ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF BOLIVIA AT THE INAUGURAL SESSION OF THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY

Compañero Alvaro García Linera, our vice-president of the Republic; State ministers; National Congress members; special guests who come to witness this Constitutional Assembly from Cuba, Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Brazil, and South Africa.

Assembly members and all Bolivians, I ask for your applause to show our gratitude to these international delegations.

Today, after 181 years of republican life in our country, the historical moment has arrived to found anew our beloved motherland Bolivia, to reconstitute our motherland, for this motherland and its peoples have suffered deep discrimination, maltreatment, the plundering of our natural resources.

Now we are here, all of us together, to change that maltreated Bolivia, those humiliated peoples, those discriminated, vilified peoples, to say to our constituent brothers, to our constituent sisters, that they evidently have an enormous responsibility in the changing of our Bolivia.

Not only the responsibility of bringing forth a new Constitution but of attaining, as soldiers for the true independence of our country, as constituents and as soldiers of the struggle for freedom, for dignity, as soldiers that you are (of the task) to recuperate the natural resources of this noble land.

We are all here, those who contributed from within the originary indigenous rural movement, those who have backed the Constitutional Assembly from the urban social movements, but also those constituents that are adverse to the Constitutional Assembly, and between Bolivians we cannot deceive ourselves, this is the scope of democracy within which we must debate, for the struggle of the social movements (has faced), from the 80’s and the 90’s, those who never wanted a Constitutional Assembly.

I wish to tell you, with full responsibility, that we guarantee and fulfill the task of securing this Constitutional Assembly so that we may now have a new social pact that will benefit those who have been historically marginalized and humiliated.
We will not go on questioning why back in 1825-26 the originary indigenous movements that struggled for Independence were excluded.

Here are the brothers from Tarabuco and Chuqisaca who know exactly how the brothers from Tarabuco organized to defend the land, to defend her against the invading Spaniards, and it is not by chance that the people of Tarabuco are known as those who resisted, who faced invasion in those times.

It is not by chance, compañeras and compañeros, that the freedom fighters from Ayopaya province are now proudly represented here by two leaders from the province of Ayopaya, compañero Román Loayza and compañera Isabel Ortega, also head of the National Women’s Federation.

It is not by chance, (that here are) compañeras and compañeros from the coca regions of the Yungas, from La Paz, where aymara brothers organized to defend the land and the rights of the indigenous peoples, but were never summoned to share in the foundation of Bolivia.

So many women fought for Independence and, and it is not by chance – repeating what I said last night – that here in Sucre, Chuquisaca, we have an airport named Juana Azurduy de Padilla, a freedom fighter for national Independence, one of  many who struggled but were excluded from the foundation of Bolivia.

That’s why I say, brothers and sisters, that today the call has arrived, the great day, the jacha uru arrived, brothers and sisters, the sumaj punchai call arrived, and like the guaraní brothers say, the ara ica yay arrived for the originary indigenous peoples.

And we face the obligation now to understand each other, to plan, to improve the economic situation and the social situation of our brothers and sisters.

To the international community I must say that if we don’t solve the economic and social problems of our brothers -  aymaras, quechuas, chiquitanos, guaraníes, whether in the highlands, or in eastern Bolivia, or in the cities – we will never be able to solve the economic and social situation of our country.
And we are glad to be able to tell you that here we have constituents from settlements, some from huts, constituents who seem to be the majority, who come from communities with no light installed, with no electrical power, compañeras and compañeros.

This is the grand participation of the people to refound our Bolivia, these compañeras and compañeros come with the obligation to write, to present the feelings, the suffering, the thinking of our communities, our ayllus, our capitanías, our organizations that designated them as constituents.

I truly feel that here is the beginning of change for a new history of Bolivia, a history where there is equality, a history without discrimination, but it must be clearly said that here we have not only the originary indigenous movement, but also those from other sectors, the miners, the business people, who have every right to their enterprises, which we hope have not been enterprises to exploit the workers or to plunder the natural resources.

Here we are, of all the colors of this noble land, and now, chapacos, vallunos, together with the rural Bolivian movement, chaqueños, we are placing our trust in this new Bolivia.

For we truly dream, since the 80’s and the 90’s, about ways to recuperate the land, like I heard some of our union leaders then say, and as I learned from compañero Genaro Flores, founder of the Confederation of Farm Workers Syndicates of Bolivia.

That dream of our national leaders is beginning to come true, those social movements like CIDOB of the eastern Bolivian indigenous peoples, those compañeros, indigenous peoples from the highlands, from the valley, who go to eastern Bolivia in search of land, like those in the Confederation of Colonists Unions of Bolivia, it is together with our farm workers’ organizations that we place our trust in that change.

I am convinced, compañeras and compañeros, that we are going to change that dark colonial history, as well as that of the Republic, and we salute those who founded, albeit they marginalized some sectors.

We would like, for example, (to have) democratic participation like that experienced within our indigenous communities, which - although some have called it absolutism, called it authoritarian – is based on consensus, with no majorities or minorities, for majorities and minorities are (part of) a democracy that has been imported to Bolivia.

If we present a proposal for a problem in a community, in a region, or the country, that proposal should solve the problem for all those concerned, with no voting by majorities or minorities, because the proposal solves the problem in an egalitarian way for everyone in the region.

