e-mail from La Paz
e-mail einer US-Amerikanerin mit persönlichen Eindrücken und Informationen aus El Alto und La Paz
Hullo dear Friends, I just discovered that I could send
this message to everyone in my address list SO HERE
GOES.(actually it didn't work will have to try another
way)
This message is coming from La Paz in Bolivia...a city
that was founded to call peace by the Spanish in 1548.
Around October 11th--13th...many people were fighting in
the streets here and many people were shot by the
military. There were also big fights in February this
year when 200 were killed and many injured. The coca cola
office was burned to the ground.
This month about 82 were killed and many are in the
hospital, certainly some of these people are dying some
with dreadful burns when a petroleum station
exploded.(Yes, it was Shell)
Today I was shown some of the places where people did
extraordinary things to block off the city..no one could
get in or out...they needed to make sure they brought
down the government...and they did. One soilder was shot
dead for refusing to turn his gun on the people
Now there is a kind of truce for 90 days. Everyday there
are demonstrations in the city. I was just with one demo
of several hundred students from El Alto University and
many Camposinos, Indigenous people in their traditional
dress...they looked very proud and strong and ready for
anything.
El Alto is a large suburban sprawl where many people come
from the country to look for work, it is high above the
city, it has become the centre of a well organised
radical movement.
I have been in La Paz for three days and managed to get a
contact for a women's centre in El Alto..also a Radio
Station that serves this region called Pachamama.
These people are very very keen to make contact with the
world, they see that what is happening here could build,
IS building, into something that takes us beyond the
vicious domination of the free market.Another kind of
Liberation!
What started things this time was the anger at what the
government were planning to do with the gas that has been
discovered in Bolivia. people here were expected to pay
very high prices for their own gas while countries like
Brasil were to get the gas supplied very cheaply.All
kinds of corrupt deals were uncovered. The president and
some of his ministers have fled to the USA.
What would be the most positive thing that could happen
now is that lots of anti-capitalists make themselves
connected in various ways with this struggle of some of
the economically poorest people in the world. They are
waking up and ready to take this developing deep
intelligence onto another level.Support is needed, YES?
Everywhere in the Americas there are new movements of the
First People.
Everywhere they are under threat from a culture that
originated in Europe hundreds of years ago.
Today I was strongly warned not to take photographs or
draw attention to myself as many people here are so angry
with white people, especially from the USA.
I talked with some of the demonstrators and let them know
why I was there but I drifted away and came to write this
to you guys because I think this is a far more valuable
contribution.
I really hope you can agree and sit up and let the energy
under this communication hit you in the guts.
First of all....people need to know you are with them.
You can show this in many ways, things can build up, but
first there is a great need for medicine...of all
kinds...including a connection of the spirit.
The people in the hospitals have to pay for their
treatment and the hospitals are not by any means well
equipped to treat serious gunshot wounds and burns.
I would say that painkillers must be high on the list of
medicine and in the longer term maybe some doctors could
dispense themselves to help out in the hospital in La
Paz.
I have seen only a few of the people ..one woman of
around my age has almost lost her face, just blackened
deformed features, no eyes, not conscious so far as I
could make out but maybe she is in great pain but cannot
express anything.
Another badly injured victim was shot from the air. He is
22, apart from his shallow breathing you don't notice
anything...a strong young man with clear eyes and healthy
brown skin n black hair, his name is Luis. But he let me
see under the blankets. His colon is shattered, the wound
is covered with a transparent pad so I could see the raw
redness, it is infected. The bullet left him through his
back.
His father and mother from the country about 120 ks from
La Paz are staying in a little room in the hospital, I
think food is being organised...but things are not easy
for them, they know no one in the town and they have no
money. Luis is the youngest of 11 children, he came to El
Alto, like so many other young men, in the hope of
finding work so he can send money to his parents. Now
they are very worried that they cannot pay the hospital
fees and the operation ...well, they say the doctor said
he has to wait for two months before he can operate. But
how will Luis be by then just fed on a drip and unable to
sleep because of the pain...which is very bad at night
they said.
