To the international community: In the last few months, thousands of Bolivian workers have begun to mobilize against the fascist policy of General Banzer, the "constitutional president" of Bolivia today and formerly the bloody, genocidal, fascist dictator who has little to envy of General Pinochet. Banzerist fascism has demonstrated not only its brutality but also its complete mediocrity and incapacity to govern in Bolivia, a country with a frightening misery comparable to that of Sub-Saharan Africa. In one extreme, water in the other extreme land, part of a long list of assertions (demands) that have led different sectors of workers to take direct action, no under the flag of a political party or a bureaucratic union, but more than anything else with the spontaneity and creativity of the working masses as protagonists. Each (work) stoppage, march, blockade, hunger strike or concentration (of people) was and is done for different reasons, but underneath all is the profound discontent of a people who feel that the weight of the cost of the economic recession is too heavy, the rise in price of gas and the costs of transportation, the rise in price of the tariffs for public services and the gradual shrinking of their salaries. To all this is added the evidence that new sources of employment are not being created, on the contrary they are dwindling. The discontent reached such reactionary sectors of the population as the police troops, thousands of whom revolted until, finally, they were granted a salary increase of 50%, and then seized the opportunity to repress the working class who only will have a 3% salary increase. Facing this juncture, Benzerist fascism responds in accordance with its own nature and applies brutal force, dictating a State of Emergency on the 8th of April, which translated into the militarization of the country, the restriction of constitutional guarantees like the freedom of movement, of information, of protest, and all types of individual and collective freedoms. Police and military troops have invaded the cities and highways, in the face of which the people have built barricades in each street corner, university, highway, while the assassins in uniform shoot war munitions at the unarmed masses. They collect and pursue the wounded, the detained, and the exiled in inhospitable zones. Sharpshooters have extinguished the lives of even children and adolescents, the incursions, the hunting of unionists and activists, contrasts with the low-flying military flights over rural areas where military cruelty and brutality have become obvious. Workers, students, housewives, peasants disillusioned by the State of Emergency, block (protest) more than in the past with sticks, rocks, Molotov cocktails, and slingshots, forcing the military and police troops to retreat. They have attacked military installations, government seats, and have executed the assassins. This popular insurrection has begun to bear fruit, causing the Spanish multinational Odesa to abandon its proposal to use the distribution and provision of water as a money making venture. But Banzer's military fascism will not cease until it jails or kills all dissidents. For this reason we convoke, we beg!, for international solidarity to organize protests at every Bolivian embassy and consulate around the world, demanding the repeal of the state of emergency and the liberation of political prisoners. Please write your local newspapers and the Bolivian press at: El Deber (newspaper): [EMAIL PROTECTED] La Razon (newspaper): [EMAIL PROTECTED] Report these activities and letters of support with Bolivian workers to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] The repression in the University San Francisco Xavier in the city of Sucre also merits a mention, where they live in an environment of military occupation, characterized by the continuing expulsions, the corruption and the repression orchestrated by the rector Jaime Robles, with a parallel repression on the 8th of April when hundreds of police invaded the university, brutally beating and injuring with buckshots the students who were on an indefinite hunger strike as well as three activists who had buried themselves alive in protest against the despotism of the rector. They also massacred the activists who had doused themselves with gas, threatening to burn themselves alive if the repression entered the university. Many were detained and are persecuted by the dictatorial yoke of rector Robles. Really, the situation is one of emergency given the imminent expulsions, confinement of the students and the terror sown by the paramilitary bands of the rector. International solidarity is vital, all votes of support for the students and rejections of the authoritarianism and repression exercised will be of great importance because such acts of solidarity have not occurred in the past and because they will aid in the stopping the escalation of violence against students. Please send your messages to Jaime Robles, Rector de la Universidad San Francisco Xavier, at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or send your message to the local newspaper at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Also send letters to the editor of your local newspapers and send copies to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] PLEASE SPREAD THIS MESSAGE AS FAR AS POSSIBLE. THANK YOU. LIBERTARIAN YOUTH, BOLIVIA. -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink