Bolivia, 2008

This meeting of the United Nations is being held at a

time when there is a rebellion of peoples throughout

the world, a rebellion against poverty and destitution

and against the effects of climate change, against the

privatization policies that have caused the financial

crisis.

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I wish to tell the Assembly that in Bolivia in

recent years we have experienced great uprisings by

our people, social movements from the countryside to

the cities, of indigenous workers and farmers

questioning economic models and systems that simply

privatized natural resources and steadily sacked the

country. The privatization of basic services and the

policies imposed by the World Bank and the

International Monetary Fund (IMF) did not solve

anything for the majority of Bolivians. I came to the

presidency in 2005 and 2006 as a result of that struggle

by the social movements, which was accompanied by

an ongoing labour and social struggle by our Bolivian

comrades and brothers who were seeking equality and

social justice.

With a little experience I can say that in the two

and a half years of my Government we have

nationalized the natural resources, such as oil and gas,

and the economy is beginning to change profoundly. In

2005, before I was elected President, the Bolivian State

received only $300 million for its oil and gas

resources. Last year, 2007, after nationalization and

after we changed the hydrocarbons law, the Bolivian

State received $1.93 billion. Being a small country

with about 10 million inhabitants, that enabled us to

improve the national economy. The recovery of our

natural resources is so important that that has been the

goal of a historic fight by our peoples.

I wish to speak about some results with regard to

social issues and about some profound changes in

democracy that took place with the participation of the

workers in various social sectors. However — and I am

certain that in the last few days the world has been able

to grasp this — there is an ongoing conspiracy of small

groups against this process of change. I want it known

that since the first day of my Government some

conservative parties that favour imperialism have

consistently tried to weaken us and to wear us down.

Last year they requested a referendum to recall the

President. I accepted that calmly, and instead of my

being recalled, some prefects and some opposition

authorities were recalled by the Bolivian people. I

received the support of 67 per cent of the people in the

recall referendum of 10 August 2008.

I should like to recall something important that

our forefathers used to say — our leaders who fought

for control of our land, people such as Tupac Catari. In

1741 we were cut into pieces by the Spanish invasion.

Before Bolivia was founded and before dying, our

leader said, “I die, but I will return transformed into

millions of people”. For the first time a President of the

Bolivians has received more than 2 million votes. So

the statement of Tupac Catari, the leader of our

ancestors, has come true. But that was part of a process

of change in the democracy, with the awareness of the

Bolivian people.

After 13, 14 and 15 August, that small group of

conservatives began to organize a coup d’état of

municipal authorities and prefects against the

Government and the State. I will quickly list some of

those events. On 14 and 15 August there was a meeting

of a so-called national coordinating committee of the

right, which attempted to prevent the national

authorities from reaching four regions of the country.

They attacked the departmental command of the

national police, and there was an attack on the police

subcommander. A roadblock was set up in four regions

to cut off food supplies for the population. Oil

installations were surrounded. There was a general

attack on institutions, and in four departments

75 government offices were taken over. The State radio

and television were silenced, especially the community

radios. The airports were taken by those groups.

I remember that, when I was a boy, in the military

dictatorships the coups d’état began with takeovers of

the State television stations. History is repeating itself,

but thanks to the conscience of the Bolivian people this

civil coup in Bolivia has been defeated. Thanks to the

participation of the nations that have now come

together in the Union of South American Nations, this

attempted civil coup d’état has been defeated.

Here, I would like to say something. Surely, some

participants are waiting for me to tell them why we

expelled the United States ambassador. Europe and

Latin America repudiated the attempted civilian coup,

but the Government of the United States did not, nor

has it denounced those acts of terrorism. This morning

I heard the statement of the President of the United

States condemning terrorism. In Bolivia, right wing

groups are setting fire to gas pipelines and cutting off

the valves for the export of gas to Brazil and Argentina,

but the embassy of the Government of the United

States does not condemn such acts of terrorism.

It is not hard to imagine that, if some social

movement were to steal his country’s national wealth,

the United States ambassador would condemn,

denounce and repudiate such an act. I would like to

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hear the representatives of the United States

Government denounce these acts of terrorism. Of

course, the terrorists know that the United States is

their ally. It is never going to condemn them. The

ambassador of the United States was clearly the

primary human element conspiring against the United

States Government. I remember perfectly the year

2002, when I was a parliamentarian. On the

instructions of the United States embassy, I was

expelled from Parliament. I was accused of drug

trafficking and of being an assassin. In 2002, the

United States created a governance programme through

the United States Agency for International

Development (USAID) to finance the strengthening of

the conservative political parties and put the brakes on

a growing political liberation movement, a political

movement for the sovereignty of our peoples, a

political movement that was designed to bring an end

to injustice and to seek equality for Bolivians.