I will go again to the hospital tonight with a friend to
help me communicate. There are many people there, I will
only be able to see a few but I think it helps. I
represent the creatures who are usually wandering around
spending money and living seperate existances to the
local people. I am a tourist but I am feeling a kind of
connection beginning...I wonder if this can be evolved.
Actually I think most tourists are just a bit
ignorant...there could be a lot done to inform people
including the agents who handle the tourists...quite a
subject.
Now listen to this....we all need to know about this one.
There is going to be an economic cookery class for the
Americas, the chief chef will be a representative of the
Bush kitchen...on November 13,14,15th. VERY SOON! SANTA
CRUZ DE LA SIERRA, BOLIVIA.
All Latin American countries are invited to the party.
All about tasty Free Trade and how preparations can
continue for futher hunting expeditions. There's so much
wild game out there, just waiting to be chased, bagged,
roasted n served up with all the trimmings.
There will be 22 nations participating...not including
Cuba, it was pointed out.
I would be interested to know more about this, will
search the internet, but I mostly wonder what is being
planned to disturb this cosy little get-together, like
swopping the sugar for some salt n putting vinegar in the
wine.
Please send brief info if you have any inside
information.
The organisations of El Alto are making various demands
of the new government.I do not have it clear yet...my
spanish is not very advanced n English is sparse.
They demand that the present law relating to petroleum
companies be changed, no more free-for-all basically.
They are demanding a change in the constitution.
They demand that the agreements concerning Bolivian gas
be totally renegotiated.
They demand that the laws relating to the free market be
radically changed especially concerning COCA.
At present the growing of coca is restricted to a
particular zone in Bolivia, but this is an ancient and
traditional food for these people, why should the USA
destroy the foundations of their culture, they will not
accept this situation regarding their traditional
medicine.
This deeply relates to the situation in Columbia which is
much worse, a kind of on-going nightmare for the people
of the land. It is widely accepted that the coca is being
destroyed by the CIA who want total control for their own
benefit. Everyone needs to get informed on this one as it
seems central to understanding this explosive situation.
What is going on here can be compared to what is going on
in the middle east....a seething hatred of the policies
of the USA.
This is an extraordinary opportunity to make global
connections, its like a giant jigsaw puzzle, everything
is connected. Including, of course, the on-going story
of one of the most valuable plants on the planet...Hemp.
It all fits together.
Now I will finish, I have to move.
There is a big gathering tomorrow with, amongst others,
the mothers of the disappeared from Chile and Argentina.
Several young men have vanished here too, I've seen some
sad faces on notices around the hospital.
The grafitti is great here, by the way...all over the
place. No one objects or tries to move it so far as I
know..it is part of life and to interfere would show
disrespect for the people who have given their lives.
Everywhere the Bolivian flag flies with black plastic
bags tied on top, everyone is aware that there may be
more suffering...but they are resting for now.
Here are some email addresses:
the women's centre is run by a team of women n men, one
guy speaks english quite well, Mario Gonzalez, but
important to find the women of course. the centre named
after a Bolivian woman who lived around 1860s and
continues to inspire, Gregoria Apaza.
Gregoria@caoba.entelnet.bo
Pachamama Radio (mother earth) is in relation to this
centre and located near by n painted in the same bright
colours. Contact Lucia Saume, luciasaume@hotmail.com
Thankyou for your attention, whoever and whereever you
are.
And love from the City of Active Peace.
Let me know, briefly, what you think.
this message to everyone in my address list SO HERE
GOES.(actually it didn't work will have to try another
way)
This message is coming from La Paz in Bolivia...a city
that was founded to call peace by the Spanish in 1548.
Around October 11th--13th...many people were fighting in
the streets here and many people were shot by the
military. There were also big fights in February this
year when 200 were killed and many injured. The coca cola
office was burned to the ground.
