[news] Bolivia: Gas Protests Continue

[Resist!ca]

"On May 23, some 5,000 Bolivian coca growers (cocaleros) from the Chapare region of Cochabamba department arrived in La Paz after a four-day, 200-kilometer march from the town of Caracollo in Oruro department to press for national control of oil and natural gas resources and the convening of a constitutional assembly. The Federation of Neighborhood Committees (FEJUVE) in the neighboring city of El Alto began an open-ended general strike the same day. As the cocaleros passed through El Alto into La Paz, El Alto's oganized indigenous majority chanted demands for 'not 30%, nor 50% royalties--nationalization!' Bolivia's popular movements are pressing for full nationalization of hydrocarbons resources, while Movement to Socialism (MAS) leader Evo Morales, who headed the cocalero march, has reaped harsh criticism for his compromise proposal that the government increase gas royalties to 50%."

URL: http://resist.ca/story/2005/5/30/124130/456