It has now been a month and a half since Bolivia became the site of a nationwide uprising against the neoliberal government of Rodrigo Paz. This struggle has proved to be the most significant challenge yet to the far-right governments in South America which make up an important part of Donald Trump’s imperialist “Donroe Doctrine.”
Several weeks ago, Bolivia’s congress gave Paz the green light to declare a “state of exception,” allowing the government to use unrestrained military force to crush the movement. So far, despite repeated threats, Paz has not taken such action because he fears that such a move could further radicalize the resistance to his government. The possibility of radicalization became clear when paramilitary groups attacked a road blockade in the town of San Julian. In response, the protesters leading the blockade bravely fought back, and members of the larger community supported the blockade, forcing the reactionaries to retreat.
While the popular support for the movement and combativeness of the vanguard has restrained Paz’s ability to declare a state of exception, the regime hasn’t been shy about using violence and other forms of repression: tear gas and rubber bullets are regularly used against protesters. Not even journalists are spared from violence. This was shown clearly when police attacked Violeta Tamayo, a journalist with Left Voice’s sister site in Bolivia. Police shot Tamayo in the arm with a tear gas canister at point-blank range, causing an injury that required surgery and many days in the hospital. Paz is now trying to hide this violence. A humanitarian mission which traveled from Argentina to observe the situation had their documents confiscated in Bolivia and were deported.
Along with violence, there have been hundreds of arrests, including against high profile leaders. Last week, armed, plainclothes police kidnapped five leaders of the Bolivian Workers Center (COB), the country’s main union federation. Following these arrests, the COB leaders who were not arrested distanced themselves from the movement’s popular demand for Paz to resign and have engaged in bureaucratic maneuvers to prevent democratic assemblies from convening to discuss how to escalate the movement. The repression, alongside the rightward shift from the most prominent labor leadership in the movement, poses a serious risk of demoralizing the sectors in struggle.
The United States has threatened intervention as well. A statement issued by the 13 right-wing governments that make up the Shield of the Americas alliance, headed by U.S. imperialism, slanders the movement, suggesting that those protesting are connected to drug trafficking and transnational crime. The Trump administration has increasingly used these accusations to justify direct military intervention in Latin America. Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth have also made social media posts expressing the United States’s readiness to back the Paz government, claiming that Paz was elected with overwhelming support. The reality, shown by the uprising, is that Paz has lost all legitimacy and can only stay in power by relying on repression and the outside support of U.S. imperialism and other far-right allies like Javier Milei in Argentina and Jose Antonio Kast in Chile.
But the people of Bolivia are not alone. Actions have been held in solidarity with the uprising in places like Chile, Brazil, and even Washington, DC. The struggle against Paz has become an important reference point for those around the world who are confronting right-wing governments that attack workers. In Latin America, these governments pave the way for a renewed offensive by U.S. imperialism.
The Trump administration has an interest in propping up Paz so that his government can enforce Bolivia’s first ever IMF loan — a scenario which will deepen the country’s subordination to imperialist capital. Another motivation in Trump’s support for Paz is the real possibility that if a right-wing government in Latin America is ousted through class struggle, other oppressed countries will take note and follow Bolivia’s lead.
It is essential for those following the struggle in Bolivia to firmly denounce the repression of the movement and amplify the struggle of the Bolivian people against Paz, the regional Far Right, and Trump’s imperialist offensive in Latin America.
The post Paz Is Cracking Down on the Uprising in Bolivia. We Must Escalate Our International Solidarity appeared first on Left Voice.
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