“U.S. Hands Off Bolivia” protest planned for MN

Minneapolis, MN – Several Twin Cities area peace and justice groups have called for an emergency protest to show opposition to the U.S.-supported coup in Bolivia. The protest will be held Thursday, November 14 at 5 p.m. along the sidewalks at Lake Street and Bloomington Avenue in Minneapolis. The Minneapolis action is one of many protests happening all over the world in solidarity with the progressive movements of Bolivia.

The event is co-sponsored by the Anti-War Committee and Women Against Military Madness.

A statement issued by organizers says, “We protest in Minneapolis to speak out against the military coup in Bolivia, and the role of the U.S. government in this coup. The people of Bolivia, who are struggling to defend economic and social gains won under the leadership of President Evo Morales, are struggling to stop this coup. The U.S. government is clearly the sponsor of the coup. The goal of the coup is to restore the absolute authority of the Bolivian elites who rule as clients of the United States.”

“The U.S. government has worked overtime to turn back the left-wing tide sweeping Latin America. The struggle in Bolivia, and all of Latin America continues between the forces that want to empower the people and those that want to maintain the power and wealth of the rich,” the statement continues.

Sarah Martin of Women Against Military Madness explains, “Evo Morales became President in 2006 on the shoulders of a powerful mass movement of indigenous people, and farmers and workers. When he used the gas and mineral wealth of the country to improve the lives of the people and not to enrich the transnational mining companies, he became a target of U.S. regime change. We stand with Bolivians in opposition to this right-wing, military coup.”

Meredith Aby-Keirstead of the Anti-War Committee concurs, “The whole history of the U.S. in Latin America has been to maintain the interests of large U.S. corporations in the region against any attempt by the rank-and-file people to take steps to rebuild society in their interests. The coup in Bolivia is only the latest example of this whole history.”