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Massacres in Bolivia, Not In Our Name
A sign-on letter

October 15, 2003

Dear Friends,

As you know, Bolivia is in the midst of the most severe political and economic crisis since the country's return to democracy in 1982. Social organizations have mobilized to demand a voice in how Bolivia's strategic resources in this case natural gas should be administered and a share in the potential benefits. The unarmed protesters have been met by harsh repression. Social movements and the majority of the nation's population are now calling for President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada to resign. Their message is simple: they refuse to negotiate with the person they hold responsible for the killings.

The U.S. State Department expressed its support for President Sánchez de Lozada when it announced that, ""The American people and their government support Bolivia's democratically elected president, Gonzalo Sánchez De Lozada...The international community and the United States will not tolerate any interruption of constitutional order and will not support any regime that results from undemocratic means" (Richard Boucher, DOS Press Release 10/15/03).

This effectively blocks a peaceful, constitutional and legal transition, while more massacres are almost inevitable. The State Department claims to be acting in our name.

U.S. citizens living in Bolivia,have prepared a letter to U.S. Ambassador in Bolivia, David Greenlee, and U.S. Assistant Secretary for the Western Hemisphere, Roger Noriega, calling on the U.S. government to recognize and respect Bolivian's right to determine its own destiny without outside interference. The letter will also be sent to the Bolivian and international press. If you agree, please add your name to our call for no more massacres in our name. Please respond by 12:00 noon, Friday October 17, U.S. Eastern standard time) by sending your name, institutional affiliation and address to the Andean Information Network:

paz@albatros.cnb.net

Feel free to contact us at this address if you have further questions. Please also forward this letter to other concerned individuals.
For more information on the situation in Bolivia, please visit:

In English: www.ain.org.bo
In Spanish: www.bolpress.com

Text of letter:

Massacres in Bolivia: Not in Our Name

Social protest in Bolivia has been met with fierce and deadly government repression that has paralyzed the country. Faced with increasingly limited room for participation in narrow political processes, many sectors of` Bolivian society have resorted to marches and road blockades to make their voices heard. The exportation of the country's natural gas reserves to the United States through Chile was the last straw for frustrated sectors, triggering protests that have been met with deadly use of force from the Bolivian police and armed forces. During the past month, at least 64 people have been killed and over 400 have been injured, the great majority from bullet wounds. During the fourteen months of the Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada administration, more people have been killed by the security forces than any year of military dictatorship in Bolivia.

As a result of the spiraling violence and loss of life, protesting sectors have demanded the resignation of President Sánchez de Lozada. Bolivian vice president Carlos Mesa has distanced himself from the Sánchez de Lozada administration, stating that he cannot be party to further loss of life. The mayors of La Paz and El Alto, the town just outside of the capital where the protests began, as well as the ex- ombudsperson for human rights, Ana María Romero de Campero, have called for Sánchez de Lozada to step down.

The U.S. government has closed ranks with Sánchez de Lozada, blocking a peaceful solution and making continued violence almost inevitable. On October 13, a U.S. State Department spokesman affirmed, "The American people and their government support Bolivia's democratically elected president, Gonzalo Sánchez De Lozada... The international community and the United States will not tolerate any interruption of constitutional order and will not support any regime that results from undemocratic means."

Unconditional support for the incumbent president blocks the possibility of the president's resignation, advocated by a significant portion of the population, and permitted by the Bolivian constitution. Once again, the U.S. Government is impeding peaceful conflict resolution through dialogue in Bolivia, as it has done in the past in regard to U.S.-funded forced coca eradication policy.

As American citizens and, we call on the U.S. government to cease intervention in the present conflict. Bolivians must be allowed to determine their own political future, free from U.S. pressure or sanctions, within the framework of their own laws and constitution.

Sincerely,

Kathryn Ledebur
Andean Information Network
Cochabamba, Bolivia

Jim Shultz
The Democracy Center
Cochabamba, Bolivia

Tom Kruse
Researcher
La Paz, Bolivia

Sinclair Lewis
New York University
New York and La Paz

Forrest Hylton
Researcher and Historian
La Paz, Bolivia

Ben Dangl
Freelance Writer
Cochabamba, Bolivia

Kill these marxists idiots, thereby thinning out the herd, which leaves more work and food to go around to the law-abiding Bolivians. The only way to ever achieve peace is to kill those who which to impose marxist economies on freedom loving people.

that made alot of sense- yeah just kill all those "Bolibians".

On the contrary, let's take out the freedom robbing capitalist class.

We will take you anarchist motherfuckers out LONG before you ever get started. We are watching you, DeVoy.

We will take you anarchist motherfuckers out LONG before you ever get started. We are watching you, DeVoy.

In case of revolution, contact the resistance, we have a long list of brownshirts, complete with addresses. Wooden dowels make good poles and are available for expropriation at your local Home Depot.

As for Bolivia, may the fire grow and consume the parasites. Look to Bolivia as an example of exactly what to do to Ned Lyle.

Consulate General of Bolivia

483 S. Spring St., Suite 1212

Los Angeles, CA 90013

Telephone: (213) 689-0190



www.bolivia.indymedia.org (in spanish and english)

www.argentina.indymedia.org (great audio: street chanting, interviews with campesinos, evo morales)

also,

U.S. Ambassador David N. Greenlee's Strange "Letter" About a Coup Plot

i am one USA citizen who hopes the Bolivians throw this asshole in prison.