases like “The miners numbered several thousand today, and<br /> arrived heavily armed with dynamite,” it was clear that a resignation aimed<br /> at quieting a restless land only succeeded in agitating it more.<br /> <br /> Jean Friedsky, via The Narcosphere, explained, from La Paz, how the protests<br /> were so very different than demonstrations she had witnessed in the United<br /> States:<br /> <br /> “Here, ‘the revolution’ is anything but a party. Dancing hippies, drum<br /> circles and four-story high puppets are notably absent from the recent mass<br /> mobilizations that have rocked Bolivia for the past two weeks. There are no<br /> breaks for concerts, no hemp clothing for sale. You are not an individual,<br /> but a part of your contingent, and from them you do not stray. In stark<br /> contrast to the large-scale demonstrations in the US that have characterized<br /> the burgeoning anti-globalization movement, marches here in Bolivia are<br /> supreme examples of discipline and seriousness. Rigidity replaces fluidity;<br /> unity replaces individualism; rash actions are rare. The marchers have<br /> anger and determination in their hearts but reign that in for the sake of<br /> the long-term struggle. Their intensity is in their expressions, chants and<br /> willpower - not in violent behavior. Sure, some bring their whips, dynamite<br /> is abundant, and I saw one man yesterday wielding a cactus. But most of the<br /> time these are symbols of strength, rather than weapons for destruction.”<br /> <br /> As Gómez and Friedsky and our other collaborators on the ground in Bolivia<br /> were reporting from the front, I watched – across the Caribbean to the<br /> Organization of American States assembly in Fort Lauderdale, Florida – as<br /> the US Ambassador to that organization, Roger Noriega, threw a tantrum over<br /> what was happening in Bolivia, blaming the events in the Andes on Venezuela<br /> President Hugo Chavez, and, we took on Noriega and his specious arguments in<br /> public.<br /> <br /> The Christian Science Monitor linked to that report. So did The Economist of<br /> London. So did Venezuelanalysis.com, New Zealand’s daily Scoop, The Smirking<br /> Chimp blog, Norway’s Internasjonal Reporter, the international Indymedia<br /> front page (and countless other regional Indymedias), among many others.<br /> <br /> Narco News’ axiom, “please distribute widely” is not just a slogan on our<br /> alerts: it is an active principle of a functioning network and a weapon in<br /> Netwar. News was spreading fast and wide. It alerted all to pay attention to<br /> Bolivia. Whatever dark plans were being made in the control rooms of power<br /> and money for this Andean country, it was already clear that they would not<br /> go down quietly.<br /> <br /> International media scrutiny, after all, is what keeps our reporters – and<br /> the people whose movements we cover – safer, sometimes even alive: sunlight<br /> as a defense weapon.<br /> <br /> Wednesday, June 8: The Narco News Swarm<br /> <br /> By Wednesday, Narco News was breaking major developments to the<br /> English-speaking world: That the US Embassy in Bolivia, was being evacuated,<br /> and that Bolivian Congressman Evo Morales had called for a blockade of the<br /> city of Sucre where Congress had been moved by the Senate President who<br /> wanted to be made president, Hormando Vaca Diez: a story first published in<br /> Spanish by the French Press Agency, but it was translated immediately into<br /> English by Narco News.<br /> <br /> Bolivian Authentic Journalists Gissel Gonzales of Cochabamba, and Irene Roca<br /> Cruz of Santa Cruz weighed in with reports and analysis. Uruguayan Authentic<br /> Journalist Manuela Aldabe – picking up the telephone from Rome, Italy –<br /> tracked down Bolivian Authentic Journalist Alex Contreras in the city of<br /> Sucre.<br /> <br /> The authentic news was exploding now like popcorn from La Paz, Cochabamba,<br /> Santa Cruz, Sucre and elsewhere. Charlie Hardy, our own Cowboy in Caracas,<br /> posted historical perspective based on his own travels in Bolivia. Teo<br /> Ballve, the Argentine Journalist in New York who keeps an eye on the<br /> hemisphere posted some analyses. Gómez, Friedsky, Gonzales, Roca Cruz,<br /> Feder, Aldabe, Contreras, Hardy… Experienced Narco News readers recognize<br /> these names as alumni and professors of the Narco News School of Authentic<br /> Journalism... Avengers Assemble! The Narco News “swarm” buzzed toward a<br /> crescendo.