Wednesday 17 September
2008, San José, Costa Rica
SOUTH AMERICA:
Leaders Express Full
Support for Bolivia’s
Morales
By Daniela Estrada
SANTIAGO (IPS) -
After an emergency
summit in the Chilean
capital, the presidents
of the Union of South
American Nations (UNASUR)
expressed their
resounding support for
the government of
Bolivia and decided to
set up commissions to
support talks and to
investigate recent
killings in that
country, which is caught
in a wave of political
unrest.
"The member countries of
UNASUR express their
fullest and most
decisive support for the
constitutional
government of President
Evo Morales," says the
statement unanimously
approved by the
presidents, which was
read out by host
President Michelle
Bachelet at around
midnight Monday after
the six-hour meeting.
Along with Morales, the
emergency meeting
brought together
centre-left and leftwing
presidents Fernando Lugo
of Paraguay, Rafael
Correa of Ecuador,
Tabaré Vázquez of
Uruguay, Hugo Chávez of
Venezuela, Luiz Inácio
Lula da Silva of Brazil
and Cristina Fernández
of Argentina, as well as
rightwing President
Álvaro Uribe of
Colombia, Peruvian
Foreign Minister José
Antonio García Belaúnde
in representation of
President Alan García,
and delegates from
Guyana and Suriname.
The governments of South
America "vigorously
reject and will not
grant recognition to any
situation that implies a
civil coup or the
rupture of the
institutional order, or
that will undermine the
territorial integrity of
the republic of
Bolivia," Bachelet read.
UNASUR also issued a
call to all concerned
political and social
factions in Bolivia to
take the necessary
measures to stop the
violence in that country
and to reach a "lasting
solution."
The fledgling South
American bloc, which
groups the 12 countries
of South America, also
vigorously condemned the
attacks on public
institutions and the
murders of indigenous
supporters of Morales in
the northern Bolivian
province of Pando, where
more than 30 people were
killed and dozens are
still missing.
Bachelet reported that
the presidents approved
the Bolivian
government’s request for
the establishment of a
commission to carry out
an "impartial
investigation" of the
killings and to "set
forth recommendations"
so that the incident is
clarified and those
responsible are held
accountable.
The UNASUR leaders also
"agreed to create a
commission open to all
of its members,
coordinated by the
president pro tempore,
to accompany the talks
led by the legitimate
government of Bolivia."
In addition, they will
create "a commission of
support and assistance
for the government of
Bolivia based on its
needs, including
specialised human
resources."
Both Bachelet and
Morales underscored the
role played by UNASUR in
the first crisis that it
has faced since its
formal creation on May
23 in Brasilia.
"After this lengthy but
very fruitful meeting,
and the agreements
reached, UNASUR has been
consolidated," said
Chile’s leader.
In a press conference,
Morales said he was
pleasantly "surprised by
the solidarity"
expressed by the 12
governments represented
at the special summit,
and expressed gratitude
for "the firm position
to defend the democracy
and unity of the
Bolivian nation."
"The position taken by
South America is of
defence of life,
equality, identity and
dignity. This is the
first time in the
history of the region
that the countries have
decided to resolve the
problems of South
America themselves. In
the past, even to deal
with some internal or
bilateral South American
or Latin American
issues, they were
discussed in the United
States," said Morales.
The UNASUR emergency
meeting was officially
called over the weekend
by Bachelet, as
president pro tempore of
the regional bloc.
The El Mercurio
newspaper in Chile
reported Sunday that
Bachelet decided to
convene the summit after
Morales told her by
telephone that a coup
was being planned in
Bolivia.
The most sceptical
attitude towards the
meeting was expressed by
Lula, who stated before
flying to Santiago that
the leaders had to know
what Bolivia "wants us
to do."
"We have no right to
reach any decision
unless there is an
agreement between the
government and the
opposition in Bolivia,"
he said.
On his arrival to Chile
early Monday, Morales
expressed his gratitude
for the meeting "to
explain to the
presidents of South
America about the civic
coup that governors of
several provinces have
been planning in the
last few days."
Bolivia’s first-ever
indigenous president
then described "the
occupation and looting
of public buildings,"
"an attempted assault on
the national police and
armed forces,"
"terrorist actions" and
"crimes of humanity
committed by groups that
are massacring the
poorest sectors in my
country -- the
indigenous peasant
movement."
After flying in to Chile
from Ecuador, Correa
said that "we will see
here if integration is
real or just more blah
blah blah."
"We all know perfectly
well what is going on in
Bolivia; hypocrisy has
no place here. Phantoms
that we thought were
banished from the region
are appearing again in
other forms, in other
clothing, as other
ghosts, but they are the
same spectres as
before," he said.
For his part, Chávez
said that "35 years ago
this continent stayed
silent, the governments
of the Americas kept
mum," when Chile’s
socialist president
Salvador Allende
(1970-1973) was
overthrown in a coup
that gave rise to the
1973-1990 dictatorship
of General Augusto
Pinochet.
"In Bolivia there is an
international conspiracy
taking place, a
conspiracy directed by
the U.S. empire, just as
occurred in Chile" in
1973, he said.
Organisation of American
States (OAS)
Secretary-General José
Miguel Insulza, who also
took part in the
meeting, said he did not
believe in
"interventions" but in
"internally generated
solutions."
During the emergency
summit, some 500
demonstrators called
together by the Humanist
Party of Chile gathered
outside the La Moneda
presidential palace,
where the leaders were
meeting, to express
their solidarity with
Morales.
At the same time, around
a dozen anti-Morales
Bolivian protesters,
mainly students, carried
signs reading "UNASUR,
Listen to All of
Bolivia" and "No to
Chávez’s Meddling".
Prior to the meeting in
Santiago,
representatives of
Morales reached an
agreement for talks with
the rightwing opposition
governors of the
provinces of Beni,
Chuquisaca, Pando, Santa
Cruz and Tarija, the
so-called "eastern
crescent", which
concentrates most of
Bolivia’s natural gas,
farmland and gross
domestic product.
After a week of violent
protests by the
opposition, which left
at least 30 dead and
dozens injured, Bolivian
Vice President Álvaro
García Linera and the
conservative "prefect"
or governor of Tarija,
Mario Cossío,
representing the
"eastern crescent"
provinces, agreed on the
conditions for talks.
The provincial
governments opposed to
Morales are attempting
to block a January 2009
referendum on a new
constitution which is
aimed at granting
greater participation to
Bolivia’s impoverished
indigenous majority, who
live mainly in the
western highlands, and
at ushering in other
changes.
The opposition governors
also want official
recognition of autonomy
statutes that were
approved by voters in
referendums held in
their provinces in May
and June.
Although UNASUR was
created only four months
ago and does not yet
have fully formed
official institutions,
"it could become an
important forum for
dialogue," because it
groups the countries of
the Southern Common
Market (Mercosur) and
Andean Community trade
blocs, University of
Chile Professor Paz
Milet told IPS.
The conflict in Bolivia
can be worked out if
"mutual concessions" are
made by the Morales
administration and the
leaders of the
pro-autonomy provinces,
added the expert in
international relations.
The Andean Parliament,
meeting in Bogota,
Colombia, also issued a
statement urging "the
parties to the conflict
to work out your
discrepancies based on
sincere dialogue, while
holding up values like
tolerance and full
respect for human life." |
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