COCALERO UNREST IN PERU, BOLIVIA
from Weekly News Update on the Americas
PERU: COCALEROS SEIZE TOURISTS
On Sept. 28 a group of 400 Peruvian campesino coca producers (cocaleros)
from the community of La Convencion joined with 200 campesinos and agronomy
students from the San Antonio Abad university in Quillabamba in a march
through the streets of Cusco to pressure the government to address their
demands. Some 300 of the protesters then took over the historic Inca temple
of Coricancha and blocked 17 French and two German tourists and several
employees of the National Culture Institute (INC) from leaving. The Lima
daily La Republica reports that the tourists expressed support for the
cocaleros. An hour into the occupation, some 50 agents of the National
Police burst into the temple, firing tear gas, and arrested eight cocaleros
and students. The Interior Ministry claimed police were forced to act to
"protect the physical integrity" of the tourists. One of the tourists
passed out from tear gas inhalation and had to be treated. (La Republica,
El Comercio, BBC, Sept. 29)
A day earlier, Agriculture Minister Alvaro Quijandria said the government
would not dialogue with the cocaleros until they lift their strike. The
cocaleros have been on strike since Sept. 20; their 46 demands include that
the National Coca Company (ENACO) purchase this year's entire coca
production and that the government decriminalize cultivation of the
traditional crop. (La Republica, Sept. 29)
Five of the seven cocaleros arrested at the Coricancha temple were freed on
Sept. 29 after protesters camped out in front of the court building to
demand their release. Of the other two, one was apparently injured by the
police and remained hospitalized; another was 16 years old and was released
to his family. (La Republica, Sept. 30)
Early on Sept. 30, some 170 cocaleros arrived at the entrance to the famous
Inca ruins at Macchu Pichu, where they planned to stage an occupation.
Macchu Pichu town mayor Oscar Valencia served them free breakfast and
talked them out of the action by warning that the gods would be angered by
a protest at the site, and that the town's residents would resist. Valencia
also offered the protesters free train passage to Cusco; they promptly
accepted the offer and boarded the trains. (AP, Sept. 30)
Later that morning in Cusco, some 600 cocaleros set up a picket at the
entrance to the Alejandro Velasco Astete airport, blocking access to and
from the airport for about an hour and a half. La Republica reports that
riot police then dispersed the protesters peacefully by negotiating with
cocalero leaders. At the same time, Agriculture Minister Quijandria
apparently agreed to send a commission to Quillabamba to negotiate with the
cocaleros. Antonio Limache Yupanqui, general secretary of the Campesino
Federation of La Convencion, said the cocaleros' demands had been reduced
from 46 to 14; he urged Quijandria to send a commission with the power to
enact solutions, since previous agreements had only resulted in broken
promises. Limache said the strike would continue in the meantime. Hundreds
marched on Sept. 30 in Quillabamba to support the cocaleros' demands. (La
Republica, Oct. 1)
The strike began on Sept. 20, when cocaleros in the Cusco department
provinces of La Convencion, Yanatile (Calca) and Qosnipata (Paucartambo)
issued their demands that ENACO purchase their entire coca harvest and
decriminalize cultivation. The strike shut down all schools and transport
in the region. On Sept. 21, more than 10,000 campesinos marched in
Quillabamba, capital of La Convencion province, to demand that four cabinet
ministers back up an ENACO promise to buy 400 tons more coca this year than
last year. That same day, three cocalero leaders and La Convencion mayor
Fedia Castro stepped up the protest by starting a hunger strike. On Sept.
