http://www.guardianweekly.co.uk/?page=editorial&id=907&catID=1&DCMP=EMC-E_EMS_GWE_REG_09_01_28
Fighting for our rights : Bolivia Monday January 26th 2009 On January 25 Bolivia adopted a new constitution that favours the country's indigenous majority and promises to roll back 500 years of colonialism beginning with the Spanish conquest. But for many native people the struggle for equal rights is not over. Rufo Yanarico is a veteran member of the radical indigenous group the Red Ponchos, living high up in the Andean plains. He says they are armed and ready to wrest their homeland from foreign conquerors Monday January 26th 2009 Aymara farmer Yanarico hopes the constitution will give him back his tribal land. Photograph: Andrés Schipani We have been fighting since 2003 to establish our own democracy here in Bolivia. Here in Achacachi, in the Andean plateau, is where the social conflict started. We want self-government. We don't want to be controlled by foreigners any more, who have ruled this country for too long. We wear our red ponchos in memory of the blood that was spilled while we fought for the freedom of all indigenous people - not only the Aymara, like us, but also the Quechua, Guarani and several other ethnic groups in this country. Hundreds of years ago the Spaniards invaded us. They destroyed our political and economic organisation, they took away our resources, they beat us and ransacked us. Then the Americans came and did the same thing - only with different methods. After that the local oligarchs followed suit. The red poncho is an Aymara symbol of war; we also carry whips to defend ourselves from the foreigners who are here in Bolivia exploiting us. The idea is to whip them until they leave us in peace, the same way we whip our animals. These people are sucking our blood, our efforts, our national resources. We carry Mauser rifles that belonged to our fathers and grandfathers, in the Chaco war in the 30s and the '52 revolution here in Bolivia. We don't keep them simply because we like them but because we need to defend ourselves. We train up in the mountains, in the high plains. Some call us radicals, but there are more violent and racist groups out there on the whiter and wealthier side of the country, in Santa Cruz. They fight for money, not for the freedom of the people. The Red Ponchos want a free country, not a colonial country managed by economic interests. We don't want more blood to be spilled - too much has been already - but we are ready to die for our rights. We wear red ponchos because it cost us in blood to establish the democracy we now have in Bolivia, with an indigenous president. Nevertheless, I can't consider this a full democracy because we are still a long way from a republic in which everybody can participate. The Red Ponchos have a different ideology than President Evo Morales. He is still governing with traditional politicians; he's not purely indigenous, which is why I say we have not arrived at an indigenous democracy. When people are elected by the indigenous masses, that will be a true democracy. There is no exact record of our number; people come and go depending on what the country is going through. The more social conflict there is, the more ponchos. We're not like our oppressors, an army, knowing how many people have joined. We are poor landless farmers. Everyone has to work here; there is no rest in the high plains. We have no professionals because we have no money for education; our children stay in the countryside. We sit on top of rich natural resources, but we are very poor and many people have taken advantage of that. Our Aymara nation should span northern Argentina and northern Chile, and part of Peru and Bolivia. I believe the new constitution will give us back the land we deserve, that was taken away from us. Our need is to be included and respected as indigenous people, to have land according to our modest needs. The new constitution is very important for us: it will help us to face the rich. We are the Aymara, we are the rightful owners of the land; why do they have the rights to it? President Morales must keep his promise of defending the rights of the Aymara nation, and we in turn must keep our promise to support him. We didn't like the previous constitution because it did not include us. We had no constitutional rights, we were off the map. The new constitution was forged here, by us. We blocked roads, we have been shot at, our blood has been spilled - that of our brothers, sisters, children - as we fought for this new constitution. One day we will be in power and then we will be quiet. I am trained and ready to fight. Once I put my poncho on, I feel ready. I am ready to defend my Bolivia, my indigenous Bolivia. . Rufo Yanarico was talking to Andrés Schipani in Achacachi. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
