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NEWS & LETTERS, March 2003
Our Life and TimesBolivian government murders 27 strikersThe Bolivian government called out the army to break mass strikes, in February, killing 27 people. The strikes began as a protest against President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada's attempt to enact "reforms" ordered by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). These included steep hikes in income taxes for workers and severe cuts in social spending. Burning with anger, the strikers surrounded the presidential palace, calling for Sanchez de Lozada to resign. Even police joined in, refusing to attack the strikers. The military then did the government's dirty work, in an orgy of killing over three days. Resistance subsided only after the government cancelled the new economic program. Sanchez de Lozada was narrowly elected last July over populist Evo Morales. Morales has called for the nationalization of industry, a halt to payment of the national debt, and an end to the war on drugs. The strong support for Morales, an indigenous Aymara who openly accuses the U.S. of trying to undermine him, has continued to worry the U.S., the IMF, and global capital, who see it as another sign of the move toward the Left in Latin America. |
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