Uprising/Revolution in Bolivia Breaking RIGHT NOW?!!!

To: ChicagoHebrew

On the March : Aymara peasants march along a Bolivian altiplano road toward the capital La Paz near Panduro, La Paz, Bolivia. (AFP/Aizar Raldes)

Renewed protests loom in Bolivia

Thousands of Bolivian peasant farmers have begun marching on La Paz, calling for ex-President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada to be put on trial.

The marchers blame him for the deaths of some 80 people last year in violent protests against government plans to export natural gas.

They also want Congress to give the state more power in the energy sector.

The march comes nearly a year after Mr Sanchez de Lozada, now in exile in the US, was forced to resign by the unrest.

The Bolivian Congress will meet on Wednesday to decide whether to open proceedings against Mr Sanchez de Lozada.

Two former members of the ex-president's cabinet may also face trial.

The marchers, who are being led by coca-growers' leader and opposition politician Evo Morales, are expected in La Paz at the weekend.

Backlash

Bolivia has the second-largest natural gas reserves in Latin America, and economists say exporting gas is the only way to pull the country out of poverty.

But Bolivia's impoverished indigenous Indian majority believe the export plan will merely benefit the country's wealthy elite.

They want the gas to be nationalised and made available exclusively to the Bolivian people.

The latest protest over the future of Bolivia's gas industry comes just days before the 17 October anniversary of Mr Sanchez de Lozada's resignation from the presidency last year.

It also comes as his successor, Carlos Mesa, is facing a political backlash against his efforts to defuse the controversial gas issue.

In July, Mr Mesa won a five-point referendum allowing more exports of the country's lucrative natural gas reserves.

But the wording of the referendum was so complicated that the Bolivian Congress has been able to put forward a very different interpretation of what it meant.

The economic development committee has now rewritten the government's draft energy bill, imposing harsher taxes on foreign companies investing in Bolivia's energy sector.

Government ministers have warned that if the bill passes in its present form, it will mean an end to all foreign investment.

A year old picture.

An injured man is wheeled away for help after being shot by army soldiers during a demonstration against former Bolivian President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada on the outskirts of La Paz, in this file photo from October 12, 2003. Bolivia's Congress voted on October 14, 2004, to authorize the Supreme Court to try Sanchez de Lozada for the bloody repression against demonstrators that left 67 dead and some 200 injured, and ended in his resignation in October, 2003. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

101 posted on 10/14/2004 4:50:57 PM PDT by TexKat (Just because you did not see it or read it, that does not mean it did or did not happen.)

How many revolutions have they had in Bolivia? 100? 200?

102 posted on 10/14/2004 4:51:09 PM PDT by dljordan

To: ChicagoHebrew

103 posted on 10/14/2004 4:51:27 PM PDT by Mo1 (The President's job is not to pass a global test, but to protect the American people.)

To: ChicagoHebrew; All

EX-BOLIVIAN PRESIDENT TO BE TRIEDLA PAZ (Bolivia) - The Bolivian Congress voted early yesterday to put former president Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada and 15 other members of his ousted Cabinet on trial on charges of genocide and embezzlement of state funds.

Sanchez de Lozada was forced to step down on Oct 17 last year, amid massive unrest triggered by the government's plan to export natural gas through Chile, a traditional foe, and general dissatisfaction with the country's economic condition.

Sanchez de Lozada, 74, now lives in the United States. He was replaced by his vice-president, Mr Carlos Mesa. -- AFP

104 posted on 10/14/2004 4:52:02 PM PDT by mdittmar (May God watch over those who serve to keep us free.)

That reminds me. Once I was waiting for a plane in Dallas and saw Charles Nelson Reilly (waiting for a plane as well) in a bar so I decided to sit in. To make a long story short I later got on the wrong plane. When they found out I didn't belong on that plane I had to get my bag out of the upper compartment. There was a packet of suger lying on the shelf and when I slid my bag off it poured down a guys neck.

105 posted on 10/14/2004 4:52:20 PM PDT by openotherend

Jimmy Carter should be forced at gunpoint onto a boat headed TO Cuba.

106 posted on 10/14/2004 4:53:26 PM PDT by BobS

To: ChicagoHebrew

How many revolutions have they had in Bolivia...200? They cannot be made free and prosperous because they do not have the culture of freedom and prosperity. This latest exercize in futility will end in yet another dismal, backward country... again!

107 posted on 10/14/2004 4:53:45 PM PDT by broadsword (Weren't there a couple of giant Buddhist statues in Afghanistan? What happened to them?)

To: Unknown Freeper

(Man, Freepers are everywhere!)

There was a Freeper "reporting" from aftermath of the August 2003 Mumbai bombing. I just can't find the thread.

108 posted on 10/14/2004 4:53:57 PM PDT by jriemer (We are a Republic not a Democracy)

What the heck is a civilized person doing in Bolivia?

