All,
Bad news from Bolivia.
Seth Sandronsky
Date: Sat, 08 Apr 2000
Subject: URGENT MESSAGE FROM JIM SHULTZ/Bolivia under Martial Law!
Dear Friends:
Just a few hours ago Bolivia was declared under martial law. People
are being arrested, the army is occupying the streets, human rights
offices are being invaded by government agents, radio stations are being
closed by the military and huge sections of the city have had their
electrical power cut (I had to leave home to find a computer that was
still charged to write this).
The situation is grave and we need help to get the story out. Please
share the brief article below as far and wide as you can with anyone who
will publish or broadcast it. My own media list is in a computer which
I
can't access. For the time being I can still be reached at
591-4-290-725.
I will try to send updates as the situation allows. Please do not worry
for our safety, my family and I are fine and keeping well away from the
violence. IF YOU RESPOND, PLEASE RESPOND TO THE E-MAIL BELOW, NOT THE
RETURN ON THIS ONE.
-Jim Shultz
The Democracy Center
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
**BOLIVIA UNDER MARTIAL LAW**
As of 10 am Saturday morning Bolivia was declared under martial law
by
President Hugo Banzer. The drastic move comes at the end of a week of
protests, general strikes, and transportation blockages that have left
major areas of the country at a virtual standstill. It also follows, by
just hours, the surprise announcement by state officials yesterday
afternoon that the government would concede to the protests' main
demands,
to break a widely-despised contract under which the city of Cochabamba's
public water system was sold off to foreign investors last year. The
concession was quickly reversed by the national government, and the
local
governor resigned, explaining that he didn't want to take responsibility
for bloodshed that might result.
Banzer, who ruled Bolivia as a dictator from 1971-78, has taken an
action that suspends almost all civil rights, disallows gatherings of
more
than four people and puts severe limits on freedom of the press. One
after another, local radio stations have been taken over by military
forces or forced off the air. Reporters have been arrested The
neighborhood where most of the city's broadcast antennas are located had
its power shut off at approximately noon local time. Through the night
police searched homes for members of the widely-backed water protests,
arresting as many as twenty.
The local police chief has been instated by the President as governor
of
the state. Blockades erected by farmers in rural areas continue across
the
country, cutting off some cities from food and transportation. Large
crowds of angry residents, many armed with sticks and rocks are massing
on the city's center where confrontations with military and police are
escalating.
* * * *
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