Nicole

 Coca Blockades in Bolivia

Right: Bolivian Troops Enter Vinto, fire on civilians Left: response from nation’s youth.

Introduction Other forms of protest Military Intervention Casualties from the blockades Fiction as a means of protest Bibliography

 Introduction   I n Bolivia, the cocaleros(coca farmers) chose to grow and sell coca as the monetary income in provides for their families is 3-5 times greater than what they would earn if they worked on the altiplano or the valley as 9 out of 10 workers there are living in poverty. The leaves of the coca bush have been used for food, medicine and religious rituals by the indigenous people of the Andes for centauries, yet it can also be mixed with chemicals and processed into a paste to form cocaine. The United States of America imposed a war on drugs and is now eradicating all coca farms in Bolivia. The Bolivians are furious as the US is depleting there income and so they protested against it by setting up blockades along the main highways of Bolivia, on the 18th of September 2000, and will only be moved if they can come to some sort of agreement with the military that helps them to regain their lost money and crops or by extreme force!

Home

  -- Predominantly in La Paz, but also in other various state capitals of the country, there has been the Mobilizations of urban and rural teachers. Teachers also went on strike that closed the school for two weeks. -- Students of the 20th Century University marched. -- The protestors set up blockades on the roads in the high plans and Los Yungas.The coca growers of the tropic maintained a blockade on the Santa Cruz-Cochamba highway. Peasants maintained the blockade of the old highway to Santa Cruz, some of the roads to Santa Cruz (Yapacaní, Montero), workers against Soboce, owner of the Fancesa Company, blockaded streets in Sucre. --The Central Workers Board went on a general strike, in the city of La Paz there was a civil strike and the wives of the police went on strike demanding that the government uphold there former promises. -- The Coordination for Defence of Water and Life in Cochabamba led a mobilization that wasn’t too big. -- The President in Beni had Protest mobilizations against him because he delivered land titles to the town of Yuracaré in Cochabamba. Home
 * Other forms of protest against the coca eradication **


 * Military intervention **

First they tried to negotiate with the blockaders but they wouldn’t give in to the coca plea and return the coca to there farmers or stop taking it away. As they never did this the blockaders would not let up and stopped any people coming into or leaving the city and pretty much paralysed the city. When the military got fed up with the blockades blocking their traffic, and immobilizing the city they decided to put a stop to it. They went in fully armed for open combat with modern weapons, gas masks and anti-riot equipment. The victims say that the invasion was “savage” as the military were opening fire with rubber bullets, tear gas and firearms against hundreds of defenceless protestors that were maintaining the blockades. The military shot at all suspected blockaders mercilessly.

Home


 * Casualties from the blockades **

A taxi driver died instantly from being shot in the head by soldiers who shot at any suspected blockaders. The confrontation between blockaders and soldiers lasted for seven hours over three and a half kilometres. hundreds were wounded and many have been jailed.

This is a list of some of the wounded protestors who would have been shot at with rubber bullets, tear gas, lead and ammunition, eight casualties received surgary. The military were savage. Tito Siñani P. (29), José Luis Siles (27), Griselda Veizaga (19), Iván Calizaya C. (18), Oscar Torres (27), Ricardo Valdivia (31), Jimena Zenteno (6), Wilson Sarmiento (15), Joaquín Cartagena (49), Juan Ríos Calle (47), Luis Carvajal Aquino (34), Remberto Alvarez C. (35), Julián Characayo (34), Ramiro Terán S. (18), Jesús Cruz C. (27), Elizabeth Rivero (20), Sabino Flores (42), Paulina Tordoya P. (25), Mario Arias (33), Sebastián Molina (17), Raúl Soliz ( ?), Delia Rivas O. (20), Vilma Mamani (13), Ramiro Terán (18), Lizeth Fernández (18), Teodora Delgadillo,( ?) Juan C.( ?) Rodríguez y Pablo Hinojosa R. (14).

Home

 Fiction is a brilliant means of protest; in fact it was a fiction book, ‘Diego’s Pride’ by Deborah Ellis, that alerted me to this struggle in Bolivia.  I think it is very affective,as when it is in books, it is not boring history that puts you to sleep, it is in fact a thrilling story that you WANT to read more about and still manages to convey the history of the protest around the world. The only problem with fiction is that people might not believe it is true or they may believe the parts that aren’t true.
 * Fiction as a means of protest **

Home

** Bibliography: **

Home
 * http://www.narconews.com/pressbriefing1-2october.html
 * http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/214/cocacrisis.shtml
 * ‘//Diego’s pride’// by Deborah Ellis
 * http://images.google.co.nz/imgres?imgurl=http://www.theglobalreport.org/issues/130/Bolivia2.GIF&imgrefurl=http://www.theglobalreport.org/issues/130/index.html&h=262&w=395&sz=71&hl=en&start=13&usg=__5Eic9WemwmblqBSXKJFt6RxZTz4=&tbnid=xKsnrbEVDaFesM:&tbnh=82&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbolivian%2Bcoca%2Bblockades%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den
 * http://www.counterpunch.org/hylton02012003.html
 * http://www.commondreams.org/views/100200-104.htm

My research question is: =My sub Questions are:   = <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">**my key words are:** > > >
 * Coca Blockades in Bolivia<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">
 * What were the casualties?
 * Can fiction be a means of protest?
 * How did the military deal with the blockades?
 * What were other forms of protesting against the coca production eradication?
 * Coca,
 * Blockades,
 * Bolivia,
 * Punishments,
 * Casualties<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">

<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">
= =