<br /> <br /> Thursday, June 9: Twenty-one Hours That Shook the World<br /> <br /> At 2 a.m. on Thursday, the tireless Luis Gómez (who dressed himself in glory<br /> all week showing that my Tuesday comparisons of Gomez to John Reed, Charles<br /> Horman and Mario Menendez as a history-making reporter of revolution in<br /> Latin America were not exaggerations), before he could try to rest on the<br /> tense night before the showdown, filed a report, Thursday Brings a New<br /> Assault on Power in Bolivia:<br /> <br /> “The great majority of the miners who faced the police with dynamite<br /> downtown yesterday have already departed towards Sucre. And thousands more<br /> head there as well. Among them, hundreds of rural Aymaras, who decided to go<br /> as well this morning to surround the National Congress and stop its<br /> president, Senator Hormando Vaca Díez, from taking the office of president<br /> of the republic…<br /> “Tomorrow, we will try to learn whether this conflict will deepen, who<br /> decided its end, or if there is a possibility of calling early elections, as<br /> Mesa proposed last night…<br /> <br /> “Kind readers, renew your strength tonight and wait for tomorrow…”<br /> <br /> Meanwhile, here from the site of the future permanent campus of the Narco<br /> News School of Authentic Journalism, at 11:30 p.m., the dogs up and down<br /> this dirt road began to howl.<br /> <br /> Down the hill, a sound emanated from the ocean.<br /> <br /> It was the long, high-pitched wail of… it was… yes… a whale!<br /> <br /> The oceanic alarm, it seemed to move, like the news itself, from South to<br /> North… a creature that, like Authentic Journalism, faces extinction but that<br /> keeps sounding its siren alarm. I was jostled out of bed, worried for our<br /> journalists in Bolivia… tossed and turned, tried to sleep... by 2:30 a.m.,<br /> the neighborhood dogs were barking again, sending the local roosters into<br /> chorales of crowing. With so many of our journalists on the battlefield on a<br /> dangerous day to come, and sleep an option no more, your correspondent<br /> surrendered to the story, put coffee on the stove for the long day’s battle<br /> ahead, and penned Zero Hour in Bolivia: What to Watch for Today, to set the<br /> tone of the coming day’s coverage at the beginning of the day’s news cycle.<br /> <br /> Our reporters on the ground in Bolivia would dependably chronicle as it was<br /> happening.<br /> <br /> Via the Internet, Narco News tuned to Bolivia’s national public Radio Erbol<br /> and began translating their reports from Sucre into English, moments after<br /> each was broadcast. (See also Ben Melançon’s analysis, In this Relentless<br /> Bolivian Revolution, Media Matters.)<br /> <br /> Narco News reported (the first to do so in English) that the Bolivian<br /> Congress had not succeeded in convening at 10:30 a.m. as planned.<br /> <br /> Before lunch hour, Luis Gómez predicted that Congress may not be able to<br /> meet at all in order to coronate Vaca Diez as president:<br /> <br /> “Copublisher Jean Friedsky and this reporter doubt that they will pull off a<br /> session today. There was a general pre-agreement to begin work by 6 p.m.,<br /> but it is far from certain whether that will happen.”<br /> Gómez and Friedsky turned out to be, again, prophetic.<br /> <br /> At 3:49 p.m. Gómez broke a major story: that disgraced and exiled Bolivian<br /> president Gonzalo “Goni” Sanchez de Lozada’s son-in-law had arrived in Sucre<br /> riding on the same airplane as aspiring dictator Vaca Diez, and traced the<br /> facts showing that Goni and the US Embassy were collaborating in the attempt<br /> to impose Vaca Diez upon the throne.<br /> <br /> Sixteen minutes later, at 4:04 p.m. Gomez informed the world that the day’s<br /> conflicts had brought the first martyr: Juan Coro, a Bolivian mineworker,<br /> who had been shot by police while he sat on a bus on his way to the protests<br /> in Sucre.<br /> <br /> Rumors quickly spread throughout the World Wide Web that Bolivian Military<br /> soldiers had assassinated him. If true, it would have been even graver, for<br /> all prior indications (including in Narco News reports) were that the Armed<br /> Forces were refusing to act violently against the Bolivian people in this<br /> conflict. It was a moment when we all got a collective lump in our throats,<br /> and worried intensely while also mourning a fallen American.<br /> <br /> At 5:08 p.m., Gómez came in with an earthshaking report that changed the<br /> course of history: “BOLIVIA’S ARMED FORCES DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN THE<br /> REPRESSION,” Gomez shouted in capital letters.