This month about 82 were killed and many are in the
hospital, certainly some of these people are dying some
with dreadful burns when a petroleum station
exploded.(Yes, it was Shell)
Today I was shown some of the places where people did
extraordinary things to block off the city..no one could
get in or out...they needed to make sure they brought
down the government...and they did. One soilder was shot
dead for refusing to turn his gun on the people
Now there is a kind of truce for 90 days. Everyday there
are demonstrations in the city. I was just with one demo
of several hundred students from El Alto University and
many Camposinos, Indigenous people in their traditional
dress...they looked very proud and strong and ready for
anything.
El Alto is a large suburban sprawl where many people come
from the country to look for work, it is high above the
city, it has become the centre of a well organised
radical movement.
I have been in La Paz for three days and managed to get a
contact for a women's centre in El Alto..also a Radio
Station that serves this region called Pachamama.
These people are very very keen to make contact with the
world, they see that what is happening here could build,
IS building, into something that takes us beyond the
vicious domination of the free market.Another kind of
Liberation!
What started things this time was the anger at what the
government were planning to do with the gas that has been
discovered in Bolivia. people here were expected to pay
very high prices for their own gas while countries like
Brasil were to get the gas supplied very cheaply.All
kinds of corrupt deals were uncovered. The president and
some of his ministers have fled to the USA.
What would be the most positive thing that could happen
now is that lots of anti-capitalists make themselves
connected in various ways with this struggle of some of
the economically poorest people in the world. They are
waking up and ready to take this developing deep
intelligence onto another level.Support is needed, YES?
Everywhere in the Americas there are new movements of the
First People.
Everywhere they are under threat from a culture that
originated in Europe hundreds of years ago.
Today I was strongly warned not to take photographs or
draw attention to myself as many people here are so angry
with white people, especially from the USA.
I talked with some of the demonstrators and let them know
why I was there but I drifted away and came to write this
to you guys because I think this is a far more valuable
contribution.
I really hope you can agree and sit up and let the energy
under this communication hit you in the guts.
First of all....people need to know you are with them.
You can show this in many ways, things can build up, but
first there is a great need for medicine...of all
kinds...including a connection of the spirit.
The people in the hospitals have to pay for their
treatment and the hospitals are not by any means well
equipped to treat serious gunshot wounds and burns.
I would say that painkillers must be high on the list of
medicine and in the longer term maybe some doctors could
dispense themselves to help out in the hospital in La
Paz.
I have seen only a few of the people ..one woman of
around my age has almost lost her face, just blackened
deformed features, no eyes, not conscious so far as I
could make out but maybe she is in great pain but cannot
express anything.
Another badly injured victim was shot from the air. He is
22, apart from his shallow breathing you don't notice
anything...a strong young man with clear eyes and healthy
brown skin n black hair, his name is Luis. But he let me
see under the blankets. His colon is shattered, the wound
is covered with a transparent pad so I could see the raw
redness, it is infected. The bullet left him through his
back.
His father and mother from the country about 120 ks from
La Paz are staying in a little room in the hospital, I
think food is being organised...but things are not easy
for them, they know no one in the town and they have no
money. Luis is the youngest of 11 children, he came to El
Alto, like so many other young men, in the hope of
finding work so he can send money to his parents. Now
they are very worried that they cannot pay the hospital
fees and the operation ...well, they say the doctor said
he has to wait for two months before he can operate. But
how will Luis be by then just fed on a drip and unable to
sleep because of the pain...which is very bad at night
they said.
I will go again to the hospital tonight with a friend to
help me communicate. There are many people there, I will
only be able to see a few but I think it helps. I
represent the creatures who are usually wandering around
spending money and living seperate existances to the
local people. I am a tourist but I am feeling a kind of
connection beginning...I wonder if this can be evolved.
Actually I think most tourists are just a bit
ignorant...there could be a lot done to inform people
including the agents who handle the tourists...quite a
subject.
Now listen to this....we all need to know about this one.
