12 Reportedly Killed in Bolivia Protests (+ US reaction)

[ze_dscherman]

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) - Violent protests wracked Bolivia's capital for another day, reportedly killing another 12 people as calls grew for the president to step down. The United States urged calm and warned against his overthrow.

Thousands took to the streets Monday to chant anti-government slogans even after President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada announced he will shelve controversial plans to export natural gas to the United States and Mexico.

The plans have provoked protests that earlier killed at least 16 people. Bolivian media reported 12 more deaths on Monday, but they were not confirmed by the government.

SNIP

The U.S. government supported the president with a strong statement urging calm in Bolivia.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States and other world nations ``will not tolerate any interruption of constitutional order and will not support any regime that results from undemocratic means.''


http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3261206,00.html

So, if protest brings down a government that is US-friendly, it's undemocratic ... What hypocrites!

[smallprint]

1. Bolivia is on the edge of civil war

Sanchez tried to throw the strikers a bone by shelving the natural gas plan, but the people are furious after the massacre yesterday. This situation is blowing up. I don't think Sanchez will last more than a few days.

[izzie]

2. I do not think we have enough army ready to send there.

What is wrong with these people? We only want what is right for them. Now what church do these people go to? Has God talked to George about this?

[Judi Lynn]

3. How dare the people of Bolivia hope to put Bolivians first!

From your article:

(snip) ``The only political solution to this crisis is the resignation of the president of the republic,'' Congressman Evo Morales, a protest leader, said, adding that ``what the Bolivian people want is that the gas remain in Bolivia, for the benefit of Bolivians.''

The president said his government ``is the result of a popular election,'' and has the support of the armed forces and the police. Sanchez de Lozada, a millionaire businessman who grew up in the United States, was elected in 2002 to a five-year term. (snip)

(snip) The plan called for exporting gas from Bolivia's mammoth reserves in the southern region of Tarija to the United States and Mexico. (snip/)

[Jack Rabbit]

4. BBC Analysis: Decisive moment for Bolivia leader

From the BBC Online
Dated Monday October 23

Analysis: Decisive moment for Bolivia leader
By Robert Plummer
BBC News Online Latin America analyst

The Bolivian Government's plan to export natural gas has been the flashpoint for weeks of violent protests, but the roots of the conflict go far deeper.
President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada and the forces ranged against him are both playing for high stakes - and the outcome will play a decisive role in shaping Bolivia's future.
The virulence of the demonstrations has now forced the president into a temporary retreat, with his announcement that he will consult the opposition before taking a final decision on the scheme.
But from the president's point of view, it is no exaggeration to say that his entire free-market reform strategy hinges on the ultimate success of the export plan.

Read more.

Since Sanchez' neoliberalism hasn't worked anywhere else, there is no reason to expect it to work in Bolivia.

[IndianaGreen]

5. The US government wants Bolivia's natural gas

which is precisely what Bolivians don't want us to have. Not everyone in the world wants to be a slave to America's greed and hunger for the world's resources.

[Jack Rabbit]

6. In addition, Sanchez is on shakey ground

From the BBC piece (see post 4):

The main problem for Goni, as President Sanchez de Lozada is familiarly known, is the fragility of his democratic mandate.
Previously president of Bolivia from 1993 to 1997, he was returned to power last year with just 22.5% of the vote.
His big rival in that election was Evo Morales, who originally rose to prominence as the leader of coca-growing peasants in the central Chapare region but who now has a political power base in his Movement for Socialism party (MAS).

In other words, there is no reason to suppose that Sanchez' policies enjoy popular support. In fact, they probably don't.

Again, there may be a lesson to be learned in the value of forging coalitions to defeat people like Sanchez. A unified opposition would stand a much better chance.

[starroute]

11. The US is in the middle of a natural gas crisis

http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/062303_nat_gas_crisis.html

June 23, 2003, 2000 PDT (FTW) --Forget about terrorists. Don't give another thought to SARS. The single greatest threat to the U.S. right now comes from a critical shortage of natural gas. The impending crisis will affect all consumers directly in the pocket book, and it may well mean that some people won't survive next winter. The problem is not with wells or pumps. The problem is that North America is running out and there is no replacement supply.

