| | |  Americas & Beyond | September 2008 
South America: Leaders Express Full Support for Bolivia’s Morales
 Daniela Estrada - Inter Press Service
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| | South American leaders pose for the official photo of the Union of South American Nations Summit, Unasur, in Brasilia, May, 2008. (Eraldo Peres/AP) | | |
Santiago - After an emergency summit in the Chilean capital, the presidents of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) expressed their resounding support for the government of Bolivia and decided to set up commissions to support talks and to investigate recent killings in that country, which is caught in a wave of political unrest.
"The member countries of UNASUR express their fullest and most decisive support for the constitutional government of President Evo Morales," says the statement unanimously approved by the presidents, which was read out by host President Michelle Bachelet at around midnight Monday after the six-hour meeting.
Along with Morales, the emergency meeting brought together centre-left and leftwing presidents Fernando Lugo of Paraguay, Rafael Correa of Ecuador, Tabaré Vázquez of Uruguay, Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil and Cristina Fernández of Argentina, as well as rightwing President Álvaro Uribe of Colombia, Peruvian Foreign Minister José Antonio García Belaúnde in representation of President Alan García, and delegates from Guyana and Suriname.
The governments of South America "vigorously reject and will not grant recognition to any situation that implies a civil coup or the rupture of the institutional order, or that will undermine the territorial integrity of the republic of Bolivia," Bachelet read.
UNASUR also issued a call to all concerned political and social factions in Bolivia to take the necessary measures to stop the violence in that country and to reach a "lasting solution."
The fledgling South American bloc, which groups the 12 countries of South America, also vigorously condemned the attacks on public institutions and the murders of indigenous supporters of Morales in the northern Bolivian province of Pando, where more than 30 people were killed and dozens are still missing.
Bachelet reported that the presidents approved the Bolivian government’s request for the establishment of a commission to carry out an "impartial investigation" of the killings and to "set forth recommendations" so that the incident is clarified and those responsible are held accountable.
The UNASUR leaders also "agreed to create a commission open to all of its members, coordinated by the president pro tempore, to accompany the talks led by the legitimate government of Bolivia."
In addition, they will create "a commission of support and assistance for the government of Bolivia based on its needs, including specialised human resources."
Both Bachelet and Morales underscored the role played by UNASUR in the first crisis that it has faced since its formal creation on May 23 in Brasilia.
"After this lengthy but very fruitful meeting, and the agreements reached, UNASUR has been consolidated," said Chile’s leader.
In a press conference, Morales said he was pleasantly "surprised by the solidarity" expressed by the 12 governments represented at the special summit, and expressed gratitude for "the firm position to defend the democracy and unity of the Bolivian nation."
"The position taken by South America is of defence of life, equality, identity and dignity. This is the first time in the history of the region that the countries have decided to resolve the problems of South America themselves. In the past, even to deal with some internal or bilateral South American or Latin American issues, they were discussed in the United States," said Morales.
The UNASUR emergency meeting was officially called over the weekend by Bachelet, as president pro tempore of the regional bloc.
The El Mercurio newspaper in Chile reported Sunday that Bachelet decided to convene the summit after Morales told her by telephone that a coup was being planned in Bolivia.
The most sceptical attitude towards the meeting was expressed by Lula, who stated before flying to Santiago that the leaders had to know what Bolivia "wants us to do."
"We have no right to reach any decision unless there is an agreement between the government and the opposition in Bolivia," he said.
On his arrival to Chile early Monday, Morales expressed his gratitude for the meeting "to explain to the presidents of South America about the civic coup that governors of several provinces have been planning in the last few days."
Bolivia’s first-ever indigenous president then described "the occupation and looting of public buildings," "an attempted assault on the national police and armed forces," "terrorist actions" and "crimes of humanity committed by groups that are massacring the poorest sectors in my country -- the indigenous peasant movement."
After flying in to Chile from Ecuador, Correa said that "we will see here if integration is real or just more blah blah blah."
"We all know perfectly well what is going on in Bolivia; hypocrisy has no place here. Phantoms that we thought were banished from the region are appearing again in other forms, in other clothing, as other ghosts, but they are the same spectres as before," he said.
For his part, Chávez said that "35 years ago this continent stayed silent, the governments of the Americas kept mum," when Chile’s socialist president Salvador Allende (1970-1973) was overthrown in a coup that gave rise to the 1973-1990 dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet.
"In Bolivia there is an international conspiracy taking place, a conspiracy directed by the U.S. empire, just as occurred in Chile" in 1973, he said.
Organisation of American States (OAS) Secretary-General José Miguel Insulza, who also took part in the meeting, said he did not believe in "interventions" but in "internally generated solutions."
During the emergency summit, some 500 demonstrators called together by the Humanist Party of Chile gathered outside the La Moneda presidential palace, where the leaders were meeting, to express their solidarity with Morales.
At the same time, around a dozen anti-Morales Bolivian protesters, mainly students, carried signs reading "UNASUR, Listen to All of Bolivia" and "No to Chávez’s Meddling".
Prior to the meeting in Santiago, representatives of Morales reached an agreement for talks with the rightwing opposition governors of the provinces of Beni, Chuquisaca, Pando, Santa Cruz and Tarija, the so-called "eastern crescent", which concentrates most of Bolivia’s natural gas, farmland and gross domestic product.
After a week of violent protests by the opposition, which left at least 30 dead and dozens injured, Bolivian Vice President Álvaro García Linera and the conservative "prefect" or governor of Tarija, Mario Cossío, representing the "eastern crescent" provinces, agreed on the conditions for talks.
The provincial governments opposed to Morales are attempting to block a January 2009 referendum on a new constitution which is aimed at granting greater participation to Bolivia’s impoverished indigenous majority, who live mainly in the western highlands, and at ushering in other changes.
The opposition governors also want official recognition of autonomy statutes that were approved by voters in referendums held in their provinces in May and June.
Although UNASUR was created only four months ago and does not yet have fully formed official institutions, "it could become an important forum for dialogue," because it groups the countries of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) and Andean Community trade blocs, University of Chile Professor Paz Milet told IPS.
The conflict in Bolivia can be worked out if "mutual concessions" are made by the Morales administration and the leaders of the pro-autonomy provinces, added the expert in international relations.
The Andean Parliament, meeting in Bogota, Colombia, also issued a statement urging "the parties to the conflict to work out your discrepancies based on sincere dialogue, while holding up values like tolerance and full respect for human life." |
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