[nasional_list] [ppiindia] 'Our struggle is against U.S. imperialism'
- From: "Ambon" <sea@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <"Undisclosed-Recipient:;"@freelists.org>
- Date: Mon, 9 Jan 2006 02:22:40 +0100
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**http://www.workers.org/2006/world/morales-speech-0112/
EVO MORALES:
'Our struggle is against U.S. imperialism'
Published Jan 8, 2006 4:42 PM
Below is the text of a speech by Evo Morales to the "In Defense of Humanity"
conference held in Mexico City on Dec. 24, 2003. Morales is now president-elect
of Bolivia.
What happened these past days in Bolivia was a great revolt by those who have
been oppressed for more than 500 years. The will of the people was imposed this
September and October, and has begun to overcome the empire's cannons. We have
lived for so many years through the confrontation of two cultures: the culture
of life represented by the indigenous people, and the culture of death
represented by the West. When we the indigenous people-together with the
workers and even the businessmen of our country-fight for life and justice, the
state responds with its "democratic rule of law."
What does the "rule of law" mean for indigenous people? For the poor, the
marginalized, the excluded, the "rule of law" means the targeted assassinations
and collective massacres that we have endured. Not just this September and
October, but for many years, in which they have tried to impose policies of
hunger and poverty on the Bolivian people. Above all, the "rule of law" means
the accusations that we, the Quechuas, Aymaras and Guaranties of Bolivia keep
hearing from our governments: that we are narcos, that we are anarchists. This
uprising of the Bolivian people has been not only about gas and hydrocarbons,
but an intersection of many issues: discrimination, marginalization, and most
importantly, the failure of neoliberalism.
The cause of all these acts of bloodshed, and for the uprising of the Bolivian
people, has a name: neoliberalism. With courage and defiance, we brought down
Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada-the symbol of neoliberalism in our country-on Oct.
17, the Bolivians' day of dignity and identity. We began to bring down the
symbol of corruption and the political mafia.
And I want to tell you, compañeras and compañeros, how we have built the
consciousness of the Bolivian people from the bottom up. How quickly the
Bolivian people have reacted, have said- as Sub comandate Marcos says-Ya basta!
Enough policies of hunger and misery.
For us, Oct. 17 is the beginning of a new phase of construction. Most
importantly, we face the task of ending selfishness and individualism, and
creating-from the rural campesino and indigenous communities to the urban
slums-other forms of living, based on solidarity and mutual aid. We must think
about how to redistribute the wealth that is concentrated among few hands. This
is the great task we Bolivian people face after this great uprising.
It has been very important to organize and mobilize ourselves in a way based on
transparency, honesty and control over our own organizations. And it has been
important not only to organize but also to unite. Here we are now, united
intellectuals in defense of humanity-I think we must have not only unity among
the social movements, but also that we must coordinate with the intellectual
movements. Every gathering, every event of this nature for us labor leaders who
come from the social struggle, is a great lesson that allows us to exchange
experiences and to keep strengthening our people and our grassroots
organizations.
Thus, in Bolivia, our social movements, our intellectuals, our workers-even
those political parties which support the popular struggle-joined together to
drive out Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada. Sadly, we paid the price with many of our
lives, because the empire's arrogance and tyranny continue humiliating the
Bolivian people.
It must be said, compañeras and compañeros, that we must serve the social and
popular movements rather than the transnational corporations. I am new to
politics; I had hated it and had been afraid of becoming a career politician.
But I realized that politics had once been the science of serving the people,
and that getting involved in politics is important if you want to help your
people. By getting involved, I mean living for politics, rather than living off
of politics. We have coordinated our struggles between the social movements and
political parties, with the support of our academic institutions, in a way that
has created a greater national consciousness. That is what made it possible for
the people to rise up in these recent days.
When we speak of the "defense of humanity," as we do at this event, I think
that this only happens by eliminating neoliberalism and imperialism. But I
think that in this we are not so alone, because we see every day that
anti-imperialist thinking is spreading, especially after Bush's bloody
"intervention" policy in Iraq. Our way of organizing and uniting against the
system, against the empire's aggression towards our people, is spreading, as
are the strategies for creating and strengthening the power of the people.
'I believe only in the power of the people'
I believe only in the power of the people. That was my experience in my own
region, a single province-the importance of local power. And now, with all that
has happened in Bolivia, I have seen the importance of the power of a whole
people, of a whole nation. For those of us who believe it important to defend
humanity, the best contribution we can make is to help create that popular
power. This happens when we check our personal interests with those of the
group. Sometimes, we commit to the social movements in order to win power. We
need to be led by the people, not use or manipulate them.
We may have differences among our popular leaders-and it's true that we have
them in Bolivia. But when the people are conscious, when the people know what
needs to be done, any difference among the different local leaders ends. We've
been making progress in this for a long time, so that our people are finally
able to rise up, together.
What I want to tell you, compañeras and compañeros-what I dream of and what we
as leaders from Bolivia dream of is that our task at this moment should be to
strengthen anti-imperialist thinking. Some leaders are now talking about how
we-the intellectuals, the social and political movements-can organize a great
summit of people like Fidel, Chávez and Lula to say to everyone: "We are here,
taking a stand against the aggression of U.S. imperialism."
A summit at which we are joined by compañera Rigoberta Menchú, by other social
and labor leaders, great personalities like Pérez Ezquivel. A great summit to
say to our people that we are together, united and defending humanity. We have
no other choice, compañeros and compañeras-if we want to defend humanity we
must change systems and this means overthrowing U.S. imperialism.
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