TIPNIS UPDATES: What is Going on in Evo’s Plurinational State?

One week has passed, and the ghost of the Coup has disappeared, and is a week since the IX Indigenous March in Defense of TIPNIS started a vigil at the door of the Vicepresidence offices.

On Tuesday June 27, the IX Indigenous March in Defense of TIPNIS arrived to the city of La Paz after marching for 61 days from Trinidad to La Paz, and I’m very PROUD to say that I joined my fellow Indigenous sisters and brothers, I have shared their fight for a very long time now, but when the march approached Murillo Square (where the Government Palace resides) a contingent of police officers stopped them from reaching the heart of the city, (let me share this album of photos of the march, the IX Indigenous March in Defense of TIPNIS was composed of the near 1000 indigenous from tropical lands and Indigenous from highlands and as soon as they reached La Paz city they had the support of thousands of urban citizens.

see: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151079053655482.484938.744715481&type=1

see: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.431427146889183.98766.352400241458541&type=1)

(the funny note ? The government doesn’t want the indigenous to litter the Square with their physiological needs. (http://www.noticiasfides.com/g/sociedad/gobierno-impide-ingreso-de-indigenas-a-plaza-murillo-por-temor-a-que-hagan-sus-necesidades-fisiologicas–2832/))

On Wednesday June 28 was a very sad day because a 6 month baby girl died her name was Karen Yessenia from the community Santa Maria del TIPNIS, her mother came walking 600km from Trinidad (160 meters above sea level) to the city of La Paz (3600 m.a.s.l.) before reaching La Paz they climbed altitudes of 5000 m.a.s.l. crossing the Andes mountain range, the baby died because is winter and the temperatures here in La Paz overnight reach -5 C. (http://boliviadiary.wordpress.com/2012/06/28/second-tipnis-march-arrives-in-la-paz/) she was the third child lost in this process since the VIII March came in october 2011.

I have seen a statement signed by 16 Bolivians intellectuals and I invite the readers to see this picture
where thousands of La Paz citizens gather to welcome the IX Indigenous March on Tuesday June 27, and please read below the response of Pablo Stefanoni (http://www.rebelion.org/noticia.php?id=152165&titular=%BFgolpe-de-estado-en-bolivia%3F) to the statement by the Network of Intellectual and Artist in Defense of Humanity.

Actually Mr. Morales Government is one of the most stable Presidents in the region, he won the elections by more than 50% of the votes (democratically), he´s party MAS (Movimiento al Socialismo) has more 65% of the seats in the Plurinational Assambly this means he has to ask no one to take any decision at a democratic level, he´s party has 8 of the 9 Governorates of Bolivia, he also has the support of the presidents of Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Ecuador, Cuba and Iran (the president of Iran was in Bolivia I wonder why? ), the Bolivian Army supports him 100%, and police and the support around the world of left wing parties, and some big corporations, in my humble opinion a Coup against all this political power would be unviable.

TIPNIS road is actually the golden gate for Brazilian corporation to be able to take their products from Rondonia to Chile (access to the pacific ocean), because if you see in a map is easier to get to the pacific coast crossing Bolivia than crossing brazil to get to the Atlantic coast, without mentioning that in TIPNIS you can find the best land for coca crop. http://patriainsurgente.nuevaradio.org/index.php?p=463, this road also benefits the HUGE LANDOWNER of Bolivia and the Brazilian Corporations; why would them support a Coup against Evo??? Now they will be able to reach Brazilian markets as well as Chilean markets. see:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/43/Brazil_State_Rondonia.svg/220px-Brazil_State_Rondonia.svg.png Descripción: ruta Descripción: http://www.paginasiete.bo/getattachment/0d885e54-1ac2-4c13-97db-828eee8c6c9b/TIPNIS-20111022-01.jpg.aspx

TIPNIS is the Indigenous Territory and National Park Isiboro Secure, home of 3 main indigenous groups Yuracares, T´simanes and Moxeños. In 2008, President Morales signed a contract with OAS Constructors, (http://www.bolpress.com/art.php?Cod=2011090104) a corporation from Brazil, under a loan from the Development Bank BNDES http://www.paginasiete.bo/2011-10-22/Nacional/Destacados/4Esp00122-10-11-P720111022SAB.aspx

What is there for the three indigenous nations that live in TIPNIS??? They will have to fight with colonizers for their own land and eventually migrate to cities to live in indigent conditions, so in less than 10 years these indigenous nations will have disappeared forever.

TIPNIS has also a great biological importance, in the case of biodiversity, let me give you a small example:
Guatemala has 108,889 km2 and 1246 species of fauna (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guatemala)
TIPNIS has 13,722 km² and is home of 714 species of animals (http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/TIPNIS)
(a little bit more than 10% of the territory and more than 50% of sp) this wild richness will be lost for ever.

I’m really sorry to see how Evo Morales has become a mere ICON; at international level he is the only “hope” against the “system”; he is the Defender of Mother Earth, but underneath, this government ´s policies are based in exploiting non renewable resources, selling them as raw material to other countries and corporations, this Government has already open the doors to Monsantos transgenic seeds and they are planning to build two dams one that will flood 70% of the indigenous territory of the Leco people, the only nomad tribe in Bolivia. But he is a president not an emperor or a king and he is president of a PLURINATIONAL STATE, so he has to hear the Authorities of the different Nations. The only thing this movement is asking the president is to respect their Ancestral Territories and respect their way of life in harmony with nature, this is not about money or power, and honor the title of Defender of Mother Earth, and to have coherence between the speech (at international level) and the policies within the country.

Nevertheless the most important thing I learned is that the POWER OF PEOPLE IS GREATER THEN THE PEOPLE IN POWER, and I’m on the side of people, and I really hope the president will hear and obey the people`s mandate.

No mother will sacrifice a child for money but they would for their territories and for their way of life.

I cannot compete with sensationalist media or opportunist “intellectuals” trying to get some attention by delegitimizing a movement that has really empowered and united us…

Even if our story is not heard outside, we (as Bolivians) will keep our fight against this deadly road of the international coorporations because

TIPNIS IS DIGNITY, TIPNIS IS PEACE, TIPNIS IS NATURE, TIPNIS IS BOLIVIA!

Reaccion climatica – Bolivia

6 juil., 2012
Posted in Actualités, Defending Rights