Humiliation, Flogging, Racist Chants Pretty Much Form the Cornerstone of U.S. Democracy Efforts in Bolivia
Well Bolivia's political scene is maturing nicely. Not only has secession fever swept certain segments of the population, but now it's got one of those opposition student movements everybody's talking about. Just last week the two movements joined forces to take on one of the biggest problems facing the Andean nation: brown people! IPS reports...
A mob of armed civilians from Sucre, partially made up of university students, then surrounded several dozen indigenous Morales supporters, including local authorities who had come from other regions to attend the ceremony and were unable to leave the city after the event was called off.
The terrified indigenous people, who had sought refuge in a poor neighbourhood on the outskirts of Sucre, were stripped of their few belongings, including money, identity documents and watches, and forced to walk seven kilometres to the House of Liberty, a symbol of the end of colonial rule in Bolivia, which was declared there on Aug. 6, 1825.
In the city's main square in front of the building, they were forced to kneel, shirtless, and apologise for coming to Sucre. They were also made to chant insults to Morales like "Die Evo!"
They were surrounded by activists from the conservative pro-autonomy movement, who set fire to the blue, black and white MAS party flag, the multicolour flag of the Aymara people, and colourful hand-woven indigenous ponchos seized from the visiting Morales supporters, as a signal of their "victory" over the president's grassroots support bases.
Stay classy, opposition guys! Anyway as you've probably guessed, these fine "civil society" organizations are backed by the good old US of A, because nobody loves freedom like a skinhead. They've got to be an early favorite to win next year's Milton Friedman prize.
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http://www.borev.net/2008/06/humiliation_flogging_racist_ch.htmlhttp://snipurl.com/2dtgu