Pro-government demonstrations in Cochabamba show the levels of corruption in the Bolivian government

After the bang of firecrackers could be heard from all around Cochabamba, I decided to search for the source.  I came across a mass of organisations affiliated with the Bolivian government descending on Cochabamba in order to show support for the government and to defend the government’s proposed plan for the road through Tipnis national park. The mass concentrated in the Plaza 14 de Septiembre around noon for a series of presentations by leaders and representatives of the MAS party. Here the speakers not only rallied support for the MAS party but also for the road and for the upcoming elections on Sunday. 

The concentration of people in Plaza 14 de Septiembre

 

As always, this was a media exercise in which to show that the government is still backed by the indigenous people of Bolivia. However, what may not be observed by the international media is that the people that descended on Cochabamba were paid to go and that they were indebted to go through their status of affiliation with the government. These are not free organizations but federations, syndicates and cooperatives of state owned industries or industries with a political alliance to the MAS party. All the transport was paid for by the government and tickets were handed out to the marchers for them to prove that they attended the march with consequences if they could not prove their attendance. 

Furthermore, pieces of paper were handed out to the marchers with numbers on that represented who the MAS party want them to vote for in Sunday’s judicial elections.

 

Here the Cooperativas mineras de Mizque (a state owned mining operation) call for "the process of change"

District 8 states that they "support the development and the link road"

The Government’s TIPNIS Counter-March (by car, not feet)

At 7am on Friday 7^th October I arrived at the Plaza Colon in Cochabamba to set out on the ‘Gran Caravana’ (Grand Caravan) of TIPNIS National Park. This was effectively the government’s counter-march to that of the indigenous that set out towards La Paz on the 15^th August. The ‘parliamentary brigade’ of Cochabamba invited members of the government, organisations and federations affiliated with the government, social movements and members of the press to join in the caravan. The document provided by the parliamentary brigade stated that "Esta caravana tiene por objectivo el de tomar conocimiento en el lugar sobre las caracteristicas del tramo II del proyecto carretero” (The caravan has the goal of becoming acquainted with the local characteristics of the stretch of the highway project).

The defence of the road by the parliamentary brigade argued that (the latter of which is typical of Evo’s false propaganda):

•           there is a need to integrate the East with the West in Bolivia

•          there are 800 organisations in Bolivia that support the construction of the road

•           the indigenous marchers have been coopted by the United States in order to undermine the judicial elections on the 16th October 

The route of the caravan is shown through a dotted line

Being on ‘Bolivian time’ we left Plaza Colon at almost 9am, two hours late, with approximately 50 vehicles adorned with the Bolivian flags that made up the caravan. We set out on a 120 mile route that would take us from Isinuta to Monte Grande through the small communities of Puerto Patino, Puerto Uncini, Nueva Aroma, San Juan de Icoya, Moleto, Villa Ichoa, San Antonio Comunidad Guacares, Puerto Carmen and Rio Ichoa. 

 

The caravan on the way to Isinuta

After stopping in Villa Tunari for lunch we arrived in Isinuta late afternoon to a warm welcome with food and music. After, we sat through a number of presentations by the leaders of some of the communities calling for the press to support the road.

 

A warm welcome on Isinuta, the sign reads “Welcome from the People of Isinuta. We support the finalisation of the section Villa Tunari-San Ignacio de Moxos. Evo, Isinuta is with you”

At 4.50am on Saturday we awoke for an early start towards TIPNIS park having to meander our way through several rivers. The rough terrain and numerous rivers were proof of the isolation of many of these communities, many of which would be inaccessible for many vehicles. 

 

In the community of Nueva Aroma the people stated that they desired the road in order to sell their products of fruits such as bananas, oranges, tangerines and avocados , as well as cassava and rice. 

The people of Nueva Aroma

"Yes, to the construction of the Villa Tunari - San Ignacio de Moxos road"

The children of San Juan de Icoya state "we ask for the road"

In Villa Ichoa the people stated "Yes, to the construction of the road"

Though most of the communities were migrant communities we did stop in the indigenous village of San Antonio made up of around 10 families that is a Yuracare settlement of TIPNIS. Here the people stated that they desired the road to access education, healthcare, to access water, for the sale of agricultural products and for communication. 

Paulina Ubana Nossa (26) from San Antonio stated that the road was needed for integration with other department and for the sale of local produce such as bananas, maize, yuccas and papayas.

However…The reasons why the road is detrimental

The caravan conducted by the government was a media exercise in order to convince the press that the road is desired by the indigenous communities living in the TIPNIS park. Such an exercise set out to counter the claims of the indigenous marchers, who have allegedly been coopted by the USA. However, what was witnessed on the caravan was largely communities that are not indigenous to the park but instead shows the colonization by coca growers, loggers and other migrant groups.

I left the caravan early, at around noon, and travelled back through the same communities we had previously seen during the morning. This time, however, many of the houses were drying coca leaves in the midday sun and this gave a very different impression of the reasons for the desire for the road amongst the coca migrant communities in TIPNIS. 

Coca leaves drying in the midday sun in the community of Villa Ichoa

 

Although the road may lead to economic development for some of the communities in the park it needs to be made apparent that there are different communities that live here – those indigenous to the area and the migrant communities that seek to exploit the park for economic means.

The park needs to be protected against deforestation, for logging and for the plantation of coca crops.  

Just one of the sites of deforestation in TIPNIS - where areas of the forest are burnt to make way for coca

Tipnis park is an important site for biodiversity - in San Antonio a parrot was spotted