Politik Kills

Well, you may have heard something about what has been happening here in Bolivia for the past week now. Or, knowing how U.S. news sources are you may have only heard very little, if anything. First of all, we want to let you know we are ok. The violence is far from where we are. But really I just wanted to dig a little deeper and, at least from my perspective, show you a little bit more of what is behind all of this.
It starts way back over 500 years ago when the Spanish arrived. No, really. To this day the white descendents of the Spaniards (about 10% of the population) control all the country's wealth, power, and resources. And racism is as bad here as in the States before the end of segregation. On many of the large plantations in the eastern lowlands of the country, all controlled by the elite, indentured servanture and even slavery are still occuring today. They invade native people's territory, kick them out, and cut down the forest for their beef ranches and banana farms. And to make matters worse, the second largest natural gas reserves in the hemisphere lie under their feet in those regions.
Even though over 65% of the country is of indigenous descent, the rest being of mixed heritage, just in 2005 was the first indegenous president elected. That is where the rift between the rich and poor grew to a canyon-wide gap. Evo Morales, the president has plans to rewrite the constitution, instituting a land reform program, giving back to the peasants and natives what was originally theirs. He also has nationalized the gas industry and imposed a heavy tax on gas production which he has used all around the country to build schools and improve infrastructure. He has made all 36 languages in the country official languages and tried to make a law that all government representatives (of which currently all but a handful are from the old powerful class) should speak at least one other Bolivian native language other than Spanish. Of course, no class of wealthy elite is going to sit by and see the power and privilage they have had for centuries just slip away. That is the root of this conflict.
The opposition talks about regional pride and wanting more autonomy because they control almost all the wealth of the country and don't think it is fair that they would have to share it with the rest of the country. In reality though, this is not the popular movement that they would make it out to be. The people in the streets are university students, the children of the wealthy. The organization behind the protests is a group of wealthy businessmen that are manipulating the common people's sense of regional and cultural pride as well as racism to their own advantage. Not only have they sacked government buildings, but they have specifically targeted human rights organizations that defend the indigenous people and help protect their territory from invasion by cattle ranchers and oil prospectors. University students of indegenous descent have been dragged out of classes and butchered. If you look at the results of the recent referendum on Morales' presidency, more than half of the population in the "opposition" regions voted in approval of the president's reforms. If there was a president that protected the interests of the wealthy, I doubt there would be talk of autonomy.
So we know there is no perfect government. I know Morales has his issues. But as Christians, whose side should we stand up for? Who should we be defending? I don't think we should condone violence from supporters of either side. That is the first point the church should urge is an end to the violence. But then where do we stand on the issue of the oppression, hatred, and violence that has been a part of so many Bolivians lives for so long, often the church being at the core of it?
Just some thoughts on life in Bolivia.