<br /> <br /> The assassination had been committed by police who had, according to Gomez’s<br /> famously accurate sources, been ordered by aspiring president Hormando Vaca<br /> Diez to stop the mineworkers from reaching the Congressional meeting in<br /> Sucre:<br /> <br /> “Vaca Diez ordered the Commander in Chief of the National Police, David<br /> Aramayo, to block the passage of all demonstrators who were marching toward<br /> the capital to surround the session of Congress.<br /> <br /> “It was members of the special forces group known as ‘The Dalmatians,’ known<br /> for their brutal participation in the Water War of 2000 in Cochabamba, who<br /> repressed the mineworker’s march. Now, with this information confirmed, we<br /> can correct (the facts), for the peace of mind of all the world…”<br /> <br /> Apparently Vaca Diez (also in constant contact with his advisors utilizing<br /> many of the same cell phone-to-Internet communications systems that are part<br /> of the new landscape for newsmakers as well as news reporters) was one<br /> person to whom this news did not cause “peace of mind.” He immediately fled<br /> from the Congressional session – claiming he was going to meet with a police<br /> officer – and ran directly to the military base in Sucre seeking protection<br /> from angry mineworkers who were also learning, at this moment, of his role<br /> in the true facts about the death of their fallen comrade. Vaca Diez was,<br /> factually speaking, a hunted man.<br /> <br /> In his report for the next morning's daily La Jornada in Mexico, Gómez added<br /> some interesting context that showed just how responsibly the Bolivian Armed<br /> Forces had acted. And given the dark history of how that institution was<br /> used and abused by Power to repress its own people throughout history, this<br /> was an especially comforting report:<br /> <br /> "The Bolivian military, that on this day had deployed troops in various<br /> cities of the country, especially in Santa Cruz, evaluated the situation of<br /> Senator Vaca Diez. 'Seeing that the country was in a delicate situation,'<br /> one high ranking military officer told La Jornada, 'and that it was<br /> impossible to get him out of there discreetly without causing<br /> confrontations, we made a call to him.' Vaca Diez listened, via his cell<br /> phone, to the firm voice that explained everything to him. At the time the<br /> position of the Armed Forces of Bolivia was made clear to him: 'Avoid a<br /> confrontation between brothers at all costs.'<br /> "'It was about nothing more or less than an 'invitation' to consider that<br /> the Armed Forces were not going to resort to bullets, in contrary to what he<br /> and others believed,' the high ranking military official continued. 'And he<br /> was also reminded that we had said that Congress should listen to the voice<br /> of the people, to the popular demands.' That made the difference. And Vaca<br /> Diez, a capable politician, opted to return to the Congressional meeting in<br /> Sucre three hours later.<br /> <br /> But at that same hour, on Thursday afternoon, many news organizations,<br /> including activist sites, had jumped on the news of the death of mineworker<br /> Juan Coro, and pointed the finger at the Bolivian military. Narco News alone<br /> corrected the story and brought the true facts up for air.<br /> <br /> To give you an idea, kind reader, of what goes on behind the screen, between<br /> our newsrooms and reporters in the field at hours of crisis like this: Narco<br /> News has established lightning-fast communications systems, utilizing cell<br /> phones, Internet, online text messaging to cell phones, Instant Messenger<br /> service with various backup systems, emergency Internet “safe houses” to go<br /> to in case our communications systems suddenly went down… We set up “buddy<br /> systems” for reporters to keep track of each other and of our best sources<br /> to alert us of any problem or threat to security.<br /> <br /> At the moment that bulletin came in from Gómez, I had been chatting on IM<br /> with various collaborators, including Teo Ballve in New York. “What’s<br /> happening?” he typed.<br /> <br /> “It’s over for Vaca Diez,” I replied. “He can’t survive this latest<br /> revelation.” I turned to Gómez and asked, "can we publish that as a fact<br /> yet?" Gómez said we needed to do more investigating, and we all went back to<br /> work contacting sources.<br /> <br /> The sources spoke, the facts rolled in, the news updates came flooding via<br /> the Narcosphere: At 5:50 p.m. Gómez confirmed that Vaca Diez had suspended<br /> the Congressional session – forty-two minutes after Narco News had reported<br /> the information about his role in the death of the mineworker. By 9:31 Gómez<br /> and other news agencies widely reported that Vaca Diez had withdrawn his bid<br /> to become president. Then at 11:17, the world knew: Bolivia Has a New<br /> President, Eduardo Rodríguez, whose first act was to call for new elections.