There is going to be an economic cookery class for the
Americas, the chief chef will be a representative of the
Bush kitchen...on November 13,14,15th. VERY SOON! SANTA
CRUZ DE LA SIERRA, BOLIVIA.
All Latin American countries are invited to the party.
All about tasty Free Trade and how preparations can
continue for futher hunting expeditions. There's so much
wild game out there, just waiting to be chased, bagged,
roasted n served up with all the trimmings.
There will be 22 nations participating...not including
Cuba, it was pointed out.
I would be interested to know more about this, will
search the internet, but I mostly wonder what is being
planned to disturb this cosy little get-together, like
swopping the sugar for some salt n putting vinegar in the
wine.
Please send brief info if you have any inside
information.
The organisations of El Alto are making various demands
of the new government.I do not have it clear yet...my
spanish is not very advanced n English is sparse.
They demand that the present law relating to petroleum
companies be changed, no more free-for-all basically.
They are demanding a change in the constitution.
They demand that the agreements concerning Bolivian gas
be totally renegotiated.
They demand that the laws relating to the free market be
radically changed especially concerning COCA.
At present the growing of coca is restricted to a
particular zone in Bolivia, but this is an ancient and
traditional food for these people, why should the USA
destroy the foundations of their culture, they will not
accept this situation regarding their traditional
medicine.
This deeply relates to the situation in Columbia which is
much worse, a kind of on-going nightmare for the people
of the land. It is widely accepted that the coca is being
destroyed by the CIA who want total control for their own
benefit. Everyone needs to get informed on this one as it
seems central to understanding this explosive situation.
What is going on here can be compared to what is going on
in the middle east....a seething hatred of the policies
of the USA.
This is an extraordinary opportunity to make global
connections, its like a giant jigsaw puzzle, everything
is connected. Including, of course, the on-going story
of one of the most valuable plants on the planet...Hemp.
It all fits together.
Now I will finish, I have to move.
There is a big gathering tomorrow with, amongst others,
the mothers of the disappeared from Chile and Argentina.
Several young men have vanished here too, I've seen some
sad faces on notices around the hospital.
The grafitti is great here, by the way...all over the
place. No one objects or tries to move it so far as I
know..it is part of life and to interfere would show
disrespect for the people who have given their lives.
Everywhere the Bolivian flag flies with black plastic
bags tied on top, everyone is aware that there may be
more suffering...but they are resting for now.
Here are some email addresses:
the women's centre is run by a team of women n men, one
guy speaks english quite well, Mario Gonzalez, but
important to find the women of course. the centre named
after a Bolivian woman who lived around 1860s and
continues to inspire, Gregoria Apaza.
Gregoria@caoba.entelnet.bo Pachamama Radio (mother earth) is in relation to this
centre and located near by n painted in the same bright
colours. Contact Lucia Saume,
luciasaume@hotmail.com Thankyou for your attention, whoever and whereever you
are.
And love from the City of Active Peace.
Let me know, briefly, what you think.
Indymedia ist eine Veröffentlichungsplattform, auf der jede und jeder selbstverfasste Berichte publizieren kann. Eine Überprüfung der Inhalte und eine redaktionelle Bearbeitung der Beiträge finden nicht statt. Bei Anregungen und Fragen zu diesem Artikel wenden sie sich bitte direkt an die Verfasserin oder den Verfasser.
(Moderationskriterien von Indymedia Deutschland)
(Moderationskriterien von Indymedia Deutschland)
Ergänzungen
Kontakt
I would like to write to the autor? Does anyone know her e-mail adres?
e-mail-Adresse
e-mail adresse
2. e-mail
tell you how excited and frustrated and moved and inspired and sad and
respectful n impressed I feel all at once.
We are expecting a miracle...you are the people who are expected to perform
it.Get here, get connected, help me, a grandmother of little technical training
but lots of insight, be more effective,
find out what is going on here...raw energy of the people of the earth who
reflect how our European culture has mistreated both the Earth as living soil
and the Earth as our home-planet.
Here is a small ammendment....the bi-lingual woman at the Gregoria Apaza women´s
centre in El Alto, is called Loisa and not Anna, as I first thought.
