Magdalena Gomez writes for Mexico’s La Jornada, March 28, via the Chiapas95 archive (our translation):
The Jornadas Andino-Mesoamericanas, held last week in La Paz and El Alto, Bolivia, provided an unusual tequio [Mexican indigenous word for collective effort] of thought. Indigenous leaders and academics from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru debated and took count of the progress of their struggles, but above all the problem of the State—and here they included Bolivia, because their leadership is clear that “we put Evo in power” [lo pusimos al Evo], but has serious concerns about the possibilities of reconstitution of the State.
For them, the Special Law of Convocation for the Constituent Assembly (Law 3365) will only privilege the representation of the [political] parties without the direct participation of indigenous peoples and social movements. They remain, therefore, in negotiations with the Movement to Socialism (MAS)…
Other prominent themes were that of water, the legalizacion of coca, and, especially, the nationalizacion of hydrocarbons…
[T]he vitality of the movement in Bolivia encourages [Latin America’s] local resistance struggles and political movements, like that of Ecuador’s CONAIE, whose leaders share their fight against the [Andean] Free Trade Agreement…
[T]he Mexican case was also discused, with an emphasis on the Zapatista experience, the Other Campaign, the Good Government Juntas. In attendence were representatives of the autonomous peasants of Tlalnepantla, Morelos, of Suljá autonomous municipality, and activists who work with indigenous peoples in Mexico City…
Curiously, many [participants] have a strong position against Marxism and its concept of class. As they explain the issue, they have historically been considered “campesinos” and have had to struggle to position themselves as indigenous…
In synthesis, if 20 years ago intellectuals spoke of the “indigenous problem”, today indigenous peoples speak, with growing force, of the problem of the State.
See our last post on Bolivia.
