 |
Photo
by Jeff Watts
Still shocked at his ouster, former president of Bolivia Gonzalo
Sanchez de Lozada voiced hopes for a future of economic stability
and democracy for his country. |
Overthrown
Bolivian president fields tough questions from audience
BY EMILY D.
JOHNSON
Emotions ran high last Wednesday as the recently ousted president
of Bolivia Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada spoke to a large audience crammed
into the Kay Spiritual Life Center. Lozada, a business man and University
of Chicago graduate, was president of Bolivia from 1993 to 1997.
In 2002 he was elected again, but on Oct. 17, 2003, Lozada stepped
down after riots in which as many as 70 people died. His vice president,
Carlos Mesa, is carrying out his term.
“I am still in the stage of disbelief,” he said. “You
should know I did not go quietly into that dark night.”
The rioting that led to Lozada’s resignation was sparked by
his government’s proposal to sell natural gas to Baja California.
Lozada said that while there are immense reserves of natural gas
at the base of the Andes—enough to last 1,000 years at present
rates of consumption—many Bolivians thought the plan would
drain the country’s reserves without benefiting the average
citizen. Bolivians were also suspicious of Chile’s role in
the deal.
The proposal tapped into resentful feelings about free trade, which
many Bolivians feel hasn’t narrowed the enormous gap between
rich and poor, and U.S.-driven anti-coca growing policies, which
have deprived thousands of Indian farmers of their livelihood without
providing alternative forms of income.
Bolivians are worried about jobs. Since the 1997 Asian economic
crisis and later currency devaluations in Brazil, Chile, and Peru,
which made Bolivian exports relatively expensive, there has been
widespread unemployment. The proposal that Lozada described at AU
would have created a national fund devoted exclusively to funding
public health and education initiatives. Lozada estimated that 40
percent of income from the gas deal would have been put into the
fund.
Lozada called the uprising that cost him his job an antisystemic,
antiglobalization, and socialist movement based on misinformation
and misunderstanding. “With one project we could change the
future [of Bolivia],” he said mournfully. “That was the
vision I had.”
As for the future of Bolivia, Lozada worried that if Mesa’s
proposed referendum on the gas export question is voted down, those
who reside on the gas reserves will want to make their own deals,
dividing the country, and possibly leading to civil war.
Lozada lauded his achievements as president, including appointing
an Indian vice president and instituting bilingual education. But,
he said, Bolivia’s situation is still fragile, both politically
and economically. “Market economies are vulnerable, especially
in small countries.” He criticized the United States for refusing
to financially assist Bolivia’s war on drugs, which is a huge
drain on scant financial and security resources and a cause of unrest
among those displaced from the drug trade. Right now Bolivia’s
major exports are coca and heroin, products hard to replace because
they draw such high prices on the international market.
Free trade between the Americas is a solution that can lead to a
peaceful democracy, said Lozada, “as long as the U.S., Mexico,
and Canada understand that this is on the European model.”
He called for foreign investment in research, education, and development.
“Transfers of infrastructure, science, and technology are needed
from countries that have to countries that don’t have,”
he said, citing as an example the revitalization of Ireland’s
economy through an information technology boom. “You can’t
trade with poor people.”
Once the economy is stabilized and jobs are available, Lozada voiced
high hopes for his country. “Many of the Bolivian people still
believe in democracy,” he said. “Keep fighting for democracy.
It’s right there . . . The war is not lost.”
Lozada was applauded enthusiastically, but there was also disbelief
in the audience. Some questioners challenged Lozada, accusing him
of having a personal stake in the gas deal, being responsible for
the deaths of rioters, and being out of touch with Bolivia’s
poor. “There is a disconnect between your Bolivia and others,”
one person said. “There’s one Bolivia,” Lozada responded,
“and that Bolivia is weak and poor and unfair. I wanted to
change that.” Another native Bolivian said, “It is important
to explain that socialism is attractive to Indians because they
live and work in group societies,” and that “it is hard
for native people to trust gas and mining companies because of a
history of exploitation.”
A couple of students held protest signs outside Kay and AU Student
World Citizens distributed leaflets across the seats criticizing
Lozada for making his money “literally on the backs of Quecha
and Aymara indigenous people.”
Lozada came to AU in part because of his relationship with Robert
Pastor, AU’s vice president for international affairs, who
worked with Lozada 15 years ago at the Carter Center in Atlanta.
Pastor introduced Lozada with some of his own concerns for Bolivia.
“We are at a crossroads in Latin America today,” he said.
“One road leads towards democracy and prosperity, another leads
back to authoritarianism, political instability, and chaos.”
top
|
