A-Infos (en) Britain, Aanarchist journal Direct Action #40 - Review - "The Price of Fire": Resource Wars and Social Movements in Bolivia

Author: AK Press, 226 pages, £12. ---- Bolivia has been described as the Tibet 
of Latin America. This remote land is the most isolated of the South American 
republics. The majority of the country is sparsely populated, especially the 
lowlands of the Amazon basin. Most of the population live in the Altiplano, a 
dry, barren plateau which is over 3,000 metres in height. Bolivia has the 
largest indigenous population, with 70% being Indian. The whites constitute just 
5% of the population, but also form the elite of the country. The indigenous 
people have endured a long history of exploitation and oppression. A large part 
of the population is illiterate, speaking only Indian languages such as Quechua 
or Aymara.

Until 1952 the country was ruled by a series of military dictatorships. In 1951, 
the election was won by Victor Paz of the MNR, but the existing government 
refused to recognise the result and handed over to a military junta. The radical 
and militant tin-miners reacted immediately and revolution broke out on the 9th 
of April 1952. Two days later the junta surrendered to MNR militia.

The MNR government then nationalised the mines, introduced universal suffrage, 
broke up the large estates and redistributed the land ended the feudal 
conditions in rural areas of Bolivia. In the aftermath of the revolution, the 
COB (Bolivian Workers Central) union federation became a major political force 
in the country. The giant tin and mineral barons, Patino, Hochschild and 
Aramayo, lost their political and economic influence, but a new political 
leadership developed that was to dominate Bolivia's political life for almost 50 
years.

The book "The Price of Fire", while dealing mainly with the recent struggles of 
the Bolivian people, does attempt to cover the background of these struggles and 
the history of the region, beginning with the first rebellions against Spanish 
rule and ending with an up-to-date focus on the social movements of the last six 
years. The book looks at similar struggles in nearby countries, the new 
"leftist" regimes in South America and the administration of the Bolivian 
indigenous president, Evo Morales.

Bolivia has been a long-time 'lab-rat' for Neoliberalism, a system that was 
supposed to deliver an improved standard of living and greater personal freedom, 
but actually increased poverty and wrecked public services. Later, when the 
system failed and the people offered resistance, the State applied the policies 
with the barrel of a gun.

Much of South America's economic policy over the years has been dictated by 
financial institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank. In 2000, however, the 
world's attention was focussed on Bolivia by the Cochabamba Water War, when the 
population of Cochabamba rebelled after the Bechtel Corporation bought their 
public and communal water supply. This was a classic failure of the 
privatisation of a basic essential. The company's price rises triggered a revolt 
that continues to reverberate throughout the country's social structure.

The events that Dangl describes have given rise to social movements which have 
defended workers and their families. Each of these movements led to occupations 
which had as their watchword, "Occupy, resist, produce!" This slogan typifies 
the struggle of a people and is in essence a succinct definition of 
Anarcho-syndicalism.

Better worlds have been glimpsed through the actions of the Bolivian community 
organisations. Since the 11th September the United States has been fixated on 
the Islamic world and revenge on Al-Qaida. However, there is another 'world' 
closer to home which is spinning out of control. Ever since the election of Hugo 
Chavez as president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in 1998 there has 
been an erosion of US influence in Latin America.

Bush and Blair (and now Brown) are attempting to establish a neo-con Empire. 
They are in danger of biting off more than they can chew. The chances of a wide, 
full-scale war in the Middle East are quite high, but the US forces are very 
stretched. If the Middle East were to go apeshit, then South America would 
possibly follow suit.

Although the context of social struggle in South America is very different from 
that of Europe and Britain, Dangl's book gives an inside view of what is going 
on in Bolivia. Some of the actions and struggles do have lessons for us in 
Britain: so let's occupy, resist and produce!
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://ainfos.ca/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/a-infos-en
Archive: http://ainfos.ca/en