But when there are majorities and minorities we get the outbursts, as we just heard moments ago, from a small or from a large group in defense of a group’s interests, while we should be thinking about the majority that we all are.

I hope our brothers and sisters that come from that communal democracy based on consensus will be understood so that it may improve democracy and make it deeper in our country.

And on the subject of justice I believe, compañeras and compañeros, that truly the hour has come to decolonize law in order to nationalize justice, the hour has come, compañeras and compañeros, to decolonize the state, de-neoliberalize the Bolivian people, the Bolivian state, that will be an important task for all of us.

If in 1825, 26 (the Republic) was founded excluding 92 percent of the indigenous population, now History shows me that it was the indigenous tribute which sustained that state.

We respect Sucre and Bolívar for founding this motherland, they were not guilty for not including the participation of the indigenous peoples, there were other groups immersed in that founding, but it was the indigenous tribute that sustained the state, its Armed Forces, its Executive Power, even the Catholic Church, that is History, compañeras and compañeros.

This has to change now, that is the task before all of us, for as throughout history our natural resources were permanently sacked, and those natural resources must be returned to the Bolivian state, I believe there is consensus on that never again should they be privatized, never again should our natural resources be handed out to transnationals. 

I disagree with some compañeros in leading positions, even with some ministers, when we talk about concessions, (because) one thing is to hand out, privatize, another is to make concessions, or temporary loans, although personally I don’t agree even with concessions of our natural resources to transnationals, compañeras and compañeros.

I want to say to the constituents that this Constitutional Assembly has not come for free, a price was paid in blood, this Constitutional Assembly has come at the cost of days, weeks, months of struggle, of manifestations, like those by the indigenous brothers from eastern Bolivia, the brothers from El Alto who lost their lives, who gave their lives for the Constitutional Assembly.

And for that reason I want to tell you that I do not agree with (the notion of) a derived Constitutional Assembly, this Constitutional Assembly must have all the power, over and above Evo Morales, above the National Congress, above the Judicial power.

We are not speaking, compañeras and compañeros, about a simple constitutional reform, we are speaking about re-founding Bolivia, about a Constituent Assembly to refound our land, for our land and for our people of Bolivia.

If it should be a simple constitutional reform, it wouldn’t be important to elect constituents, the National Congress can make a constitutional reform, the National Congress can make revisions like it already has, so many times.

That’s why compañeras and compañeros, there’s a responsibility and I’m sure that you will, like brothers, like compañeros who come from the social movements, place your trust in that change.

Only one suggestion, not an instruction, nor a recommendation, there are sectors that will try to obstruct the development of the Constitutional Assembly, that will try to hinder the foundation of Bolivia, they will try therefore to bring discredit upon the constituents, and we must stay united, those of us who come from the rural originary indigenous social movements, (and) I’m not speaking about MAS, the party.

Those of us who come from those lands of jocotas, chulos,  sombreros, ponchos, guarda tojos, no matter the party, must stay united to make the rights of the Bolivian people, of this nation, be respected.

Compañeras and compañeros, congratulations and much felicitous achievements to all the constituents, to the social organizations, particularly to the originary indigenous movement.

Let the world gladly see that here we have not only a Constituent Assembly of workers from the originary peoples, that here we have many who come from lovely hotels, from homes that are just like a five-stars resort, they have the right (to be here), we all have the right.

But I also wish to tell you that, truly, this Constituent Assembly has not been convened to subordinate anybody, we only want to have everybody be equal in their rights; equality, dignity, freedom for all Bolivians, that is what we seek.

The originary indigenous movement has never submitted anyone, although we have been submitted, although we have been discriminated against.

The originary indigenous movement has never exploited anyone, although we have been exploited, compañero Doria Medina, but welcome, let us all now place our trust in this profound change that the Bolivian people seeks.
Compañeras and compañeros, once more let me wish you the best, as constituents whatever you tell president Evo Morales, that I will do, compañeras and compañeros, and I will also see my task as subordinate to the Constituent Assembly, to the constituents.

To the indigenous brothers from all of Bolivia I wish to say thank you, CIDOB, CSUTCB, Confederation of Colonists, National Federation of Women, to the miners who historically struggled for democracy, to those women who recuperated democracy from the dictatorships of the 70’s, later transformed into ADN, now Podemos, also here to debate principles, programs. Our identity, compañeras and compañeros, is the struggle of the Bolivian people, they are welcome to seek equality and rights for all of the Bolivian people.

Compañeras and compañeros, again I want to wish you success, I personally have much hope that the constituents will attain equality for all of our abandoned brothers.

We expect, from your work, that in no more than a year our Bolivia may change and that the constituents will truly be the instrument of a peaceful revolution, democratic and cultural.

We hope that this democratic and cultural revolution, that those deep economic, social and political transformations, will also bring light to other peoples who struggle to change their histories, and so I wish to tell you that I trust in you to change our Bolivia.

Once more, congratulations to the directors of the Assembly, to the constituents and to all of the people of Bolivia, particularly the originary indigenous movement, my greetings.

Thank you very much,

Sucre, August 6, 2006

Source: http://www.abi.bo - Photo credits : Fernando Molina Cortes