She is willing and able to communicate in English but of course Spanish is best.
Latest news from the hospital in LaPaz, the young man who has a smashed leg is
undergoing amputation above the right knee at this moment of writing.They said
he was toofar gone...I wonder if something more could have been done, I only got
to know the situation just the night before.
I know lots of wounds are infected, you can smell this just walking around the
wards.
He will need lots of rehabilitation. He is 24, his wife of 28 is devastated,
they have 5 kids, she had four children with her first husband who is dead, she
is 28, so they have five little kids to look after and no home or work.They are
so gentle and have big deep hearts, these are all really strong people amazing
what they take, we can learn so much from them.
I don't know what happens about the hospital bills..I will try to find out more
from Luisa but clearly the situation is very urgent, no one has fruit or good
food to help the healing process...but...everyone in very good spirits. They
laugh a lot. The youngest one is 14 years. Just found out there is a military
hospital near the General Hospital, I will pay it a visit.
Needless to say it looks very much more impressive than the public one down the
road.
One of the most urgent things is for some people with some Spanish and good
internet skills to come and work in La Paz on their behalf to make a good job of
communicating the situation to the outside world.There is much going on here.
I wonder if two or three people could be sent from the movement while others
just keep them supported by sending money out here, Cost of living very very
low.
Another thing....Can someone research the coming American Free Trade conference
coming up in a couple of weeks in Bolivia...22 latin American countries will be
getting together, what are the anti-capitalists planning?
gregoria@c... this is the email if the womens centre, c/o Luisa
and
Mario Gonzalez L. NB. They only have very minimal and very slow internet contact
at the centre, La Paz is far better. Many things need to be set up to give them
a sense of being connected to the movement. My internet skills are very
unsophisticated. Just found out that some people did not receive the contents of
my attachment.
Am not very clued up on the art of mass mailing.
Emailing is strange in that you have no idea who is receiving the message..I
just have to trust that some form of intelligence or the great spirit is
actually guiding us. We all need to tickle our brains and move into other forms
of consciousness...the things called prayer n meditation are just other levels
of tuning in and using our latent powers.
Please, Can someone send me a comprehensive list of anticapitalist addresses
this would help me be much more effective I think, and give me some simple
instructions for successfully mailing news and pictures. Also, dear friends, Can
someone put me in touch with Indymedia directly...how do I package news for
them..I need some direct advice, I have never quite got the hang of sending them
news...is anyone in touch with Indymedia Dave?
Am documenting this situation but have not yet mailed a picture though it will
happen I am confident. Some very basic advice would be helpful
There were several government visitors in the hospital this morning, some
ministers who have just been appointed since the conflicts that landed all these
people in this situation.
For more networking in London, Steve at dionysian_underground@y...
says he wants to help, maybe he is offering to coordinate..?
I gave him lots of top of my head ideas about wot to do to raise awareness n
funding...can there be a discussion set up on this subject...very very urgent.
have just had offer of 50 quid to start ball rolling from Lyn
Lovell.
I can`t tell you strongly enough how brave they all are and how much they would
appreciate your support.
Also that I sense this could be a very important platform for the success of our
work in overcoming human ignorance and greed. If we are seriously, deeply
working as a global movement then La Paz has so many of the strengths and energy
we need, people are very focused and they know this situation is replicated all
over the world.
Consider ways of fund raising for Bolivia...and anyway have a party this Sunday
for the day of the dead, it is not the same as our Halloween.
Try to find out more about this celebration, I know it will be big and
particularly significant for these people here, I will try to get something of
meaning to present to them in a way that tells them they are respected and
appreciated. This celebration almost certainly goes back to pre-colonial and
pre-christian times.
Contacts with the Social Forum movement would be very welcome...how can some of
these people get to India to speak out about how effective they have been and
how the military operate in a so called democracy? They have no plans and assume
they will not be able to attend ...so far as I know.
keep connected, thanks, Raga