22, thousands of cocaleros began a march to Cusco, the departmental
capital. The campesinos are also demanding the paving of the road between
Ollantaytambo and Quillabamba; suspension of a state of emergency imposed
by the government; improvements in health and education services in the
region; and the cleanup of environmental damages caused by construction of
the Camisea gas pipeline network. (La Republica, Sept. 20-23)
BOLIVIA: TROOPS KILL COCALERO
On Sept. 28, Bolivian cocaleros clashed with coca eradication troops from
the government's Combined Task Force (FTC) in the Isiboro Secure National
Park Indigenous Territory (TIPNIS) in the Chapare region of Cochabamba
department. The troops were attempting to destroy illegal coca in TIPNIS
when they were confronted by 200 cocaleros from the community of Bustillo,
armed with rocks, sticks and dynamite. The troops fired tear gas, rubber
bullets and live ammunition at the protesters, killing campesino Juan
Choque Cruz with a bullet to the head. At least 15 cocaleros were wounded,
five by bullets, one seriously. Four troops were injured. Most of the
cocaleros are former miners who moved to the Chapare after losing jobs with
the Bolivian Mining Company (Comibol) in 1985.
"I don't know if this [killing] is a provocation by the [Bolivian]
government or by the US government to destabilize democracy," said cocalero
leader and Movement to Socialism (MAS) legislative deputy Evo Morales Aima.
Such a provocation might be intended to disrupt debate in Congress over a
new hydrocarbons law, scheduled to begin in the coming days; municipal
elections on Dec. 5, in which the MAS is expected to make gains; and the
calling of a Constitutional Assembly in early 2005.
The same day as the incident, Sept. 28, the Chamber of Deputies passed a
motion urging President Carlos Mesa Gisbert to immediately withdraw FTC
eradication forces from the Cochabamba tropics. The motion also suggested
that Mesa suspend a planned trip to Miami to take care of the situation at
home. (Los Tiempos de Cochabamba, Sept. 29; Servicio Informativo
"Alai-amlatina," Sept. 28)
On Sept. 29, Mesa and Morales reached a pact: Mesa agreed to suspend
eradication operations for four days; in exchange, Morales said the
cocaleros would pull back their resistance "vigils" from the FTC camps. The
government also agreed to compensate the family of Juan Choque and provide
medical care for those injured in the clash. Government minister Saul Lara
Torrico, himself a former adviser to the Chapare cocaleros, said the US
government "should absolutely not" be upset by the suspension because "it
just means a pause" in eradication. Lara condemned the Chamber of Deputies
motion which urged the withdrawal of the FTC from the Chapare; he
emphasized that no agricultural activity at all is allowed within the
Isiboro Secure park. Morales has asked Mesa to fire Lara for his handling
of the cocalero conflict. (Los Tiempos de Cochabamba; El Diario, La Paz,
Sept. 30)
The Chapare cocaleros have apparently ignored the pact: "Not a single
cocalero will abandon the vigils which are under way," insisted cocalera
leader Leonida Zurita. "On the contrary, more coca producers will join the
protest until the coca eradication is paused." Eradication is set to resume
on Oct. 4. (Argenpress.info, Oct. 1)
Lara has reason to fear a negative response from Washington: the cost of
his government's $958 million "New Bolivian Integral Strategy for the
Struggle Against Drug Trafficking, 2004-2008" is to be covered mainly by
the US. The new strategy seeks to eradicate all coca cultivations in the
Chapare and to implement voluntary eradication of coca in the Yungas region
of La Paz department, where up to 12,000 hectares of legal coca production
is permitted for traditional use (the leaf is chewed and made into tea,
candy, gum, sodas and other products). There are currently 22,000 hectares
of coca in Los Yungas and 3,000 in the Chapare.
The Sept. 8 announcement of the new anti-coca strategy was followed by
stepped up eradication in the Chapare by the FTC, a joint police-military
force advised by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Cocaleros
responded by setting up permanent vigils and roadblocks near FTC camps to
block eradication operations. Cocaleros have blocked access roads to the
Isiboro Secure park with trenches and barricades of tree trunks and
boulders.
Cocaleros from the Chapare are planning to join other labor and grassroots
sectors in a major mobilization on Oct. 11. The march will leave from the
community of Caracollo in Oruro department and will arrive in La Paz to
protest coca eradication, demand the nationalization of hydrocarbons, and
seek a trial against ex-president Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, ousted in a
popular rebellion last Oct. 17. (ALAI, Sept. 28/04)
From Weekly News Update on the Americas, Oct. 3, Sept. 26
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Forwarded by WORLD WAR 3 REPORT, Oct. 4, 2004
Reprinting permissible with attribution
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