It is THE destination for climbers and backpackers who have tired of red tape, Maoist rebels and overcrowding in Nepal.

I've been there twice now, and will return when I have the chance.

109 posted on 10/14/2004 4:55:23 PM PDT by Pahuanui (When a foolish man hears of the Tao, he laughs out loud)

To: ChicagoHebrew

PRayers are being said for you right now.

<><

110 posted on 10/14/2004 4:58:10 PM PDT by IllumiNaughtyByNature

Probably your standard South American coup attempt. Nothing to see here.

Aren't those annual events?

111 posted on 10/14/2004 4:58:48 PM PDT by P-Marlowe

Possibly a democratic uprising?
Not likely, the organized pissed off group is the cocaleros who are marching on LaPaz to protest the government's plan to forcibly wipe out coca farming in three years.

Add the cocaine armies from Colombia who rely on Bolivia's coca and things are going to get very ugly.

Great! Now sKerry, Edwards littlehands and the MSM have something else to blame on Bush!

112 posted on 10/14/2004 4:59:53 PM PDT by ImProudToBeAnAmerican (Bill raped, Monica swallowed, Hillary totally sucks.)

To: ChicagoHebrew

This is the way it works. Bolivia for the first time in its history has a legal natural resource that can put it on the map.

A few years ago, they developed their gas deposits, and built a 2000 mile long pipeline to Brazil to sell it. The pipeline puts thousands of people to work building it, and the income gives a bankrupt government some legal income.

But Brazil went into a recession, and has begun to develope its own gas deposits, and has stopped taking all the gas it was contracted to take. Bad news for Bolivia.

They decided that, rather than be tied to Brazil's business cycle, they would punch another pipeline out to the Pacific, and sell to the world. Thats when the trouble started. The Tribes and the NGOs that work with them decided that selling gas on the world market would enslave them. Their leaders (advised by Euro NGOs mind you) told the people that gas was alien to their culture, unlike coca which was authenticly Bolivian.

So the tribes and the coca farmers (mostly one and the same) rose up and tried to overthrow the government. Some of them were killed in the rioting, but the President was eventually forced to resign to restore peace. He is in the US.

He will be charged with murder for the deaths caused when the cocaleros tried to overthrow him.

Meanwhile, Chavez of Venezuela met with the leader of the revolt to encourage him to stay firm, which gave us the rather grotesque picture of the richest oil producer in the hemisphere encouraging the poorest country in the world to stay out of the oil and gas business. I have come to the conclusion that the NGOs and environmental groups that work with the tribes are funded by OPEC.

113 posted on 10/14/2004 5:05:19 PM PDT by marron

To: Mo1; Grampa Dave; EdReform; Jim Robinson; Gabz; Fiddlstix; NormsRevenge; Brad's Gramma; steveegg; ..

FReepers on the ground ping

114 posted on 10/14/2004 5:05:47 PM PDT by glock rocks (posted from the very heart of Reagan country)

To: zarf; ChicagoHebrew

Probably your standard South American coup attempt. Nothing to see here.

Bolivia is the country that had three presidents in one day...

Keep your head down, head for the consulate, if you know where that is and don't speak English.

Also a good idea to slip one of your id's into your shoe.

115 posted on 10/14/2004 5:09:14 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (There is no Chaos. Only very complicated Order. (Presenting Lady Snuggles of the Lethal Yew in PJ's!)

To: pete anderson

Good call. During most Revolutions they don't let many people hang out in the cafes and sip coffee.

I sat out many a riot in a donut shop or coffee bar.

They slam down those big metal doors and you are as safe as is possible under those circumstances.

116 posted on 10/14/2004 5:13:11 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (There is no Chaos. Only very complicated Order. (Presenting Lady Snuggles of the Lethal Yew in PJ's!)

Bolivian soccer fans celebrate after the national team defeated Peru in their World Cup qualifier, at Hernando Siles stadium in La Paz, October 9, 2004. Bolivia won the match 1-0. REUTERS/Jose Luis Quintana

Street vendors march in downtown La Paz, Bolivia on Monday, Oct. 4, 2004. The protesters were marching against the La Paz city mayor's project of decreasing the size of their stands in the streets. (AP Photo/Dado Galdieri)

117 posted on 10/14/2004 5:17:12 PM PDT by TexKat (Just because you did not see it or read it, that does not mean it did or did not happen.)

To: ChicagoHebrew

Banana Republic coup...

118 posted on 10/14/2004 5:18:56 PM PDT by TommyDale

Political demonstrations are interesting. But as a traveller, they're one of the most dangerous situations you can get yourself into. Avoid temptation, and move directly away from any political demonstrations while abroad.

119 posted on 10/14/2004 5:22:09 PM PDT by Mount Athos

To: ChicagoHebrew

Long way from Chicago. (Where such things only happen on election day.) Stay safe -- seriously.

120 posted on 10/14/2004 5:24:05 PM PDT by AmishDude (This space for rent.)

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