Open Letter To Bolivian President
Evo Morales AymaBy David Truskoff
11 October, 2007
Countercurrents.orgDear President Evo Morales,
I have read the speech you gave to members of the United Nations and I was immediately reminded of a speech that I heard back in 1986 in Moscow. That speech was given by Mikhail Gorbachev to the Twenty Seventh Congress. He said then; "The Soviet Union declares once again that it will steadfastly pursue the Leninist policy of peace and peaceful co-existence which is determined by our social system and world outlook."
Now Mister president, just ten years after the Gorbachev speech the Socialist Soviet Union was no more and in its place was a regressive, mindless version of what was called, "free market capitalism". A few oligarchs got very rich and the workers got very poor. They had to give up their free health care, Education benefits, and right to work laws. Rents became so burdensome that a new phenomenon appeared in Russia; street people. Many bewildered leftist intellectuals debated whether Gorbachev was the most naive leader in the world; a stupid man or an out right traitor. Recently I received an email; from a friend who pointed out the large amount of money that Gorbachev has made since he became the darling of the west proves him to be a traitor, bought and paid for. I disagree. Few of us take into consideration the inner battles Gorbachev must have faced and what he inherited that was still called Communism but was far from the works of Lenin and Marx. Eighteen years of Breznev-led stagnation pushed young Soviets away from Communism.
From 1986 to 1996 the CIA and British agents had been at work to create the coup that finally toppled him and the Soviet union, but Gorbachev surely was aware of the many attempts that were made to overthrow the revolution including the outright US invasion of Russia at Murmansk. Unlike you mister President he did not fully present his problems to the people and the people were not fully informed until it was too late.
When Putin, called the demise of the Soviet Union the greatest political catastrophe of the 20th century, he was no doubt remembering the words of Soviet foreign minister Andrei Gromyko who said that "no conflict anywhere on the globe could be settled without taking into account the attitude and interests of the Soviet Union." What Putin meant to project to the world is there would not be American Troops in Afghanistan nor would there be the ugly crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Israelis against the Palestinian people if there was still a strong Soviet Union
As I write this, leftist around the world are remembering the anniversary of the murder of a realist like you. A young committed realist named Che Guevara who was killed forty years ago today in your country.
"THE CIA killed Che Guevara and planned to do so from 1959 along with the destruction of the Cuban Revolution because of the example they set to the rest of Latin America", said former CIA agent Philip Agee. He also said. "There was no person more feared by the company (CIA) then Che Guevara because he had the capacity and charisma necessary to direct the struggle against the political repression of the traditional hierarchies in power in the countries of Latin America." The world knows that on October 9th, 1967, Ernesto "Che" Guevara was put to death by Bolivian soldiers, trained, equipped and guided by U.S. Green Beret and CIA operatives.
In a very prophetic statement Leon Trotsky wrote in The Revolution Betrayed: "A collapse of the Soviet regime would lead inevitably to the collapse of the planned economy, and thus the abolition of state property. The bond of compulsion between the trusts and the factories within them would fall away. The more successful enterprises would succeed in coming out on the road of independence. They might convert themselves into stock companies, or they might find some other transitional form of property - one, for example, in which the workers should participate in the profits. The collective farms would disintegrate at the same time and far more easily. The fall of the present bureaucratic dictatorship, if it were not replaced by a new socialist power, would thus mean a return to capitalist relations with a catastrophic decline of industry and culture." That certainly has happened.
Mister President, I am impressed by your comments that Capitalism has twins "The market and war." We all know the market thrives on war, but my question to you is how, in a world of capitalist power, can Bolivia compete in the world market, save its non capitalist system, control greed, and continue to grow economically? After listening to Radio Free Europe, seeing western television, Young Russians wanted to own things. Under Yeltsin the West took over the media and Capitalism triumphed.
In Israel today there is awful poverty not just for the Arab population, but also for Jewish holocaust survivors. While the oppressed become the oppressors the state deteriorates. Primarily Socialists founded Israel. Early Kibbutz were communes.
My question is what are you doing in terms of education for the young in Bolivia to prevent the same cycle that realist my age have seen happen again and again. The fuel of Capitalism is greed. Greed can only be controlled with early education. The west waits for Castro to die hoping that will end the growth of socialism in your part of the world? Right wing Cubans in America are preparing for that day. Are you?
Thank you Mister President and keep on
www.erols.com/suttonbear
Speech by Bolivian President Evo Morales Ayma during the United Nations meeting on Climate Change, New York, September 24, 2007I’d like to sincerely apologize if some countries or some groups are affected by the survival of my country, the survival of the indigenous people. I think that that capitalism is the worst enemy of humanity and if we do not change the model, change the system, then our presence, our debate, our exchange, and the proposals that we make in these meetings at the United Nations will be totally in vain.
Capitalism has twins, the market and war. The market converts life into commodities, it converts land into a commodity. And when capitalists cannot sustain this economic model based on looting, on exploitation, on marginalisation, on exclusion and, above all, on the accumulation of capital, they rely on war, the arms race. If we ask ourselves how much money is spent on the arms race — we are never concerned about that.
Because if we don’t think that way, if we do not change, it won’t matter if business owners have a lot of money, no matter if they are a multinational or even a country — no one can escape these ecological problems, environment problems, and climate change. No one will be spared, and the wealth that some country, some region or some capitalist may have will be useless.
If we do not think about how this ecological debt will be paid, how are we going to solve the problems of life and humanity?
I want to say, dear colleagues and friends, that we must assume the responsibility as leaders or as presidents, as governments — we must save life, we must save humanity, we must save the entire planet.
Bolivia remains the poorest country in South America, with about 60 percent of the population of 9.1 million mired in deep poverty, making such debates crucial.
Revenue from oil and natural gas climbed to 13.3 percent of gross domestic product in 2006 from 5 percent in 2004, according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington.
That boost has placed Bolivia on its most enviable economic footing in years, with growth of about 4 percent expected this year.
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