Fatigue, Strength and an Uncertain Future

(June 1, 11pm): Everyone is tired.  Almost every day for the past ten, campesinos and Altenos have walked miles from their highland homes into, through and back up out of La Paz.  Accompanying them through the capital have been urban teachers, university students and profesors, neighborhood organizations and contingents from other areas of the country that have made the capital their home for the course of this battle.  Every day they march for hours. They are gased and shot at with rubber bullets...only to return the next morning for more of the same.  Today once again, despite the weariness their feet and hearts must be feeling as we near the end of week two, thousands of Bolivians continued their demonstration of remarkable collective will and impassioned struggle. The intensity, size and conflict of the marches today was lower than yesterday: only part of La Paz was shut down directly by protests, tear gas remained in its canister, and most of the marches felt calm. Though fatigue certainly influenced today's lull, it is not the only reason for the relative tranquility. The climatic change also has to do with the contested Plaza Murillo itself: it has turned from vacant police-guarded symbol of power, into an active locus of governmental games, the importance of which can not be overestimated.  Because even though our focus has been and will continue to be on the power and actions of those in the streets, Bolivia remains a nation in which the final decisions rest in the hands of the few.

Those few have in front of them the task of determining the fate of two issues that have polarized the nation. One is the Constitutional Assembly, a newly and democratically elected body charged with rewriting the Constitution, that Mesa promised to convoke when he took office in 2003 to appease the popular movement that had overthrown the previous government.  Along with changes in the gas laws, the Assembly has been a firm demand of the social movements currently in the streets.  They are tired of the government's delay tactics and want a date set for the elections of this group. The other issue in Congress is the referendum on autonomy for Bolivia's Santa Cruz region, home to the most abundant sources of natural gas and a large section of the country's wealthy elite.   Bolivia's poor and indigenous population is outraged by the proposal because it is a clear attempt by the rich to increase their control of the profits the nation produces.  Their anger has been enflamed by the government's treatment of this issue: they have moved discussion of this relatively new demand to the top of their agenda while procrastinating on the Assembly.  After waiting two days during which party leaders had closed-door meetings, we have been promised that the Congress will convene tomorrow morning to debate both the Constitutional Assembly and Regional Autonomy.

While certainly awaiting the Parliament's actions, the people will not retreat during the deliberation.  As I write, a few hundred cocaleros are settling down for a nighttime vigilance, camped out at four of the police barricaded intersections that lead to the Plaza Murillo.  I visited one group - 50 or so of those who had marched from Caracollo last week - earlier this evening to offer a bag of coca leaves to help them pass the frigid La Paz night.  On this normally bustling downtown corner, the sounds of Andean flutes and Quechua conversation drowned out the mumbled comments (accompanied by noticeable glares) from the city folk out for the evening who had to negotiate their way around the seated campesinos.  Blankets and banners were spread on the ground to protect against the chill of the cement; placard signs articulating the cocaleros'  demands rested against the wall of the nearest building, an Alexander's Coffee (picture Starbucks); women sat with their rainbow checkered Wiphala flag wrapped around their shoulders for extra warmth, drinking tea and laughing.  

Questions lingered in the chilly evening air as the coca leaves and cigarettes were passed around.  What will Congress do and how will the social movements choose to respond? Will the nationalization of gas once again be sacrificed for unity and forward progress? Only time will tell...