Mayo 15, 2005
Before the Marches
Much has been written of President Carlos Mesa’s past roles of television journalist and as historian. His book “Presidentes, entre urnas y fusiles,” along with his up-close and personal perspective from the Vice-Presidency witnessing the downfall of Goni, has certainly given him a different view on the role of a President.
Some point to this thorough knowledge of history that makes him reticent to using force to restore order. He knows that one death, not only takes a permanent place on one's conscience, but can also cause a snowball effect.
However, these are different times. Some pointed to the February 2003 impuestazo violence as the most trying time in Bolivian democracy in the past 20 years. Then, others pointed to October 2004 when Goni fell, as the most trying time. And now, some say that this current crisis is the most delicate period. Those past occurrences may be nothing compared to what may be in store.
Threats to close down Congress, block access to El Alto international airport and to occupy the offices of YPFB, are serious indeed. Mesa should not make one of the mistakes that Goni wavered on – waiting too long to prevent any large group from assembling that could escalate into confrontation. It is acceptable to use the police and the military as a preventative presence and to even restrict access to the Plaza Murillo. Measures must be taken to prevent the prediction of Jaime Solares (COB) from coming true: "at 0:00 on Monday, the mobilizations throughout the entire country will begin because Mesa and Congress' time is up." And I don't think he means that they will be voted out of office.
No one, especially Mesa, is denying the social movements and MAS’ hard-fought right to protest and disagree with the policies. However, when the methods to protest cause inconveniences to law-abiding citizens who just want to work, Mesa should use precautionary tactics in order to ensure that violence does not take place on the streets of La Paz - even if it means militarizing the streets.
Even the Defensor del Pueblo, Waldo Albarracin, the ombudsmen, who is often criticized for only siding with the side of social movements recently said, “We respect the right to dissent from each sector, but we hope that Monday’s mobilizations do not turn into a trampling of others’ rights.”
Posted by eduardo at Mayo 15, 2005 06:43 PM