<br /> <br /> In twenty-one hours, a likely wave of terror was transformed into another<br /> hopeful step toward authentic democracy.<br /> <br /> The feared wave of repression promised by Vaca Diez and his “Doctrine of<br /> Authoritarian Government” had been stopped in less than a day by the social<br /> movements of Bolivia. Authentic Journalists inside the country and around<br /> the world lent a significant assist and back-up to their heroism, and<br /> particularly acted as a counterweight to the distorting abilities of the<br /> Commercial Media and the power brokers in Washington and Wall Street.<br /> <br /> This is what Narco News and the Narcosphere was set up to do: to harness the<br /> energy and creativity of truth-tellers and Authentic Journalists to smack<br /> down the lies and bring sunlight upon the dark recesses of media simulation,<br /> especially at those hours of crisis when the professional simulators have<br /> for so long gotten their way.<br /> <br /> I am certain, kind reader, that this story would have ended up differently<br /> had your journalists not been in the battle on June 9, 2005, and in the<br /> weeks prior to the shift.<br /> <br /> Study how this story was reported, and how the way it was reported, so<br /> differently from the formulas of the Commercial Media affected the outcome<br /> of the story.<br /> <br /> From the point of view of strategy, tactics and journalistic technique,<br /> these recent days represent an advance for the Narco News “swarm coverage”<br /> form of Authentic Journalism. Just as in previous major news torments – the<br /> Mexican presidential elections of 2000, the Zapatista caravan of 2001, the<br /> rise of the Bolivian coca growers of that same year, the Venezuela coup<br /> attempts of 2002, the staggering electoral changes from Bolivia to Brazil to<br /> Ecuador to Argentina during these same years, Venezuela’s presidential<br /> recall referendum of 2004, the defeat of the Mexican “desafuero” plot in<br /> 2005, and now this week’s events in Bolivia… Speed and accuracy, when<br /> combined in reporting, are global weapons now.<br /> <br /> These are weapons in your hands. Here, although we meet professional codes<br /> and standards, we don’t just leave it up to the so-called professionals. For<br /> us, "professional" has nothing to do with whether someone gets paid or not.<br /> We involve you, the readers and the sources, and our humungous and growing<br /> international network of Authentic Journalists together as we cover<br /> immediate history like it has never been reported before.<br /> <br /> There will be more battles to come, more truths to be told, more lies to be<br /> smacked down, and an authentic democracy to be won. If you were part of this<br /> week’s events with us – as a reporter, as a copublisher, as one of the<br /> readers who donated to let this all happen this week – I know you feel<br /> pretty damn good right now.<br /> <br /> You know what you did, what we did, together. It’s exciting. It’s a new day.<br /> It’s a new way of fighting, and a new way of winning.<br /> <br /> If you were not part of it but you find yourself reflecting that this is the<br /> kind of participation in your world and your hemisphere that gets results<br /> and therefore is worth your time, please join in this Authentic Journalism<br /> crusade. We need all hands on deck for the stories and battles to come.<br /> <br /> We – the journalists, the copublishers, the donors – all give what we can,<br /> in labor and in resources – in order to make reports like this available<br /> free of charge to everybody in the world.<br /> <br /> Primarily, though, it is the real people of Bolivia who risked their lives<br /> to save their country from an evil return to the past of dictatorship and<br /> repression: Authentic Journalism plays an auxiliary role, but one that is<br /> absolutely necessary to the people’s voice being heard – and not being<br /> distorted or simulated - across borders.<br /> <br /> So, if you were involved, thank you.<br /> <br /> And if you are not yet involved, or have been busy with other things, I’ll<br /> tell you this: We, the journalists, do this work on vapors. This week of<br /> course required more resources than normal weeks. And you can still be part<br /> of it by making a donation to our fiscal sponsor, The Fund for Authentic<br /> Journalism.