El Alto. Once forgotten now loyal

7/27/2019 El Alto. Once forgotten now loyal

1/8

DemocracyPromotionand Defense,

Brazil Style

DemocracyPromotionand Defense,

Brazil Style

EXCLUSIVE

The Worst Placesin the World

to Be a Journalist(and Why)

Murder and Impunity in BrazilMAURI KNIG

Unclear Motives:Attacks in Honduras

CARLOS LAURA & SARA RAFSKY

PLUSReflections on Successes

and Challenges

Alfredo CorchadoJorge Ramos

Carlos Dada

Michle Montas-Dominique

& Tim Padgett

Murder and Impunity in BrazilMAURI KNIG

Unclear Motives:Attacks in Honduras

CARLOS LAURA & SARA RAFSKY

PLUSReflections on Successes

and Challenges

Alfredo CorchadoJorge Ramos

Carlos Dada

Michle Montas-Dominique

& Tim Padgett

THE POLICY JOURNAL FOR OUR HEMISPHERE FALL 2013 VOL. 7NO. 4

PAGE 22

DOES THE FARC

WANT PEACE?

CRIME, VIOLENCE, MEDIA MONOPOLIES,AND STATE INTIMIDATION

THREATOFE ECMedi nthmrcas:


2/8

6 AMERICAS QUARTERLY F A L L 2 0 1 3 AMERICASQUARTERLY.ORG

AMERICAS QUARTERLY

hreats to Free Speech

n the AmericasA free, independent media is by no means

ecure in the region. Growing violence

gainst journalists, combined with media

oncentration and increasing controls on

overnment information, are challenging

he publics right to know. Our special

eature section starts on page 40.


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7AMERICAS QUARTERLYF A L L 2 0 1 3COVER ILLLUSTRATION BASED ON PHOTO BY ANDREJS ZEMDEGA/GETTY

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FALL 2013

VOLUME 7, NUMBER 4

Journalists Speak OutPast winners of the Maria MoorsCabot Gold Medal for reporting

on the Americas assess the future

of journalism in the region:

Carlos Dada (p.53); Jorge Ramos (p.54);

Ricardo Uceda (p.61); Tim Padgett (p. 71);

Michle Montas-Dominique (p.84);

and AlfredoCorchado (p.85).

Feature Section: Free

Speech in the Americas42 Breaking Up Is Hard to DoSILVIO WAISBORD

Tackling Latin Americas media empires

is critical for the health of democracies.

48 Missed Opportunity?MARTN BECERRA AND

GUILLERMO MASTRINI

Argentinas 2009 media reforms.

55 Protecting Truth From Power

SANTIAGO A. CANTONThe OAS Special Rapporteur for Freedom

of Expression remains a target for

autocratic governments.

62 CHARTICLE:

The Perils of JournalismIn too many countries, journalists risk

their lives to speak truth to power.

66 Squeeze PlayKEVIN GOLDBERG

How the U.S. government is cracking

down on whistleblowers.

72Violence and Impunity in BrazilMAURI KNIG

This year s protests have worsened the

climate of hostility toward the media.

78 Journalism inPost-Coup HondurasCARLOS LAURA AND SARA RAFSKY

The regions murder capital is

also one of the worlds most

dangerous places for journalists.

Louder than words: A march in Tegucigalpa

to protest violence against journalists

in Honduras, one of the most dangerous

countries for journalists in the Americas.

FERNANDOA

NTONIO/AP


4/8


TO

PTOBOTTOM:ROMINAOLSON;WESLEYBEDROSIAN

;LARSKLOVE

in ournext

issue:

Sustainable CitiesEighty percent of Latin Americans live in cities, making urban areas

and their governmentseven more than nationsimportant players in

carbon emissions, health, security, connectivity, and social inclusion.

The issue will present original research and stories on the impacts and

trade-offs of the new trend in development: sustainable cities.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FALL 2013

VOLUME 7, NUMBER 4

3From the Editor

9Panorama Celebting Gemnyin Bzil, Domini hosts the

Wold Ceole Festivl, tkling

Mexio Citys tfi jms, 10

Things To Do in Antigu, nd moe.

15InnovatorsMara Rachid

bttles o tnsgende ights in

Agentin. Lenddo helps middle-

lss Colombin milies get lons.

Antonio Rodiles lunhes Cubs

fist ee speeh oum. Gopher

Illustratedpomotes Hispni

ultue in Austin, Texs.

