By Jean Friedman-Rudovsky,
Posted on Tue May 24th, 2005 at 10:03:12 PM EST

They descended into La Paz this morning and headed straight for the Plaza Murillo, the seat of government, disregarding the convention of gathering in the lower Plaza San Francisco for photo opps and motivational speeches. 20,000 Aymara campesinos from the Bolivian Altiplano (highlands) came chanting,  "Estamos presente, la gente esta caliente!" (We are here, the people are hot!), looking for confrontation and with a palpable anger worlds apart from the calmness of their cocaleros comrades. And they brought their whips.  As the march strategically segmented itself to encircle all sides of the police guarded Plaza, sexagenarian campesino women ran ahead, whipping everything in their path: taxis, mini-buses and the occasional street vendor unfortunate enough to have been still operating in the vicinity. Rocks followed, shattering the windows of the transportation vehicles that couldn't maneuver out fast enough.

I witnessed the beginning of the conflicts today, winding my way with one segment of the Aymara march as they moved around the Plaza Murillo.  My heart beat in my throat and in my ears as I took orders from and stayed virtually attached to Narco New Bulletin Acting Pulisher Luis Gomez. We both knew that given my white face, my only chance of safety was in his hands.  Once Aymara contingents stationed themselves at all the police lines blocking the entrances to the government plaza, it became a waiting game. The protesters in our intersection pushed at the riot-gear laden cops and shot mini-dynamites into the air...and soon the gas came. We ran to the safety of the lower streets as it stung our faces and penetrated exposed orifices.  Hovering a few blocks below, I smoked my first cigarette to soothe the burn of the gas in my mouth. Luis and I regrouped with other independent media friends and then went down to San Francisco.  

By that time, rising hostility and the approaching miners meant the scene would only get worse and that it was time for me to leave.  With the skin of the enemy, I would be too easy a target for the enraged protesters, no matter how many politically respected and connected Bolivian friends I had around me. So Luis and I, faces still stinging, left for home. An hour later, the curb in San Francisco on which we sat for a clean breath away from confrontation, was clouded by gas as deployed rubber bullets flew the air.

"Esta es la guerra," (This is war) Luis repeated in my ear all morning long and I believe him. According to people here and based on the events today, the involvement of the Altiplano Aymaras means that everything has changed. It was this group that was primarily responsible for the victorious uprising in October 2003 that overthrew Goni. Their internal coordination and cohesion, their numbers and their knowledge of la tierra (the land) make them extremely powerful. But, right now, it is not just their strength, it is their will.  The Aymaras demonstrated today to offer a warning: they are now a part of the uprising. Today's Altiplano protesters were only the dirigentes (leaders) of their neighborhoods and tonight they return to the Altiplano to ready their bases for blockades in their home territory starting next Sunday or Monday.

Widening my lens of today's events, four occurrences stand out. One, the main cocalero MAS march proceeding along the Prada 5 blocks below where the Aymaras and miners faced gas and bullets. Some cocaleros pealed off to advance towards the government plaza, but the bulk of the MAS march and the leadership remained separated. Two, the total paralyzation of El Alto continues. This paro civico (civic stoppage or general strike) has shut down the roads and businesses in the city that is the gateway to La Paz. Neither vehicles nor products can enter the capital and it was this type of commercial suffocation that helped bring about the last government's collapse. Three, El Alto civic leader Roberto de la Cruz was detained this afternoon, giving El Alto and Fejuve a rallying cry.  And four, after being helicoptered to the El Alto airport and flown to Sucre, President Mesa appeared before the country tonight for the first time in days. He said nothing of value, neither resigning nor escalating state action against the protesters, but that in and of itself is significant. All of these will have repercussions over the next few days.

An image to conclude...during their encircling of the Plaza Murillo, small groups of Aymara protesters gathered at police lines to chant and taunt. In one such intersection, an indigenous girl no older than 2 stood against the side of the building, virtually in between an armed barricade and enraged protesters. She clung to her mom's pullera (Aymara traditional skirt) looking up at her and, for a moment at me, with questioning and scared eyes.  Her introduction into this "globalized" world has begun before she's even able to say "hydrocarburos."  She hasn't asked for this life lesson, but nevertheless is beginning to understand that for her family to receive a piece of the wealth that lies beneath her own soil, there must be a fight. A few minutes later, her mom swept her away and out of sight.  But her face remains etched in my brain, as no doubt the police's guns and her companeros (comrades) expressions will remain etched in hers.