<br /> <br /> After all, what else have any of us done this week or weekend that is more<br /> worthwhile than changing the course of history for the better? Whatever you<br /> are spending your hard-earned money on these days, please consider that<br /> alimentation with information is just as important as food, drink, shelter<br /> or entertainment, in many cases more so, to our living in a civilized and<br /> informed world.<br /> <br /> What we don’t know can hurt us.<br /> <br /> What we do know can save us.<br /> <br /> Help make sure we keep knowing and reporting the big truths and facts. Make<br /> a donation, online, right now via The Fund for Authentic Journalism website:<br /> <br /> http://www.authenticjournalism.org/<br /> <br /> Or if you don’t have a credit card, you can make out a check to “The Fund<br /> for Authentic Journalism” and mail it to:<br /> <br /> The Fund for Authentic Journalism<br /> P.O. Box 241<br /> Natick, MA 01760<br /> <br /> Alrighty, it was a good week in hell.<br /> <br /> Keep your powder dry and let’s see what the coming weeks bring. Authentic<br /> news tends to beget more authentic news, after all. And you know where it<br /> will be reported first and most accurately.<br /> <br /> From somewhere in a country called América,<br /> <br /> Al Giordano<br /> Correspondent<br /> Narco News<br /> http://www.narconews.com/<br /> narconews@gmail.com<br /> <br /> p.s. Oh, and... please distribute widely

[Dr Caleb]

Good stuff. If anyone watched "The Corporation", you'll remember it was Bolivians who protested in the streets, some of whom were killed by police during those protests, when the government tried to privatize their water system. It would have meant they would have to pay for rainwater if they collected it.<br /> <br /> Canadians can learn a thing or two from Bolivians.<br />

[Jesse]

Milton, please submit that as an article so it can get more widely read! (or Dr C, or somebody)

[Dr Caleb]

I found it, and it'll be submitted soon.

[Milton]

<b>Bolivia's Gas War Moves Inside</b><br /> <br /> By Jean Friedsky,<br /> Posted on Wed Jun 15th, 2005 at 04:35:05 PM EST<br /> <br /> The images of a returning "normality" in the capital of Bolivia are seductive. Fleets of oversized pick-up trucks filled with thousands of gas cisterns roll out of the Senkata Gas Plant in El Alto, past police guards who stand chatting next to the burned tires, rocks and barbed wire remnants of blockades that had shut down the facility for the past two weeks. The trucks zoom down the cleared Altipista highway that connects El Alto to La Paz towards the eager masses. On residential streets, rusted yellow gas cisterns snake along the pavement while neighbors visit, waiting to refill their supply of liquid cooking gas that had run out the week before. A few blocks away, a gas station owner crosses his arms across his chest, nods and smiles, watching the line of thirsty cars grow as word spreads that he has gotten his shipment of fuel. On the Prado, cars and minibuses chug along past open store fronts and happily shopping tourists, unencumbered by angry protesters or the fog of tear gas. Abel Mamani, President of Fejuve (the El Alto neighborhood organization), shakes hands with the new President, who has vowed to bring about new general elections. Cut to scenes of campesinos clearing away boulders and tree trunks on the roads that connect Bolivia to neighboring Chile and Peru. And, for the mainstream media: fade to black.<br /> <br /> These surface images and neat-ending stories of the last five days in Bolivia are misleading because they portray closure where there are only more beginnings. La Paz is calm, market stalls are again overflowing with fresh fruit and recently slaughtered meat and tregua (truce) is the word of the week. But the quiet on the streets is a symptom of the noise that now fills the meeting halls, organizational offices and livings rooms. With a break in the marches, thousands sit analyzing this most recent "battle" and deliberating the future. So, whether its apparent on CNN or not, the Gas War here still continues - it's just gone inside.<br /> <br /> This article is therefore a brief analysis of what's happened, what continues and what might follow. <br /> <br /> <b>Achievements</b><br /> <br /> As renowned Bolivian activist Oliver Olivera stated in his June 10th communique, the past four weeks were not in vain, even though neither the major demand of nationalization of the gas industry nor of a Constituent Assembly was met. The social movements' ability to mobilize en mass, bring their country to a halt, take down a President and prevent the ascension of dangerous replacement were great achievements that ought to be acknowledged and praised.