I also remember — some participants may not

recall it clearly — that in 2002, when I was called for

the first time to be a candidate for the presidency, the

United States ambassador said: “Do not vote for Evo

Morales. If you vote for Evo Morales, there will be no

international aid or international cooperation”, thereby

instilling fear in the Bolivian people. And they did not

stop there. They also said: “Evo Morales is the Andean

Bin Laden, and these farmers are the Taliban”. Hence,

standing before this Assembly is an Andean Bin Laden

who represents the Taliban, which is the indigenous

farmers’ movement that historically fought for its

claims.

There are so many accusations of that kind. When

we came to power, we found a CIA office in the

Government palace. After we discovered it, we had no

problem getting rid of it because we had no need for a

CIA office in the palace. Obviously, they were

operating from there. For example, in 2004, they

wanted to force the National Congress to give

diplomatic immunity to civilians or members of the

Bolivian military. We rejected that, of course, thanks to

our social cohesion. In 2005, they began dismantling

the military’s missiles, together with some commands

and, of course, the administration in place at that time.

Dismantling the military is treason; it is not

possible that the Southern Command of the United

States armed forces would practice such a policy.

However, they continuously tried to control some

members of the military. For example, in previous

Governments, they created a special counter-terrorism

force, the F-10, and at one point in time their

representatives informed me that, in 2005 or 2004, they

were prepared to kill labour or political leaders who

opposed capitalism and imperialism.

When I appointed a commander, he was vetoed

by the United States embassy. Of course, we are not

going to allow any more vetoes. Last year, special

firearms munitions were illegally brought into the

country at the instigation of the commander of the

United States military group, Colonel Campbell. We

were told that these were missiles for training

purposes. Moreover, they illegally employ young

students belonging to United States peace groups to

carry out spying activities on officials of the

Governments of Cuba and Venezuela. They are

working in secret against the Government of Bolivia,

thus violating the constitutional rights of their own

United States citizens who come to Bolivia on

scholarships.

I would point out that when one works for

equality and for social justice, one is persecuted and

conspired against by certain groups. These groups are

not concerned about human equality. It is clear that this

is a historic fight for our peoples and that it is nothing

new. We can speak about the economy, or about the

cost of silver as an industrial commodity, but what we

are talking about is the fight between rich and poor. It

is the fight between socialism and capitalism. That

historic struggle is being resumed now, but I feel that

these battles are uprisings and rebellions of peoples

against an economic model — against the capitalist

system. If we do not understand that capitalism is

destroying humanity, then I am sure — and I hope that

no one will be offended — that we will not solve the

problems of life, the problems of the planet or the

problems of humanity.

I am not accusing anyone of being an accomplice

of capitalism. From a communal and labour struggle to

an electoral one, from organizer to President, I have

become perfectly aware that capitalism is the worst

enemy of humanity. As I said a few days ago, with

great sincerity, while touring my country, I was

brought up in social movements among workers,

farmers and indigenous peoples. More than 500 years

ago, our forefathers fought colonialism and

imperialism, and that is why I am anti-imperialist

today. No one is going to move me from that position.

If people like me, they like me a lot, but if they do not

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like me, so be it. What the world is going through is

unjust.

So much has been said about climate change,

flooding, droughts, how our mountains are losing their

snow. If we continue in this way, we will all be

responsible for destroying the planet, and thus

humankind.

I have heard good statements from other

presidents participating in this debate, from which I

have learned a great deal; but I am sorry to say that I

do not believe that it is enough to simply raise the

problems unless we also provide the solutions. I would

like to say that some blacklists have been drawn up to

punish Governments.

It is difficult to imagine that those terrorists

groups are not condemned, while the national

Government is decertified for supposedly being

involved in drug trafficking. According to United

Nations reports, some countries are increasing their

coca plantations, but they are not on decertified lists

because they are pro-capitalist. To those countries that

support the counter-narcotics struggle by reducing their

coca cultivation, we did not say that there would be no

coca, but that there would be no free cultivation of

coca, since the coca leaf does have medicinal and

nutritional benefits. Once we clearly defined our

anti-imperialist position, we were decertified.

