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[Translation of an opinion piece from La Jornada of Mexico City for May 5, 2013. See original here.]

By Guillermo Almeyra

From the point of view of governments and institutions, the changes in Latin America brought about by the death of Hugo Chávez are important but not fundamental. The Venezuelan revolutionary process is weaker and its adversaries are therefore stronger, but if the leadership of the state and of the PSUV (Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela) are determined, with the support of their bases, to radicalize and deepen transformation of the country, if they reduce waste and improve somewhat the distribution of food and goods, social change could take a new leap forward, since the current moderate recovery in consumption and production in the United States, Venezuela’s principal market, gives certain stability to the price of oil.

This is the basis, on the other hand, of the security offered by the Maduro administration to Cuba, ALBA (Alianza Bolivariana para los Pueblos de Nuestra América — Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America) and the Caribbean against the uproar of the Venezuelan Right about the “giveaway” of oil and financial support to Venezuela’s allies and against the same concessions of this kind that the right-wing Chavistas want to make to the anti-Chavista Right. At the same time, in Brazil, with next year’s elections impending, the Right does not seem to have either a clear candidate or the possibility of winning; the economy is somewhat better and the government enjoys the support of the transnationals, agribusiness and domestic large-scale capital, to which it has made considerable concessions, and it does not face strong social protests. (more…)

[Translation of an article from Montevideo Portal for April 9. See original here.]

In an interview on CNN, President Mujica said he “admires” ALBA-style socialism [Alianza Bolivariana para los Pueblos de Nuestra América - Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America] but he declared that it is not the path he would prefer. The president praised the social achievements of Lula and Chávez but made it clear that “this is not building socialism.”

In an interview broadcast on Sunday on the CNN news network, Mujica referred to the changing conditions of the left over time and to the future of socialism in Latin America. (more…)

((La Razón photo))

[Translation of an article from La Razón of La Paz, Bolivia, for October 2.  See original here.]

By Jorge Quispe

“Why the worry? We are going to continue working for this process and we will see who is with us.”  This was the emphatic and certain response of Julia Ramos, executive of the Confederación de Mujeres Campesinas Bartolina Sisa [Bartolina Sisa Confederation of Campesina Women] when she was asked if there is a rift between the government and the indigenous peoples.

Has the indigenous idyll with President Evo Morales broken down?  Five years after taking office in 2006, the head of the Plurinational State is faced with a crisis in his relations with this sector, particularly with those of the Tierras Bajas [the lowlands of eastern Bolivia]. (more…)

Efe photo

[Translation of an article from the Venezuelan website TeleSUR for December 10. See original here.]

Bolivian President Evo Morales on Friday signed the Law on Pensions, the content of which, for the first time in the history of the country, was drawn up by the workers and representatives of social movements. The president declared that the enactment is evidence of the strengthening of democracy the country is experiencing.

“What’s most important to emphasize is that when we workers get together, with our experience and our know-how, our ministers, it is possible to draw up, to propose, to develop a law for the benefit of the Bolivian people,” Morales said in a speech at the Central Obrera Boliviana (COB – Bolivian Workers’ Center) on Friday. (more…)

[Translations of articles from the Bolivian government news agency Agencia Boliviana de Información for November 25 and Opinión of Cochabamba for November 23 . See original articles here and here.]

America concludes forum on cooperation, defense and security

by Adalid Cabrera Lemuz and Daniel Espinoza

Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia – After four days of deliberation in the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz, the defense ministers of the Americas reached agreements to strengthen regional security, devise programs to respond to natural disasters and increase transparency in weapons expenditures.

The Ninth Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas was held from November 22 to 25 with the participation of ministers and high officials of the defense departments of 30 American countries… (more…)

But demands respect for its dignity and sovereignty

[Translation of an article from Agencia Boliviana de Información, the government news agency, for June 1.]

La Paz, June 1 – Bolivia does not intend to sever diplomatic ties with the United States but demands that the White House respect its national dignity and sovereignty, President Evo Morales Ayma declared on Tuesday.

