17 August – 1pm Bolivia
Normality returns
Agreements have now been reached on all six points. Potosinos are celebrating the results of their action, roads blocks are clearing and hunger strikers are eating. It is unknown as yet if the process will be viewed as a positive or a negative regarding the national government and specifically President Morales, who stood firm refusing to engage in dialogue directly with Potosi, but sending three senior ministers.
16 August – 12 noon Bolivia
Talks continue in Sucre on Monday morning, Day 19 of the strikes. Some agreements have been made and Potosinos are preparing to return to their city and present the agreements to the people. If the agreements are accepted they may lead to the suspension of strikes and road blocks.
Agreement has been reached to preserve the form of Cerro Rico, Potosi´s famous mountain and it has been agreed that one cement factory will be built on each side of the Potosi – Oruro border, each primarily using resources from within their region. A national process of clarifying the boundaries between the nine Bolivian departments is to be undertaken. The development of an international airport in Potosi is to be made a government priority. The government is to present a program of action regarding the Canadian mining company, Atlas Precious Metals, and its failure to meet agreed investments and development timelines.
Yesterday saw nine injuries at road blocks as tensions mount between those blocking the routes and those trying to pass. Ironically the one remaining issue of the six under discussion regards the improvement of roads in the Potosi region, particularly between Potosi and Tarija toward the border with Argentina.
11:30 am – 14 August 2010
Day 16 of the action saw talks break down as Potosino protesters demanded that dialogue would only occur with President Morales and not with the four ministers sent to Sucre. Morales reiterated that the problems are provincial matters, not national.
Last night the Committee representing Potosi tried to bus back to Potosi after the failed talks, however before reaching the city they were stopped by hundreds of indigenous peasants wielding sticks who told them in no uncertain terms to go back to Sucre and open dialogue with the Government ministers.
This morning six working tables are currently underway in Sucre with representatives from Potosi and Oruro provinces and the national government. Those from Oruro are threatening action if agreements disadvantage their province and those from Potosi have not yet called a hault to road blocks, the closure of all businesses and hunger strikes.
Sucre, Bolivia – 5:30pm 12 August 2010.
Potosi reeling from fifteen days of complete lock down
Today is day fifteen of major protests, hunger strikes and crippling road blocks in Bolivia´s south. The provincial government of Potosi and thousands of its citizens are protesting over a boundary dispute with the neighbouring province of Oruro. The dispute has been provoked by conflicting claims over a significant limestone resource where the Bolivian government is proposing a cement factory. Both the national government and the government of Oruro believe the proposal to be within the province of Oruro. Those from Potosi disagree and are desperate for the factory.
Potosi has an incredible history of citizen uprising since Bolivia´s first attempt at overthrowing Spanish colonialism in 1780 led by indigenous Potosino Tupaj Katari, which spread as far as Cuzco in what is now Peru.
Displaced miners from the region played a major part in the huge uprisings of 2003 that overthrew a government and paved the way for the present government of Movement to Socialism (MAS) led by Bolivia´s first indigenous President, Evo Morales.
Each morning the white washed colonial walls of Sucre, Bolivia´s judicial capital in the Chuquisaca province that neighbours Potosi, wake to new graffiti in support of Potosi´s protesters.
There are conscious hunger strikes within Potosi as well as in solidarity outside the province such as here in Sucre´s main plaza. However, there are also many forced hunger strikes in Potosi because of serious shortages of food, water and fuel due to the road blocks.
Potosi leaders have said today they will enter into dialogue in Sucre but only if President Evo Morales is present and they want a response by the end of today. They are threatening a huge march from El Alto to La Paz if they don´t receive a positive response.
The Catholic Church has asked both the Government and the protest leaders in Potosi to end their rigid positions and immediately enter into meaningful dialogue.
One of the reasons for the huge reaction from Potosinos is likely the fact that their province is still extremely poor even though the region has always had an abundance of resources. Potosi´s ´inexhaustible mountain of silver´, Cerro Rico, was the motor driving Spain´s economy for centuries, but only served to enslave, impoverish and kill the indigenous people of the region.
Indeed the six points Potosinos want to discuss with the President relate to more than the clarification of their shared boundary with the Oruro province and which province gets the proposed cement factory. They also want to discuss the construction of an international airport, the opening of the Karachipampa plant, the preservation of Cerro Rico and attention to road projects. It would appear the protests are more about a poor province crying out for economic and development assistance.
James Dryburgh is a Tasmanian writer, journalist and Editor at Large of the independent website Tasmanian Times; currently living in Bolivia. His writing on Latin America has been published in Green Left Weekly (Australia), Axis of Logic (USA), Central America forum, Venezuelanalysis.com (USA/Venezuela) amongst others.
