Bolivia | Repudiate the traitors! For a united defense of workers and peasants!

Following the declaration of a state of siege, the army and police rapidly advanced their campaign to break the roadblocks. They encountered brave popular resistance at some points along the Cochabamba-Oruro highway, but it was not enough to stop them. They arrested peasants in Kella Kella, as well as a minibus driver and his assistant on the La Paz-Desaguadero road. Immediate freedom for all those detained! 

State forces were also deployed in the Trópico region of Cochabamba, a stronghold of Evo Morales. There, the government has caused power and telecommunications blackouts to attack the population, spread panic, and go after the coca growers’ leader. Hands off Evo Morales and his supporters!

As of today, there are no longer any roadblocks in Bolivia. Faced with the ebb of the fight, the Túpac Katari Departmental Federation of La Paz rightly called on its rank and file to withdraw and seek the best way to defend peasant interests in the new situation. The six federations of the Trópico also called for suspending actions against the government. 

At this stage, the popular movement faces a serious crisis. La Paz has announced that it will maintain the state of emergency. It will crack down on anyone it views as an obstacle to its plans. Furthermore, it is very likely that it will attempt to pass neoliberal reforms, repressive legislation such as the anti-blockade law, and/or continue to attack the living conditions of the lower class sectors one by one. To this end, it will exploit and seek to deepen the division between workers and peasants caused by the betrayal of the COB leadership.

Faced with this scenario, voices from the most militant sectors of indigenous peasant organizations are calling for a break with the COB. This reflects justified anger. The founding and existence of the COB—a unified national labor federation—is a fundamental achievement. Its fragmentation into separate and potentially rival organizations would be fatal and a major defeat that would further weaken the movement. At this moment, it is essential to prevent the division between workers and peasants from deepening. The urgent task now is to regroup those who want to repudiate the betrayal by Argollo and the manufacturing workers’ leadership, and on that basis, fight for the unity of the COB. Only in this way will they be in a better position to defend themselves against the attacks to come.

Paz’s plan is to shift the cost of the crisis onto the shoulders of the people and sell the country to the United States. Miners and factory workers must understand that negotiating separately with the government in exchange for empty promises—or even a temporary concession for their sector—will only pave the way for Paz to lash out against them all and sell off the country. It is not worth the price. Only through joint struggle with our peasant brothers and sisters can we fight to defend and improve conditions for everyone.

We must carry out defensive actions alongside the Evistas whom “El Pollo” (president Rodrigo Paz) and the United States seek to attack in order to remove an obstacle to their plans. Only in this way will we effectively protect ourselves from these executioners. In the heat of a united struggle, we can expose the failure of the program of the Evistas--the very reason they lost power in the first place. They refused to expropriate the white national bourgeoisie, which acts as a puppet of U.S. imperialism.

To protect the people, unify them, and preserve their positions, a good starting point would be to mobilize to demand the release of all prisoners, an end to reprisals against any activist, and the lifting of the state of emergency. Preserving the rights of protest and assembly at this time is vital to prevent the fragmentation of the movement and to prepare a defense against Paz’s attempts. With a defensive stance, there is a chance to preserve the movement and prepare it for what lies ahead.