In a press conference held in the capitol, the president pointed out that since the process of change began in 2006, Bolivia has always worked clearly and transparently in its relations with all the countries of the world, including the United States.

“Previously, the United States changed our ministers and intervened in the internal affairs of Bolivia, but now a relation of respect for the country should be framed in order to move forward with diplomatic relations and economic cooperation,” he said. (more…)

Central Obrera Boliviana has called for strike over wage increases beginning Monday

[Translation of an article from Opinion of Cochabamba, Bolivia, for May 8, based on a dispatch from the Spanish news agency Efe.]

La Paz, May 8 — The administration of Evo Morales has accused Bolivian unions, which have called for a strike for better wages, of being under the influence of the US embassy and domestic rightists, whose aim is to overthrow the president.  Vice President Álvaro García Linera said in a press conference that he rejects the strike being called by the Central Obrera Boliviana (COB – Bolivian Workers’ Federation) because it is a measure being taken to “overthrow governments.”

The COB is calling for a general strike, of indeterminate length, as well as a 200-kilometer march from Caracollo to La Paz, both to begin on Monday.

According to García Linera, the workers’ movement has been infiltrated by persons who want to take advantage of demands for a wage increase greater than  five percent in order to “carry water for the counter-revolutionary right.”

The unions have asked for raises for this year of between 12 and 25 percent, rates the executive has rejected with the argument that they would provoke an historical inflationary spiral similar to the one the country experienced in 1984 and 1985.  (more…)

[Translation of an article from Brasil de Fato of São Paulo, Brazil for April 30.]

By Vinícius Mansur

The agricultural communities of Tierra Hermosa and Chirimoyas, located in the province of Velasco in the department of Santa Cruz, Bolivia [near the Brazilian border], were attacked by a group armed with shotguns and rifles and were forced off their land. This is the charge made on Thursday, April 29, by the Movimiento de Trabajadores Campesinos e Indígenas Sin Tierra (MST – Landless Workers and Indigenous Movement) of Bolivia. (more…)

[Translation of an article from Indymedia Bolivia for April 28.]

The Ministry of the Interior has brought formal charges against at least twelve persons for the crimes of sedition, criminal association, incitement to criminal activity, torture and harassment committed against 60 campesinos on May 28, 2008. The Prefecture of Chuquisaca has responded through a spokesman that the charges are political and are a form of persecution of opponents of the government.

Sixty campesinos from outlying areas of Chuquisaca were beaten and humiliated in the main plaza of Sucre on May 24, 2008. Several were stripped, forced to kneel and to kiss the city flag after their wiphalas [indigenous clothing of the area] were burned, by groups protesting the presence in the city of President Evo Morales. (more…)

[Translation of an article from the Agencia Boliviana de Información, the Bolivian government news agency.]

La Paz, April 26 – It never crossed President Evo Morales’ mind to attack the rights of homosexuals and he absolutely was not referring to them in his speech opening the World Conference on Climate Change held in the city of Cochabamba, presidential spokesman Iván Canelas declared on Monday.

Canelas said during a press conference that there had been “widespread speculation on the subject” and that the media and some organizations had given his statements “the interpretation they chose to give them”…

Canelas argued that any position of that kind would be a contradiction and recalled that Morales comes from a “deep indigenous tradition” which, in his view, vindicates diversity in all its forms, the diversity of nature, human diversity, the diversity of ideas, “and of course sexual diversity.”

In the same vein, he reported that the Bolivian government had sent a letter through the Ministry of Justice to a Spanish gay and lesbian organization confirming respect for sexual diversity, which is even recognized in the new political constitution of the nation, which was promoted by President Morales.

He said Article 14 of the new constitution states very clearly that the state prohibits and punishes all forms of discrimination based on gender, color, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, origen, culture, nationality, citizenship, language, religious creed, ideology or affiliation.

He urged journalists to review carefully Morales’s speech at the opening of the World Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth, held in the Bolivian city of Cochabamba from April 20 to 22, to verify that he did not refer to homosexuals.

“What happens is that sometimes a speech is exaggerated or is interpreted in whatever way one chooses,” he explained…