Protestors Burn Cochabamba Governor’s Office and Demand His Resignation

[Judi Lynn]

Protestors Burn Cochabamba Governor’s Office and Demand His Resignation
Written by the Andean Information Network
Tuesday, 09 January 2007

The Prefecture in Cochabamba’s main plaza has been blocked for five days here by social groups demanding the resignation of Prefect Manfred ReyesVilla. Protesting groups reject Reyes Villa’s tenure, as a result of his participation in the second Sánchez de Lozada governing coalition, accusations of corruption during his terms as the city’s mayor, and his role as bodyguard for dictator Luis García Meza. Since Reyes Villa won the prefecture elections in 2005 with 47.6 % of the vote, there has been constant friction with the MAS government. In December 2006, Reyes Villa called for a Departmental Referendum to declare greater autonomy for Cochabamba, heightening mounting tensions.

Things came to a head on January 8th. Over 20 people were injured, including several journalists. The police eventually tear-gassed the crowd as the conflict increased. In retaliation the group set the door of the prefecture on fire and rolled burning tires into the adjoining police station. The fire destroyed several offices.
Protestors also burned several vehicles in the plaza.

Government Minister Alicia Munoz fired the Cochabamba Police commander,hand-picked by the Morales administration as part of its police reform and sworn in only yesterday, for firing tear gas into the crowd. (Ironically, Munoz personally ordered the police and armed forces to forcibly evict foursquatters’ settlements near Oruro in June 2006, leading to the shooting death of one squatter.) The conflict between regional and national governments have put the police between a rock and a hard place, and they are unsure whose orders to follow.

Munoz’s decision highlights the growing friction between the central and regional governments in six of Bolivia’s nine departments. She asserted her direct authority over the security forces stating, “When a minister is in charge, a prefect can’t give orders… There can be no repression; you can’t use the police to provoke social movements.” (Red ATB, Los Tiempos) She also accused Cochabamba Prefect Reyes Villa of provoking social movements by requesting a departmental referendum to consult the Cochabamba residents about declaring greater autonomy for the department."1
(snip/...)

http://ain-bolivia.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=44&Itemid=32



On edit: I didn't take the time to get the dates on when these photos were taken. It may be they were taken in previous demonstrations against Manfred Reyes Villa. Wanted to make sure they weren't leading people to the direct impression they are guaranteed to reflect the latest flare-up.

[xchrom]

1. now THAT is some serious protesting.

get out. NOW!

[goforit]

3. No kidding!

[Robbien]

2. What is really happening here?

Is the military fighting Morales' reforms, or is this activism against institutional corruption, or ??? I'm a bit lost.


:hi: Judi Lynn

[Judi Lynn]

5. Hi, Robbien. Cochabamba is a hot spot, all right. Looks as if this governor

is a rough piece of work. You may remember earlier problems in this place. From Wikipedia:

The Cochabamba protests of 2000 were a series of protests that took place in the Bolivian city of Cochabamba between January and April 2000, because of the privatization of the municipal water supply, which was sold to a private company, International Waters Limited (IWL) of London (a subsidiary of Bechtel Corporation; it operated locally as Aguas de Tunari), at the insistence of the World Bank. In its June 1999 report on Bolivia, it specifically called for the cessation of "public subsidies" to keep down water prices. Corruption was a large problem in Cochabamba before privatization, and many citizens received no water at all. According to local press reports, the foreign investors acquired the city water system, in a sale in which they were the only bidder, for less than US$20,000, of up-front capital for a water system worth millions of dollars. Bechtel states that they only purchased the rights to run the water system, which was still owned by the city.

Demonstrations erupted when Aguas de Tunari imposed a large rate increase, reportedly to finance the Misicuni Dam project, a week after taking control of the Cochabamba water supply system. In a country where the minimum wage was less than US$70 per month, many dwellers were hit with monthly water bills of $20 or more.

In mid-January, Cochabamba residents shut down their city for four straight days with a general strike led by a new alliance of labor, human rights and community leaders. The government was forced to the negotiating table, agreeing to a price rollback and a two-week deadline to work out the details; the protests ended.

Pressing for a settlement, on February 4, 2000, thousands attempted to march peacefully in Cochabamba. But President Hugo Banzer — who was Bolivia's dictator for most of the 1970s — turned once again to the use of violent repression. He called out the police, who engulfed protesters in tear gas for two days, leaving six people dead and 175 injured, including two children blinded.