<snip>

While the Eastern United States did experience a long and bitter cold spell in January and February, the winter was actually slightly milder than usual for the winter heating season as a whole. As measured in gas-weighted Heating Degree Days, the weather was 3% milder than historical norms. While severe cold weather in January and February did contribute to the NG withdrawal rates, in the coldest week of the winter the increase in NG consumption attributable to weather was less than 30 Bcf. Even after normalizing the data for weather, withdrawal from storage for the winter season was 843 Bcf greater than expected.23 Why this enormous withdrawal?

The answer is that demand for NG has been increasing over the past several years beyond the Energy Information Administration's assessments for necessary storage.

Meanwhile, NG production in the United States and Canada has fallen off the cliff. The only reason why this cliff has not become readily apparent is that the NG industry has been bringing new fields online in a frantic effort to keep production levels from dropping too rapidly. Unfortunately, very few of the new plays have high production levels, and most of them play out very quickly. In effect, NG production is running faster and faster in an effort simply to stay in place, while demand is leaving it far behind.


http://www.wcco.com/finance/finance_story_260155248.html

Sep 17, 2003 2:50 pm US/Central
WASHINGTON (AP) Natural gas supplies have rebounded because of a cool summer that lowered demand, but consumers will still see higher fuel costs this winter, an Energy Department official said Wednesday.

<snip>

Storage levels were so low last spring that there was concern that the target could not be met, especially if summer electricity demand caused high use of natural gas by utilities.

Caruso emphasized that gas supplies remain tight with little room for a jump in demand if the upcoming winter turns especially cold.

"A small change could mean a large increase in price," he cautioned in an interview. "I don't want to be overly optimistic."

[LevChernyi]

7. wasn't this the exact opposite of what they were saying..

when their coup was going down in Venezuela?

[Jack Rabbit]

8. Yes and no

The Bushies were accusing Chavez of being undemocratic, which is a lot of malarky. Here, our junta is backing Sanchez. It's very strange, since Chavez won a far greater popular victory (about 60%) in Venezuela than Sanchez won (about 23%) in Bolivia. Also, those demonstrating against Chavez ware fancy watches and fine jewelry to the protest. Knowing that Venezuela is a nation where wealth is maldistributed, it should make one wonder just who really wants him out. By contrast, it is the peasants rioting against Sanchez. In Bolivia, like Venezuela, wealth is maldistibuted. This would suggest that popular sentiment is going for Chavez and against Sanchez.

Of course, we know what the Bushies think of free and fair elections. Wasn't it Dr. Rice, speaking of Chavez, who said something about an electoral mandate not necessarily conferring legitimacy? One should expect that of the Bushies.

Clearly, the key to conferring legitimacy in the eyes of the Bushies is adherence to neoliberal policies, not democracy. Neoliberals use the term interchangably, but that is Orwellian speech at its worst. They are not the same thing. Selling a nation's resources to foreigners and exporting them may put dollars in the hands of a few people in developing countries, but it will leave the majority of people nothing to buy with their income. It leaves them in less control of their destiny. That seems to be the opposite of democracy.

So, to make the Bushies' Latin American policy consistent, one needs to replace the word democracy in their pronouncements with neoliberalism or free trade. Then it makes sense.

[morebunk]

9. Explain this please:

``will not tolerate any interruption of constitutional order and will not support any regime that results from undemocratic means.''

Don't we support Musharaff in Pakistan? He's a real hero of the democratic process and democracy...we are so full of shit!

[jmcgowanjm]

10. For a fresh look read Al Giordano

" Larry Rohter of the New York Times,
and the rest of the English-language
press corps, have not been spotted in
the streets reporting the true story...
They've been, mainly, huddled with the
"president" in the National Palace... or
in one of four luxury hotels in La Paz...
taking dictation, and calling the Embassy
for instructions with every new development.

http://bigleftoutside.com/