<br /> <br /> In addition, there were other accomplishments in what is now known as the second phase of the Bolivian Gas War. The Bolivian people's demonstration of strength and will is, in and of itself, important. In movements for social change, demonstrations of force are strategically beneficial even when they do not directly yield the realization of the ultimate goal because they serve as warnings to those with the power. The political elite in Bolivia, transnational energy corporations and the United States government were reminded this past month that the Bolivian people will fight against harmful governmental and business practices. This conglomerate of economic and political power is now on the defensive which gives the people an edge as their struggle continues.<br /> <br /> Over the past month, a united call for "Nationalization!" rose above all else. This unity in demand is significant to note because Bolivia's social movements began with disparate goals. This consensus grew from the ground up--it was what the people decided they wanted, not what the leaders or political parties declared. This agreement from below could create and sustain a future unity from the top. Social movement groups here are still very divided in practice but a common demand could be a helpful basis on which to organize jointly in the future.<br /> <br /> Phase two of the Gas War was persistent, tactical and almost wholly peaceful. Through this patient movement, protesters gained the respect and support of non-protesting Bolivians, instead of alienating those whose lives were negatively affected by the blockades and marches. A recent poll by El Deber, a newspaper in the conservative Santa Cruz region of Bolivia has found that 75% of Bolivian's favor nationalization of the gas industry. Comments in El Alto and La Paz over the weekend mirrored this sentiment. "Those campesinos stood up for the rights of all Bolivians; they were out there fighting for us and I am proud of what they did," a middle-class woman in La Paz affirmed as she waited in the street for 8 hours on Saturday to get her share of the shipment of cooking gas from El Alto.<br /> <br /> Lastly, the social movements here ought to be credited with saving lives. Their discipline and restraint, week after week, prevented escalated violence in the streets. Their strength and determination prevented the presidency of Hormando Vaca Diez, a man whose first task would have been to send out military against his own citizens. One life was lost and though there were few reports internationally about the reaction to loss of miners cooperative President Juan Carlos Coro, his death did not go unnoticed here. On Friday, black plastic bags were tied to the tops of Wiphalas and miners hats as the thousands long funeral procession marched slowly along the Prado. San Francisco felt sad that afternoon and the grief for the life that was taken was only metered by the relief everyone felt in the fact that Bolivia had avoided a situation that would have meant losing many more.<br /> <br /> <b>The Question of Elections</b><br /> <br /> The most tangible result of the past month of mobilizations is that there is a new President. But the significance of this for the Gas Was is not yet clear because the prospect of new elections raises divisive and difficult questions that will take a long time to answer.<br /> <br /> At the base, Mesa's removal is primarily symbolic. He needed to be sacrificed to demonstrate the consequences state power will face if it does not listen to its citizens, not because replacing him would directly bring about nationalization. President Eduardo Rodriguez is now constitutionally obligated to call new Presidential elections within six months. He is not required nor does he have the exclusive power to call new elections for Parliament as well. He has stated that he will try to bring about general elections but Congress itself must ratify a change in the country's Carta Magna or pass an amendment for this to occur. For the social movements, these general elections are more important than those for President because revamping Congress would offer an opportunity to affect a minimal shift in governmental power. Recent statements from congressional leaders imply that Congress is willing to call these new elections but nothing has been decided.<br /> <br /> Should new general elections be called, they are, at best, a small opportunity for forward progression in the Gas War. At worst, they are a distraction that will result in nothing more than a game of musical chairs amongst the political elite of this country.