[NYTr] Class war threatens Bolivia over Morales Reforms

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

["Class war?" or the USA and its corporations? -NYTr]

The Guardian - Sep 11, 2007 via rick kissell
http://www.guardian.co.uk

Class war threatens Bolivia over Morales reforms

 -Farmers rally to back presidential programme
 -Leadership blames clashes on US interference

by Lola Almudevar in Sucre

Thousands of poor farmers and indigenous activists marched through the 
Bolivian city of Sucre yesterday to support the embattled government's 
attempt to rewrite the constitution.

The demonstrators vowed to defend President Evo Morales's "democratic 
revolution", a radical effort to empower previously marginalised groups 
which is shaking South America's poorest country.

Mr Morales, a former coca farmer, wants to redress Bolivia's colonial 
legacy in a new charter drafted by a constituent assembly. For his 
indigenous supporters, who form 60% of the population, the assembly is a 
long overdue assertion of their power and rights. "For the first time 
the political constitution will recognise our existence as indigenous 
people. Until now we have not had rights, that is why this fight is 
important," said Wilber Flores, an MP and indigenous leader.

However, the initiative risks foundering because of opposition from 
students and the middle class, many of them descendants of European 
settlers. They accuse Mr Morales of polarising the country and excluding 
the relatively wealthy eastern lowlands from power.

In recent weeks the government's opponents waged street battles with 
police in Sucre. Famed for its elegant white buildings, the city was 
engulfed by black smoke and teargas after students tried to storm the 
building where the assembly meets. About 60 protesters were injured, 
roads were blockaded and the assembly suspended for a month amid 
concerns over safety. With a December deadline for the draft 
constitution, Mr Morales fears the assembly could be derailed.

Yesterday's rally was an attempt by the president's supporters, many 
wearing the traditional colourful dress of highland dwellers, to reclaim 
Sucre's streets and wrest back the initiative. "We have a president, but 
we do not have the power. The rich elite continue to control us. They 
are never going to accept the changes we want," said Silvano Paillo, an 
assembly member for Mr Morales's Movement Towards Socialism.

Mr Morales and his mentor, the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez, 
believe the protesters are part of a US-backed attempt to sabotage the 
"democratic revolution" they are pursuing.

Behind his opponents is "the hand of the empire of the United States, 
the hand of the imperialist government of George Bush", Mr Chávez said 
on meeting Mr Morales in Venezuela on Saturday.

The fight over the constitution has been sidetracked into a bitter 
battle over which city should host the legislative and executive seats 
of government.

Sucre, near the geographic centre, was the colonial capital but lost its 
preeminent position to La Paz in a 19th century civil war. Today Sucre 
is an opposition hotbed and has deployed that historic grievance against 
Mr Morales by mobilising big rallies to demand the city is once again 
made the capital. Moving the capital from La Paz, a Morales bastion, 
would clip the president's wings.

Last month, under pressure from Mr Morales, the assembly passed a 
resolution removing the issue from their deliberations. That decision, 
which is being challenged in the courts, led to accusations of 
authoritarianism.

"Evo Morales cannot impose his might," said Edgar Arraya, an opposition 
assembly member. "We are in a constitutional state and he has to respect 
the law or the people will rise up against him."

In a city where students once rose up against Spanish colonial rule, 
that is no idle threat. Yesterday belonged to the president's supporters 
but the opposition will return to the streets if necessary, Antonio 
Jesus, a student leader, said.

"We are taking the legal route to put the capital back on the agenda, 
but if Morales refuses to respect the law, we will take radical action 
again, and this time it will be at a national level."