KATHRYN LEDEBUR, [email protected]
Currently in Cochabamba, Bolivia, Ledebur is director of the Andean Information Network. She said today: “Six months into this administration, it has been corrupt, has failed to implement key policies, and the government is effectively bankrupt. Grassroots sectors across Bolivia have marched on La Paz — indigenous communities from the 20 provinces of La Paz, largely Aymara communities, the national labor union, teachers, miners, and a group of Evo Morales supporters marching from the Chapare.
“This has been going on for over two weeks now, and the city has essentially been shut down. And the government hasn’t shown an ability to negotiate with broad sectors. They blame everything on Evo Morales. They’ve issued a new arrest warrant for him, and there’s been a great deal of noise from the DEA about going after him — [there has been] this DEA obsession with capturing Morales after they were expelled in 2008.
“Evo Morales isn’t running all of this. You have different sectors with different demands, though the shared central demand is the resignation of Rodrigo Paz. These aren’t fully unified sectors, but they represent the great majority of Bolivia’s grassroots, and they’re protesting because many of them are worried they won’t have enough to eat next year.
“The government’s discourse has been deeply polarizing — framing things as ‘good Bolivians’ versus ‘bad Bolivians,’ with strong racist overtones directed at indigenous people and these very strong social movements that were the backbone of the Morales government and have always had a really central role in Bolivian politics.”
See her new interview with Drop Site News.