22Hard Talk Will the negotitions

between the govenment nd

the farc bing lsting pee

to Colombi?Aldo Civico nd

Alfredo Rangel debte.

86Dispatches from the Field:

ElAltoJorge Derpic nd Sara

Shahriari Bolivis most

politilly influentil ity

emins estless.

91Ask the Experts How hve the

onsolidtion o intentionlmedi outlets, budget uts nd

the Intenet hnged jounlism?

Sam Quiones, Cristina Manzano,

AndresSchipani, nd Sibylla

Brodzinskyespond.

94 Tongue in Cheek The best o the

egions politil toons.

96Policy UpdatesKurt Nagle

on U.S. sepot expnsion.

Kathryn Lindholm-Learyon dul-

lnguge instution in the U.S.

Luis Oganes on the stte o pitlontols in the egion.

100 Fresh Look Reviews

John Careyon Ltin Amein

populism.Adriana La Rotta on

the no yes in Colombi. Nancy

Prez on Centl Amein mignts.

108Just the Numbers: Going to the

Dogs (and Cats)Wilda Escarfuller

Dog nd t owneship in the U.S.

nd Ltin Amei.

Departments

19

22

Like AQ on Facebook:

facebook.com/americasquarterly

Follow AQ on Twitter:

@AmerQuarterlyBrowse AQ on YouTube:

youtube.com/americasquarterly

Check out AQs new app

for Apple and Android.

26 Sustainable Energy Access for the Poor

SAM MENDELSON The enegy dimension o the povety tp.

32 Is Brazil the New Regional Champion of Democracy?OLIVER STUENKEL Dont onuse Bslis stepped-up pofile

with U.S.-style demoy pomotion.

38Venezuelas Electricity DeficitCSAR BATIZ When will the lights ome bk on?

103


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DISPATCHES

CATANOF

UENTES/AFP/GETTY

DISPATCHESFROM THE FIELD

By Jorge Derpic and Sara Shahriari

The former settlement on a plateau

above La Paz is becoming a city unto

itself, due in no small part to one-

time protest leader and now favorite

son, President Evo Morales.

Gas war: The Bolivian army

clears a highway blocked by

protesters on October 15, 2003.

B

lazing sun, freezing nights,

roads clogged with traf-

fic, and a vast maze of

adobe houses populated

by nearly a million peo-

ple. This is the Bolivian

city of El Alto. Once an

outlying neighborhood on the high

plains above La Paz, El Alto has today

surpassed its population.

Matching El Altos growing profile,

the city is also about to host some

major public projects. President Evo

Morales has promised a multi-million-

dollar soccer stadium andperhaps

most importantthe government is

installing natural gas connections to

tens of thousands of homes.

El Altos new look also underlines

its newfound political influence. Just

a decade ago, in October 2003, demon-

strators filled the streets to protest the

Bolivian governments plans to export

natural gas through Chile, turning the

city into a battlefield. Those bloody

days of conflictknown as the gas

warleft more than 60 civilians

dead in clashes with police and sol-

diers. The conflict set the stage for the

rise of Morales, who in 2006 became

Bolivias first Indigenous president.

Nevertheless, as Morales makes ev-

ery sign of preparing for the 2014 pres-

idential race and a possible third term

in office, the residents of this Aymara-

Indigenous stronghold still struggle

with poverty, inadequate infrastruc-

ture and poor job security.

What has changed in El Alto since

the gas war, and how did Morales

winand keepthe heart of this

extraordinary city?

Gas Pains and Growing Pains

Estanislao Mamani, 33, stands on

the dusty road in front of his small

brick house in El Alto. Despite its

location on the city fringes, Mamanis

home has a natural gas line laid to

the kitchen, an increasingly common

convenience throughout the city. But

its not just gas connections, schools

and soccer fields with artificial turf

that matter to Morales supporters

El Alto:Once Forgotten,Now Loyal


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AMERICASQUARTERLY.ORG 87AMERICAS QUARTERLYF A L L 2 0 1 3

DISPATC

HES

like Mamani.

We have always been discrimi-

nated against because of our lastnames, because we are Indigenous,

he says. You could not get into the

university, or into other institutions.

[...] People who came from the coun-tryside to La Paz were always lookeddown upon as peasants.

Now we are equal to each other,

he adds proudly.

The majority of El Altos popula-

tion is still far from finding stablejobs with fair wages and health in-

surance. Most are like Mamani, who

makes around $250 a month driving

a taxi, working in construction and

sewing clothes that his family of four

sells for less than a dollar per garment

for export. His neighborhood has

been struggling for years to win mu-

nicipal approval for a sewage system.