The people of Cochabamba did not back down. In a survey of more than 60,000 residents in March, 90% said that Aguas del Tunari must leave and the water system returned to public control. Protesters pointed to the privatization of water in Buenos Aires, where 7,500 workers were fired and prices rose, as an example of why they felt privatization was bad. Residents closed down the city again starting on April 4.

Four days into the demonstrations, the government declared martial law. Police arrested protest leaders, taking them from their beds in the middle of the night, shutting down radio stations in mid-broadcast. Soldiers took over control of the streets. On April 8, the military shot 17-year-old Víctor Hugo Daza in the face, killing him. IWL officials claimed that the protests were riots sponsored by cocaine producers against a crackdown on coca production.
(snip/...)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochabamba_protests_of_2000

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
Here's a quickie Wikipedia description of the gov.:

Manfred Reyes Villa (1954) is a Bolivian politician, who was mayor of Cochabamba four times and ran for presidency in 2002 against Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada. He founded and leads the Nueva Fuerza Republicana (New Republican Force) political party.

In 2002, Reyes Villa led the polls (with circa 41%) during the initial months of the presidential race, but lost votes and ended up in third place. Lozada was eventually elected, but was forced to resign the next year due to massive riots and demonstrations in major cities of Bolivia.

After the resignation of Carlos Mesa, Lozada's successor, Reyes-Villa looked poised to run for president in the December 4, 2005 elections. However, after a recommendation by David Greenlee, the American ambassador to Bolivia, he rallied behind centre-right candidate Jorge Quiroga.

He has been linked to the assasination of bolivian writer and socialist politician Marcelo Quiroga Santa Cruz during the 1981 Luis Garcia Meza coup d'etat.
(snip/)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manfred_Reyes_Villa

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
Sounds like a prince, doesn't he? He's someone I feel a need to find out more about when I get some more time. We have heard creepy info. on the ambassador, David Greenlee, Reyes Villa's advisor, last year, for sure. He is a complete ass.

[High Plains]

4. The article linked speaks of "extreme polarization" throughout Bolivia

Here are the next four paragraphs:

Although MAS officials have openly opposed and aggressively critiqued Reyes Villa, high-ranking government officials have stated that the central administration is not demanding his resignation. Some social groups participating in protests, though, such as the Chapare coca growers make up the backbone of the party’s rank and file.

Tensions between the departmental and regional governments began soon after their respective inaugurations and have been exacerbated by confrontational attitudes on both sides and a lack of a clear legal framework defining the rights and responsibilities of regional and national authorities after direct election of prefects for the first time in Bolivia’s history.

The incident has increased the already extreme polarization throughout Bolivia and there is no apparent solution for the ballooning conflict. Some Cochabamba campesino groups are threatening to block roads in the department until Reyes Villa resigns.

***************************************************

There is ongoing conflict between the Morales government and various regional governments over various issues and it looks like it's getting worse. The group linked to in the OP, the Andean Information Network, is an invaluable resource for info on what's going on.

I will be headed to Bolivia myself in just a few weeks to check out the coca industry and see how Morales' policy of accomodation with the growers--he was one himself, after all--and voluntary reductions is working out. I'll be going to Cochabamba, as well as La Paz, Las Yungas, and the Chapare. Oh, boy, I'm excited!

I had to delay my trip because Evo decreed New Year's Day that Americans now need a visa to enter as tourists and there was great uncertainty about when that would occur, but the Bolivian press is reporting today that it won't go into effect until March, so I'll go next month.

[Judi Lynn]

7. You should be excited! What an experience you've got ahead of you.

You just may feel you're taking along many DU'ers in spirit! Wow. It truly seems like another world in the photos available.

If you feel like writing down any of your thoughts or observations after you return, we surely wouldn't refuse to read them with enthusiasm!

Hope all's well, ahead of you.

[High Plains]

9. I will be blogging about it when I'm there.

And doing some articles for the Drug War Chronicle, which I write.

It'll all be happening at http://www.stopthedrugwar.org

And thank you.

[roody]

6. k

[Peace Patriot]

8. It sounds like a complicated situation, but, basically Bolivia has a lot of

natural resources that Bushites and the super-rich want control of--in Bolivia and in the Andean region in general (oil, gas, minerals, water)--the voters of Bolivia elected Evo Morales--the first indigenous president of Bolivia--to protect those resources and to insure that Bolivians control and benefit from them. Some of the states are still controlled by fascists who are trying to control those resources by increasing the power of individual states, as opposed to Morales' power as president. And, no doubt, the Bush CIA and associated global corporate predators are thickly involved in stirring up trouble for Morales. The Bushites would love to destabilize Morales' government and overthrow him, and all of the new Andean leftist presidents and big social movements.