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Anti-globalization Protests Leave Many Stranded as Transportation Systems Shut Down
Protests in Bolivia slowed this week, but indigenous people groups, responsible for the six-week protests that killed 80 people and resulted in the resignation of President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, promised that they would rise up again if changes weren’t made quickly.Thousands of protesters, many members of ethnic groups indigenous to the Andean country, took to the streets to protest Lozada’s plan to export natural gas to the United States as what they call an example of how globalization has disproportionately hurt the poor while filling the pockets of the already wealthy.
Historically, free-market economic policies have only served to increase unemployment, raise inflation and move profits from its resources to wealthy countries and multinational corporations.
Most Bolivians, especially the majority who have indigenous ethnic backgrounds, see the gas pipeline as the latest attempt to continue a globalization process that began with colonization.
In the 1980s, Bolivia was one of the first Latin American countries to embrace the free-market model. But exports actually have declined over the past 25 years, and growth has stagnated over the past five. Inflation and unemployment have soared. The average Bolivian earns less than $950 a year. Two decades after its foray into modern global economy, Bolivia remains the poorest country in South America.
The protests stalled daily business in the city for some six weeks starting in mid-September. World Vision helped transport wounded people to hospitals and delivered food, blankets and medicine to 284 people, including 42 children trapped in the city’s bus station when public transportation stopped as a result of the protests.
“We believe in the democratic process and democratic solutions for Bolivia,” said World Vision Bolivia communications manager Andres Vera. “As a humanitarian organization, World Vision will continue helping those in need, regardless of race, creed, nationality and social, economic, or political status.”
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