"Los Marchistas..."

UPDATE:  There were clashes between the police and the protesters all night last night.  The police were once again firing tear gas into the crowd.  This morning (from what I understand), President Evo backed down and announced that he was suspending construction of the highway. 

He announced something similar once before but construction continued that time.  So I guess we'll see.  Certainly the people have him up against a wall here.  The interesting thing is, this is how Evo came to power in the first place.  He rallied these same people against the sitting president at the time and they blockaded all of La Paz for over a month.  No food or supplies could enter the city, until finally the then president resigned.  Now Evo is in a very similar situation.  It's a bit ironic.  This is the third major demonstration against his policies this year.  Time will tell where this is going. 

But for now, it seems the people are the victors.

On August 15th, a village from northeastern Bolivia began a 600 kilometre march to La Paz, our capital.  Over one thousand men, women and children set out to protest a highway that the Bolivian government was constructing to Brazil, through one of the most ecologically sensitive areas of Bolivia. 

The constitution of Bolivia (written by our current president and his party) guarantees indigenous people groups the right to self determination and the right to decide how their lands should be developed and used.  At the time, this idea was revolutionary in Bolivia where historically these people groups had been largely marginalized and ignored. 

Sadly, that same government has chosen to give those rights with one hand and take them away with the other.  The president and his leadership have decided that this highway is vital to Bolivia (ignoring numerous international ecological groups) and has gone ahead with construction. 

Seeing their rights being violated, this village decided to do something.  They began marching.  What started as a relatively quiet demonstration has electrified the country.  Demonstrations were held in all the major cities of Bolivia in support of these villagers.

Then on September 25th, the government sent 500 police in full riot gear to stop the march.  At dusk, firing tear gas into the midst of the people, the police attempted to haul these peaceful demonstraters away in buses and planes.  As planes attempted to land on a nearby airstrip, other villages came to their support and blocked the planes from landing by occupying the landing area.

Undeterred the march continued, now with even more support.  Food, clothes, tents and other donated supplies began arriving from all over Bolivia.  Members of President Evo's own party resigned and some even joined the march.

Their group, having grown to over 2,000 marchers, arrived yesterday morning in La Paz...where they were met by a crowd of over 500,000 supporters.  Again police tried to stop them from advancing, but were unable to do so.  The currently occupy the plaza in front of the Presidential Palace where they hope to speak to President Evo.  So far he continues to refuse.

I thought I'd add a few pictures to help you understand what's been happening...

The Police...

Continuing to march...

Arrival in La Paz...

It's difficult to know exactly what's going to happen, but there's no doubt of the significance of this moment for Bolivia. It'll be interesting to see what the future holds.  Whether our president will be able to continue undeterred with the construction of this highway, or if he'll respond to the cries of the people who put him in office.

Thanks for your continued prayer for Bolivia.  If you want to read a more detailed (and very interesting) account of what's been happening, take a look at this.

Thanks everyone!