Currently, he and his neighbors usethe nearby Seke River as an open-pit

bathroom. In other barrios, runningwater is still a luxury.

All the same, Morales rise to power

epitomizes the triumph of the long

struggle of Bolivias Indigenous com-munities to win political power and

recognition. I feel satisfied and proud

of being a Bolivian because of Evo

Morales, Mamani says.

Ten years earlier, Mamanis sen-timents couldnt have been more

different. He was one of the nearly 60

protesters on October 14, 2003, who

shoved a massive cargo train car off a

30-foot- high bridge and onto the high-

way connecting El Alto and La Paz

an important moment in the Gas War.The derailed car blocked highway ac-

cess to El Alto for at least three days.There was tremendous rage against

[then-President Snchez de Lozada],

Mamani says, explaining why herisked his life to join the protest. He

didnt feel for the people, and beyond

that, he hurt the people by negotiat-

ing gas [sales] to the exterior, when

we didnt have gas here.The 2003 protests had deep roots.

The painful irony of living in a re-

source-rich country that left its own

impoverished citizens standing in

line to buy yellow gas canisters had

caused growing discontent with theneoliberal policies begun under Presi-

dent Vctor Paz Estenssoro in 1985. Be-

tween 2000 and 2003, unrest spread

across the country. In Cochabamba,

plans to privatize water services trig-gered an uprising. Elsewhere, rural

residents set up roadblocks in reac-

tion to a slew of local grievances, and

the military crushed them.

El Alto was the center of popular

mobilization against the Snchezde Lozada government, in part due

to the large numbers of laid-off min-

ershistorically a powerful, orga-

nized blockwho had settled there.

The grievances eventually coalescedaround a single goal: to force the gov-

ernment to cancel plans to export gas

through Chile to the United States.

It was about a whole lot more

than natural gas, but natural gaswas the trigger and what bound peo-

ple together, says Thomas Perreault,

associate professor of geography at

Syracuse University, noting that the

role of Chile, which annexed Bolivias

entire coast in the late 1800s, was aparticular red flag to protesters.

Juan Patricio Quispe, 40, and his

family paid a heavy price for their

part in the protests. His brother Con-

stantino was shot in the streets of ElAlto, likely by the military, on Octo-

ber 12, 2003, and died three days later

at the age of 43.


7/8


DISPATCHES

SARA

SHAHRIARI(3)

They shot him in the back, says

Quispe, who later became the leader

of theAsociacin de Familiares Ca-dos en Defensa del Gas (Association

of Relatives of Victims Fallen in the

Defense of Gas), a group of relatives

seeking justice for their dead fam-

ily members.

I went to the hospital to see him [...

where he was] covered with a green

shirt. I always remember that, and

seeing his intestines moving. By the

main door and in the street, there

were many, many injured people and

dead bodiesthe hospital was so full.

With La Paz and El Alto in a state

of chaos, President Snchez de Lo-

zada resigned and fled to the U.S. on

October 17. He was replaced by Vice

President Carlos Mesa, who, in one

of his first acts as president, traveled

to El Alto and promised justice for

victims of the gas war. The plans for

gas export via Chile were cancelled.

YetAlteos other demandslater

known as the October Agenda,

which called for the nationalization

of hydrocarbons, a constitutional as-

sembly and an end to measures that

since the mid-1980s had increasedthe number of informal Bolivian

workerswere still unfulfilled two

years later, when coca farmer, con-

gressman and union leader Evo Mo-

rales began his presidential campaign.

El Alto threw its support behind Mo-

rales, who won 77 percent of the citys

votesthe highest percentage of sup-

port in any major city in Bolivia

and propelled him to the presidency.

Just Dont Take Them for Granted

We dont want a beggar state,

Morales said at his 2006

inauguration. I want that to

end, and in order to do that, we are

obliged to nationalize our natural

resources.

Since nationalizing Bolivias oil

and gas reserves on May 1, 2006

his 100th day in officeMorales

has managed to meet most of the

demands of the October Agenda. He

raised profits from Bolivias natural

gas resources by renegotiating con-

tracts to make the government the

majority stakeholder, pushed forward

a new constitution, attempted to im-

prove labor conditions, and largely

stayed out of the way of the trial of

former military commanders, which

in 2011 led to guilty verdicts for five

former heads of the military and two

of Snchez de Lozadas ministers for

their involvement in the gas war kill-ings. Snchez de Lozada remains in

the U.S. and so far, Bolivias attempts

to extradite him have failed.

