The Manifesto issued by Goni "the murderer" the day before yesterday is a piece of deceit and a swindle, which the whole people has rejected out of hand. It is also a warning that the government is willing to carry its war against the people to the very end, in order to hold on to power, and this in spite of the massive blows that the demonstrations delivered against it, forcing it to seclusion in the Presidential house in San Jorge.
The massive outbreak of demonstrations across the nation after the COB launched its call for an indefinite general strike, plus the all-out stoppage in La Paz and the continued insurrection rocking El Alto are all showing that we can achieve victory. However, demonstrations should be stepped up and the country must be grounded to a halt. By and large, all our actions must be deepened and radicalized, to prepare a decisive action to oust the government.
The church has been preaching "peace" in an attempt to hold down the struggle and reduce it to mere "hunger strikes" and peaceful demonstrations to "convince" Goni to step down -a path that can only lead to demoralization and defeat. Unfortunately, Jaime Solares, top leader of the COB, and other leaders, have stood by this agenda, instead of preparing a decisive clash that should lead us to victory. And their agenda just plays in the hand of the government and its agenda based on a vicious crackdown on one hand, and bringing demoralization on the other.
Down with Goni"s vicious repression! Down with the armed forces and the police! For self-defense committees and a union police!
The government is at war with the people. We just can not go on like this. Many protesters have already died in their attempts at fighting back with the bare hands, or merely armed with sticks and stones, when the army and the police are firing heavy munition against us. Many brothers and sisters have been killed in El Alto, Warisata, Ventilla, Huanuni or San Julián. The leaders have a moral duty to call for the creation of self-defense committees and a union police in all grassroots organizations, in all the neighborhoods and communities, which in turn should be urgently centralized and generalized with a view at creating peasant and workers" militias. This is just the only way to prevent new carnages of our defenseless brothers and sisters. A number of people have shown their willingness to fight by any means necessary -the peasants from Achacachi pouring into El Alto, the local residents in El Alto"s districts, the Huanuni workers and the cooperative miners. Among these lie the most determined and boldest detachments, which will we come to the fore the minute their leaders call on them to take the first step. The COB leader, Mr. Solares; Evo Morales, the Mallku along with other leaders cannot turn a blind eye on this life and death issue.
For a National Strike and Protest Committee! Build them up at all levels: the districts and the regions!
In every neighborhood or region, the Junta Vecinal (Neighbors" Junta), the local branch of the teachers" union, the local industrial unions and delegates coming from non unionnized workers at workshops and factories should all be integrated into a single Committee. These should also encompass the secondary school students, women"s organizations, the youth and the aboriginal population, plus all social and political organizations committed to the struggle to bring down Goni and defend our gas. In this way, we should be able to find a solution along our needs: we have to guarantee the foodstaples for our families, organize the self-defense in our neighborhoods and also protect our demonstrations against repression by any means necessary, deliver assistance to the injured and the families of those martyrs murdered by the government, etc.
For a government of the workers, the peasants and the poor!
We have to say no to all those politicians that yesterday were serving as officials of the current government and colluded with the crack-down and now are trying to whitewash their ugly faces. They are bent on an "ordered" reshuffle via the Parliament, presided over by former vice-president, Mr. Mesa or any other bourgeois hack. They just want to steal victory from the hands of the people, a victory achieved through bloodshed, struggle and sacrifice. The COB, the COR from El Alto, the CODes and other grassroot organizations at the front of the struggle both in the countryside and the cities should urgently convene a common congress, with rank-and-file representatives from all quarters on struggle, one rallying also those social organizations and political currents committed to the struggle. This should be turned into a true people"s Parliament, a genuine working class council that must open a discussion on how to bring in a provisional government of toilers, the peasants and the people at large. The insurrection rocking El Alto has become a de facto counterpower opposing the powers-that-be: the bourgeois state and its rulers. However, the MIR mayor, Mr. Paredes, still rules there, on paper at least. He must go, and the local workers along with the people should inaugurate their own government, one relying on the COB (trade union federation), the FEJUVE (Neighbor"s Junta Front) and the unions on struggle. Building a Commune in El Alto is a task on the order of the day in order to guarantee food provision, health care and self-defense of the city against the military and police ring encircling it and the threats of Goni of unleashing a renewed bloodbath there. In turn, this should be the first step to bring down this murderous government bent on a sell-out of our country, thus bringing forward the perspective of a national uprising, thus coming closer to total victory (...)
The government has just offered to convene a Constituent Assembly controlled by the current Parliament after 2007. Those standing by the former vice-president, Carlos Mesa, have come up with a similar proposal. But all these are just one big swindle. We just reject them and say we must fight for a free and sovereign Constituent Assembly, one that should not be bargained with the bourgeois politicians within the framework of the presently reactionary regime. Instead, it should be imposed from below through a mass mobilization, i.e., a Revolutionary Constituent Assembly that should be a forum to discuss how to dispose of the gas resources and meet the burning demands of the workers, the peasants, the aboriginals and the people at large (...) That is why, while we are fighting to convince the workers and the peasants they they should take power in their own hands, we call on the COB and all union and social organizations to consequently challenge this reactionary regime based on a "democracy for the rich" and the "cosmetic changes" they have in store for us. Fight for a Revolutionary Constituent Assembly!
Liga Obrera Revolucionaria-Cuarta Internacional
Barricada Roja-youth organization
La Paz, October 17, 2003