<br /> <br /> The benefit of new elections is the chance to empower politicians more likely to nationalize the gas industry and carry out an honest and people-directed Constituent Assembly. But this is easier said than done in Bolivia right now. Internationally there is much talk of "President Evo" and of MAS (Movement Towards Socialism) being in a position to gain a stronger foothold in Congress. Here, the prospects for this are more grim. The feeling among Evo's theoretical base (poor and indigenous) is that that he cares more about international approval and the long-term viability of his political party than about the life of the average Bolivian. His actions in the past month only fueled this criticism because he acted like a temperature-sensitive politician, rather than spokesman for his people. He started asking for nationalization in week four and only then because he was the last remaining voice on the left not demanding it. He also seems to know that his influence has weakened and that MAS might not be ready to govern. It took him three weeks to begin calling for new elections, and even then, his cry was an echo of what thousands had already begin chanting in the streets. If he had believed that MAS had the capacity in the next few months to take control of this nation, elections could have been a first demand rather than his last resort.<br /> <br /> Without a party that poor and indigenous Bolivians trust, new elections may seem inconsequential rather than vital. But even if MAS was in a stronger position, the prospect of new elections right now raises larger issues for the social movement groups. Specifically, there are two fundamental questions: first, how important are elections and elected officials for the advancement of a social justice campaign? And what ought to be the role of community organizations (neighborhood groups, unions, federations, etc.) in the political campaign process?<br /> <br /> The debate has already begun. Some scholars and movement leaders speak of transitioning the power of the streets to the ballot box, that it is necessary to work to put in place politicians most likely to enact the people's demands. Others believe that social movement groups inherently belong in the streets and that working for advancement of parties is dangerous because it places the people's hope and confidence in the political elite who can never be fully trusted. They worry that if all the resources are shifted to the polls, there wont be enough energy to then hold those politicians accountable.<br /> <br /> <b>The Tregua</b><br /> <br /> The current truce has as many definitions as there are social movement groups in Bolivia. It could last six days or six months. The radical have threatened that if Rodriguez does not prove he is leading the country towards nationalization, they will unleash street protests. Others recognize that with a "caretaker" President and a Parliament that only has two sessions left in their work year and that is on the verge of becoming a lame-duck governing body, mobilizations ought to begin once a new government takes over. <br /> <br /> However, the real importance of this break is not the date that it ends, but what's talked about in the meantime. Olivera noted in his communique:<br /> <br /> "It is important, also, to reflect upon the following. In this May-June mobilization we have seen two things. On one hand, the great force that we are capable of deploying: we, the diverse social movements, are capable of paralyzing the entire country, and of avoiding the maneuvers of the businessmen and bad politicians. On the other hand, we have not been capable of imposing our own decisions and objectives on these same politicians, who today are in the worst crisis they could possibly confront. Based on these two considerations, we have opened a wide debate in all the neighborhoods and communities of Cochabamba and the country, about the need to build, little by little, our own capacity for SELF GOVERNMENT, to push for that in the next mobilization"<br /> <br /> Olivera's analysis displays the type of reflection and forward thinking that a break from protest can allow. Social movements must use the streets, but it's how they use the time in between mobilizations that can often make the difference in whether they become victorious. Therefore, the conversations taking place all over the country during this truce--about what went right, what went wrong, and about the questions posed by current opportunities--can help the social movement groups progress by being platforms for developing a long-term strategy for winning nationalization. It may seem quiet, but the future of the Gas War is unfolding right now.<br /> <br /> This update was copied from the Narconews <a href="http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2005/6/15/16355/7224"> Narcosphere</a> website.