Link: https://www.elsaltodiario.com/bolivia/bolivia-rebelion-venas

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Bolivia , with its long history of insurgencies and revolutions, is a flashpoint in the continental landscape, exacerbating social tensions. For the past month, the Andean nation has been shaken by a peasant, worker, indigenous, and popular rebellion against the government of Rodrigo Paz. At its peak, road and highway blockades reached 150 (by early June, they hovered around 80). The movement erupted against a government that took office just six months ago and had already faced an initial wave of mobilizations between December and January.

Where is the Bolivian rebellion headed? Will it be possible to mobilize forces from below to launch an offensive and bring down the government, or will the regime's survival prevail through attrition, diversions, and repression? This Tuesday, June 2nd, thousands of members of the blockade committees, peasants, and workers gathered in a large open assembly to decide on the next steps.

There, they reaffirmed their demand that Rodrigo Paz's government step down: "We will not dialogue or negotiate with those who have the blood of our Indigenous communities on their hands. We will resist at the barricades until President Rodrigo Paz resigns," said a peasant leader. The same sentiment was reiterated this week in other Indigenous assemblies and community gatherings in various regions.

The rise of Bolivia's working-class and peasant movements is gaining momentum amidst the United States' renewed offensive in Latin America against a government allied with Trump. For this reason, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Christopher Landau denounced an "attempted coup" on the program X and asserted that the United States "firmly supports the legitimate constitutional government of Bolivia." Days later, Secretary of State Marco Rubio reinforced this message, warning that they would not allow "criminals and drug traffickers" to overthrow democratically elected governments. The Paz government also received regional support: Javier Milei sent military aircraft, Chilean President José Antonio Kast expressed his support, and even Lula da Silva voiced solidarity with the protesters and the government repressing them.

“What do we want? For him to resign! When? Now!”
The government's repeated attempts to quell the protests have failed, both through repression and the "dialogue" proposals promoted by the Episcopal Conference. On May 23, a caravan led by the Minister of Public Works, Mauricio Zamora, departed from La Paz for Oruro, accompanied by 2,000 police officers. The objective was to clear the roadblocks under the guise of a "humanitarian" mission, as demanded by the right-wing civic bloc. The operation was a fiasco: the minister even had to take refuge for several hours on a side road, fleeing from protesters and outraged residents. The roadblocks not only remained in place but multiplied.

This forced the government to change tactics and support the calls for dialogue from the vice presidency and the Church. The condition set by the union leadership was the annulment of the arrest warrants against their leaders—among them Mario Argollo, executive secretary of the Bolivian Workers' Central (COB), accused of “terrorism,” and Vicente Salazar, of the Túpac Katari peasant federation. On Friday, May 29, the Second Anti-Corruption Sentencing Court of La Paz lifted those warrants. But even then, the government did not achieve its objective: the leaders of the COB and the main peasant organization decided, after consulting with their members in an expanded meeting, not to accept the invitation. They risked being seen as traitors if they did.

What generated particular outrage was the elimination of the wealth tax, while the removal of fuel subsidies sent prices soaring.
The government has lost political control of the situation, caught between the radicalization of popular protests and the pressure from the oligarchic bloc, which is clamoring for the imposition of a state of emergency.

On Saturday, June 6, police, military, and far-right paramilitary groups attempted to clear the blockade in the community of San Julián. After more than six hours, they were unsuccessful due to resistance. Meanwhile, the Senate approved a law to regulate the state of emergency and sent it to the Chamber of Deputies for approval. The measure could be implemented at any moment in the coming hours, but the government does not appear confident. Widespread repression could provoke a widespread uprising.

Many of those participating in the blockades voted for the Paz-Lara ticket, but now feel betrayed. This is no longer about this or that list of demands: the self-organized protesters are demanding the government's downfall. What sparked particular outrage was the elimination of the wealth tax, while the removal of fuel subsidies sent prices soaring, further impoverishing the poorest. At the heart of the peasant rebellion is the attempt to modify land ownership laws to favor greater accumulation of large landholdings, something the agro-industrial bourgeoisie of eastern Venezuela is pushing for. Added to this are the ongoing racist attacks by the right wing against the Indigenous and peasant population, and the extreme precariousness of life for the working class.

The overflow of the self-organized
One of the most novel aspects of the current movement is the widespread phenomenon of self-organized groups: sectors of peasants, informal workers, and precarious workers who are overwhelming traditional leaders and organizing themselves, with women playing a leading role. In recent weeks, numerous assemblies of self-organized groups have "disavowed" union or neighborhood leaders for negotiating behind their backs. They then elected their own representatives and blockade committees. As stated in a communiqué from the blockade committee of District 8 in El Alto: "The people's struggles cannot be negotiated behind closed doors and end without real solutions. We reaffirm the need to strengthen grassroots organizations through town hall meetings, popular assemblies, and blockade committees elected by the rank and file, because only an organized and mobilized people can defend their rights and confront the policies that seek to make the working class pay for the crisis."

One of the most novel aspects of the current movement is the widespread phenomenon of the self-organized: sectors of peasants, informal and precarious workers who overwhelm the traditional leaders
Javo Ferreira, author of the book Community, Indigenism, and Marxism , points out that “workers, neighbors, and students are self-organizing, and dozens of blockade committees and mobilization committees have emerged. This is accompanied by strong tendencies toward unity. That is to say, there is almost a natural tendency to seek coordination, to seek the articulation not only of the self-organized committees, but also of these same committees with the official organizations, so to speak, that are engaged in the struggle.” Ferreira notes that it is vital “to consider how these forms of self-organization and democratic coordination are preserved over time, because they will be fundamental to avoiding starting from scratch in the battles that will inevitably come.”

The grassroots mobilization has forced union leadership to recalibrate its strategy. On June 2, leaders of the COB (Bolivian Workers' Center) and peasant organizations participated in the open assembly convened by the self-organized groups in El Alto, on the outskirts of La Paz, but so far they have not taken steps to ensure the general strike takes effect across all labor sectors.

Where is Bolivia headed?
Bolivia has a long history of struggles and rebellions. From the heroic revolution of 1952 to the People's Assembly of 1971, there have been workers' insurrections and peasant uprisings. More recently, the Water War (2000) and the Gas War (2003) ushered in a period of resistance against neoliberalism. These were highly radical processes that, nevertheless, were suppressed through a combination of diversions and repression. More than 20 years of MAS governments represented the institutionalization of this cycle of struggles and the integration of workers' and peasants' organizations into the state through the project of "Andean capitalism." In its early years, taking advantage of the cycle of high commodity prices, measures were taken that led to some redistribution, along with the recognition of certain rights of Indigenous and peasant peoples in the Constitution of the Plurinational State.

However, without having reversed the structural conditions of dependence on imperialism, when conditions changed, these governments transformed themselves into administrators of the social crisis, implementing austerity measures amidst internal factional warfare within the MAS party. Under Arce's government, inflation reached its highest level in four decades, with shortages of fuel and food. This explains Paz's victory in the elections, for whom many voted against the traditional right-wing candidate, Tuto Quiroga, hoping to find a way out of the social crisis.

Bolivia is today a laboratory of struggles and resistance. If the peasant, indigenous, and popular rebellion manages to coalesce into an effective general strike, as many are demanding in town hall meetings and assemblies, it is possible to defeat the Paz government. What is at stake in Bolivia today will have consequences far beyond the Andes, the Altiplano, or the Yungas. Will this be the beginning of a continental counteroffensive against the pawns of imperial power?