Open Letter

Introduction

In the face of crisis of the Constituent Assembly, which threatens to destabilize the whole country, La Chispa has launched a new campaign around its Open Letter (see below). The right wing, pushed by the American embassy, has done everything possible to block the proceedings of the Assembly, which was mandated by the people to fulfill their most pressing demands. Unfortunately, Evo Morales’ leftist MAS party has remained unwilling so far to fully break with the minority forces of the oligarchy, thus paralyzing the Assembly.

Most recently the bosses staged national “strikes” to demand that the capital of Bolivia be moved to Sucre. For their part, tens of thousands of peasants and workers poured into the streets to defend the unity of the country (against the regional division pushed by imperialism and its agents) and to defend the Constituent Assembly — (RY-USA)

Open Letter for a Sovereign Constituent Assembly – Initiated by La Chispa

The current Constituent Assembly cannot continue to play the games of the right wing. The Constituent Assembly should be sovereign! Enough of “consensus”! The majority can and must decide!

One year after the Bolivian people, in the national referendum said no to autonomies, more than 1.5 million youth, peasants, and workers from La Paz took to the streets on July 20 to express their rejection of the autonomies that aim to divide the country.

On July 20, beyond the demand to maintain La Paz as the country’s capital, the people demonstrated their deep conviction that it is necessary to advance on the path of the implementation of the demands of the “Agenda of October” (sovereign constituent assembly, nationalization of the country’s resources, agrarian reform, etc.)

Blood was shed by our people in the battles of October 2003 and May-June 2005 when we rose up to say, “We are tired of living under a system that lets us die of hunger. We don’t need the multinational corporations – they are pillaging our resources. We demand the recuperation of our natural resources to strengthen the unity of the Bolivian people. We demand a Constituent Assembly to reflect our demands.”

These battles marked the beginning of the revolutionary process and today the demonstration of the people of La Paz is contradictory with a Constituent Assembly that has done nothing for the majority of the exploited. Why doesn’t the Assembly take a single step in favor of the majority?

The response is clear: This can’t be done through consensus and dialogue with the oligarchies linked to imperialism who aim to spark a conflict between Bolivians! There can be no consensus with prefects who demand violent repression against our peasant brothers and sisters!

There can be no consensus with the oligarchies that aim to prevent people from the West to enter to the departments of the East (as stated by the autonomic statutes on domestic travel of the oligarchies of Santa Cruz, Beni, Tarija, and Pando!)

There can be no consensus with those who are against investing in health care for Bolivians (the prefects of Santa Cruz and Tarija)!

The people demand land, health, and education. They must be given this.

Consensus with the oligarchies makes it so that the majority submits to the minority through the two-thirds majority voting rules imposed by the right-wing groups. Down with the reactionary two-thirds rules!

Isn’t it the time for the formation of Popular Assemblies, organized from below in the mines, the neighborhoods, etc.?

These Popular Assemblies would say to the Constituent Assembly: “Enough consensus! We demand the full nationalization of the oil and gas! All that was privatized should be taken back. The miners, looking out for the national good, want the Supreme Decree 29801 that nationalizes the Huanuni mine to be codified as law. We need a real agrarian reform, in which the poor peasants should have enough productive lands for their demands to be met; and the Aymara, Quechua, and Guaraní languages should be national languages!

We need Popular Assemblies to fight for the united platform of the COB, particularly the recuperation of the natural resources, the recuperation of the privatized enterprises and the abrogation of the anti-workers laws.

That is why the Constituent Assembly should act already!

Now is the moment to organize Popular Assemblies from below, in the neighborhoods, the mines, the factories, the marketplaces, the universities, and the high schools, to impose a Sovereign Constituent Assembly. The majority should decide!

We propose to all the popular, worker, student and peasant organizations to demand that the Constituent Assembly respect the demands of the majority.