However, I am quite sure that this is not about

certification or decertification, terrorist or non-terrorist

countries.

Mr. Bush, President of the United States, sent me

a message recently in which he wrote: “If I am not a

friend, I am an enemy”. I do not care whether I am a

friend of the President of the United States, but I am a

friend of the people of the United States. I have had

many meetings with representatives from social

movements in the United States and we agree on our

approach to life and humankind. That is why we have

to put an end to blacklists. We are living in times where

there are no empires, no dominance or imposition of

economic models that can greatly harm countries or

continents or the whole world.

I wish to say that we have begun to work on a

proposal. It is called “Ten commandments to save the

planet, humankind and all life”. I hope that my

colleagues will distribute this document, and with the

participation of all it will help us save the planet,

humankind and life. One of the first subjects we raise

here is how we can put an end to capitalism. Wherever

there is capitalism, there is exploitation. Wherever

there is capitalism, our natural resources are plundered.

That is what we have seen and experienced.

Our second point is that we must denounce war.

As everyone knows, we are working arduously to put

Bolivia back on track by drafting a new constitution. In

that new political constitution for the Bolivian state,

for the first time the State and the people of Bolivia

will constitutionally pledge never to initiate war. That

does not mean that we renounce defending ourselves. I

do not believe in wars.

Speaking of war, I am sure that peoples do not

want wars. They do not want the military intervention

of any country in any part of the world. In our new

political constitution for the Bolivian State, we propose

that Bolivia should not accept the military base of any

country of the world on its territory. In that way, we

shall assert our dignity and defend the sovereignty of

Bolivia and of other peoples. I have very respectfully

suggested to the people and the Government of the

United States that it would be best to withdraw their

military from Iraq and Afghanistan and other parts of

the world as soon as possible. If they do not, the

peoples themselves will expel them because

interventionism and war are no solution for life and

humanity.

Our third point is a proposal for a world without

imperialism and colonialism. Last year, I heard a

critical issue discussed here by several heads of State.

That issue was water — water as a right of all living

beings. We also heard discussions on energy and how

important it is to have clean, environmentally friendly

energy.

Speaking of nature, the indigenous peoples have

experience living in harmony with Mother Earth and

nature. Mother Earth is neither a shopping centre nor a

commodity. Thus, the historic struggle of our peoples

is for land and territory, and that struggle is being

repeated in our country.

Our next point, as I said earlier, is to Mother

Nature within the United Nations. I hope that can be

taken into account. I would also note that the new

Bolivian political constitution incorporates the ten

commandments to save humanity and the world.

Basic services should be human rights. Water,

light and telecommunications cannot be in private

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hands. If they are human rights, they should be a public

service and not left to the private sector. To be sure, we

have many differences with multinationals. Investment

is certainly important, but we need investors in Bolivia

who are not the owners of our energy and our oil, but

who are our partners.

My next point is that we should consume only

what we need and prioritize local consumption in the

context of food sovereignty. We also need to respect

the diversity of cultures and economies.

Our final point concerns how to live well. What

does it mean to live well? Living well is living in

equality, solidarity and complementarity, eliminating

inequalities between families and the deep-rooted

disparities that exist among countries and continents.

When we try to live better, sometimes all we do is to

become selfish and ambitious. We never think about

the larger family, which, for us in Bolivia, is the whole

of Bolivia.

The struggles of peoples for democracy and for

the re-establishment of the rule of law is being

repeated in Bolivia. In the past, great social movements

led by indigenous farmers brought down dictatorships.

In recent days, they defeated an attempted coup in

Bolivia, and we hail them. We have just been informed

that social movements are wisely mobilizing

themselves in a search of peace and asking that new

standards be adopted to ensure equality be for all

Bolivians.

In conclusion, I wish to say that I am convinced

that only the conscience of the people can defeat the

interests of certain groups and United States

imperialism. I heard some leaders this morning sue for

peace with a regulated, moderate form of capitalism. I

do not believe in that. There will be peace only when

there is equality among all human beings; there will be

peace only when our identity and the dignity of every

people are respected.

I do not think there can be peace with capitalism,

no matter how moderate or regulated. We need to work

together, we need to participate in the struggles of our

peoples for equality. Only Governments and leaders

working together with their peoples can find equality.

When we have equality, there will be social peace

throughout the world.