Miles and Miles of Protest in Bolivia as Miners and Unions March Against Privatization and Low Wages

The Federation of Mining Cooperatives of La Paz and an influential peasant union met land workers and Indigenous representatives this week as they arrived in the capital after having marched 1,100 kilometers (683 miles) for over 20 days from the tropics into freezing high-altitude terrain, many wearing nothing more substantial on their feet than plastic sandals, as Olivia Arigho-Stiles reported at Jacobin. At least 50 marchers required medical treatment last week for exhaustion, dehydration, and other ailments, but the unions are showing no sign of ending the general strike that was begun by Bolivian Workers’ Central (COB), with the mass mobilization also including at least 70 road blockades around the country, according to the Bolivia Highway Association.TeleSUR reported that the entry of the miners union signified a substantial increase in pressure on right-wing President Rodrigo Paz, whose resignation some workers' organizations are calling for.The Federation of Mining Cooperatives joined the ongoing marches and protests after Paz failed to attend a scheduled dialogue. Miners have been alarmed by the scarcity of fuel, a dire shortage of essential explosive material, and significant delays in the liberation of new areas designated for mining exploitation, reported TeleSUR. The broader protests began in response to stagnant, low wages as well as Law 1720, which the government has claimed will benefit small-scale farmers by allowing them to obtain mortgages after converting their smallholdings into medium-size businesses.But Roger Adan Chambi, an Aymara lawyer and specialist in Indigenous land law, told Jacobin that the measure was passed without consulting the sectors it was supposed to benefit (peasants and small producers), jeopardizing legal security and constitutional guarantees regarding land ownership.“Far from being an opportunity for small producers to access credit, this law weakens the property rights of peasants and Indigenous communities, especially those resisting on the agricultural frontier,” Chambi said. “Structural insecurity and the lack of basic services will, in the future, force them to mortgage or sell their plots, facilitating dispossession and the transfer of land to corporations.”Oscar Cardoza, a peasant union leader and a representative of the marchers, declared at a public gathering in La Paz this week: “Our life is collective, not individual. The land must be respected; it’s not for sale.”Al Jazeera reported that the end of a fuel subsidy, which was cut after Paz took office last year during what he called an economic, financial, energy, and social emergency, also pushed COB to issue the call for a general strike. The subsidy had been crucial for working Bolivians, and the cut has made quality fuel increasingly inaccessible.Starting today, a general, indefinite, and active strike is declared, until the government understands the people’s demands,” COB secretary-general Mario Argollo told a group of 1,000 supporters on May 1. The union is also calling for a 20 increase to the nation’s minimum wage, which currently sits at 3,300 bolivianos (477.71) per month.