Theres a symbolic component and

a material component to gas national-

ization, says Perrault. The material

component is that the government

gets more royalties from gas [...] and

it funds many of the bonos, the social

programs, and theres greater control

over the gas reserves and the hydro-

carbon policy.

Perreault adds that, symbolically,

gas nationalization speaks to Bolivias

long struggle to control and reap the

benefits of its own natural resources.

Today, the gas pipelines at the

doors of El Alto homesthe Morales

government installed more natural

gas connections there than anywhere

elseare tangible proof forAlteos

that their struggle has produced

results.

But the government is keenly aware

There were many injured people and

dead bodiesthe hospital was so full,

says Quispe.


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AMERICASQUARTERLY.ORG 89AMERICAS QUARTERLYF A L L 2 0 1 3

DISPATC

HES

that mor nds to b don to kpth city on its sid. Th Morals ad-ministration has instd haily ininrastrctr across El Alto, and isbilding a cabl car linking El Altoto La Paz to as transport. Th cablcar systm, in which th gornmntplans to inst a qartr o a milliondollars, is schdld to bgin oprat-ing in 2014an lction yar.

W shold b prod o or darcity o El Alto, Vic Prsidnt laroGarca Linra said dring a spch in

April. W ar going to mak hr intoon o th most powrl and modrncitis in all th contry, bcas thatis what th popl o El Alto dsr.

Alteos lik Qisp agr thr ismor opportnity than a dcad ago.I s mor pad roads, mor schools,mor actiity, h says.

Yt El Alto still wants to mak srits spport is not takn or grantd.Whn th gornmnt abrptly an-noncd in Dcmbr 2010 a cancl-lation o th nationwid sbsidy thatkpt gas prics lowlading to anornight 70 prcnt hik in pricsprotsts rptd onc mor.

Fanny Nina, 48, who was th firstmal prsidnt o thFederacin de

Juntas Vecinales de El Alto(Fdrationo El Alto Nighborhood Organiza-tionsfejuve)th city s powr-l, mal-dominatd nighborhood

Changs: Estanislao and Flix

Mamani pos in ront o Flixs

hos in El Alto (nar lt), and

Jan Patricio Qisp rmmbrs

his brothr Constantino, killd

in th gas war (ar lt).

organizationrcalls it as a blowto th stomach.

[W said thn that] popl in ElAlto lo yo, Mistr Prsidnt, btw ha dmands, sh rmmbrs.Yo said yo wr going to gornor th popl.

Th dmonstrations broght a qickcancllation o th sbsidy changswithin a wkand an apology romth prsidnt.Dspit complaints thatonly mmbrs o MoralsMovimientoal Socialismo (Momnt Toward So-cialismMAS) gt plm proctsapprod, El Alto rmains Moralsstrongst rban bas. A Jn sryond that 53 prcnt oAlteos saythy wold ot or Eo Morals to-daycompard with 34 prcnt in LaPaz and st 23 prcnt in th opposi-tion stronghold Santa Crz.

Nina says mostAlteosrmain loyalto Morals bcas thy rcognizthir strggl in him. Hs Boliian

and h has always idntiid with

th popl and thir problmshowcan w not al him and apprciathim? sh says.

Bt Nina is also qick to point otthat th strggl is not orsp-cially or womn. Womn di in thir

hoss whn thy ar giing birth b-cas thy ha no accss to halthcar, w ha no cntrs or child car,stabl obs ar still lacking, and thris an incrasing sns o inscrity b-cas o criminality, sh says.

And sh nots that political cro-nyisma longstanding iss in Bo-liiarmains a problm throghotth contry.

I yo ar not in th grop o powr,thn yor procts do not adanc.

How to orcom ths problmsis still an opn qstion and a chal-lng or locals lik Nina, bt th ob-ctis ar clar. El Alto dsrsprogrss and dlopmnt, sh saysW dsr high lls o dcation,halth and citizn scrity. W d-sr all that in El Alto.

Jorg Drpic is a Bolivian PhD

student in the sociology department

at the University of Texas at Austin.

Sara Shahriari is a journalist

based in La Paz, Bolivia.

We deservehigh levelsof education,health and

citizensecurity,says Nina.

Fanny Nina, ormr fejuve

prsidnt and commnity

ladr, in El Alto.

Documents

El Alto. Once forgotten now loyal