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I N V I T A T I O N
The Network of the Global Women’s Strike – Bolivia
Is holding a press conference to say publicly where it stands in the face of the present political situation, and to defend the Constituent Assembly. All women, community organizations, local, national and international press are invited.
The meeting will take place on Tuesday 4 December 2007, at 10.30 am, near H. ALCALDIA QUEMADA (CEJA EL ALTO).
We will also report to the national and international community the racism of the oligarchy against our Indigenous sisters and brothers.
There will be questions and comments from the floor. Please be on time.
Sincerely, Network of the Global Women’s Strike – Bolivia
redhuelgamund.bolivia@hotmail.com Tel: 591 719 46 200
Network of the Global Women’s Strike – Bolivia “Invest in caring, not killing” Email: redhuelgamund.bolivia@hotmail.com
POLITICAL DOCUMENT OF OUR WOMEN’S NETWORK
BRIEF BACKGROUND
Our history is full of heroic women who were involved in the struggle for liberty and sovereignty. Some examples: centuries of struggle to end slavery and the yoke of Spain; women who fought for their ideas were killed in 1952; the mining women whose 1977 hunger strike, together with their sons, brought the criminal dictatorship of Hugo Banzer to an end; the massive participation of rural and Indigenous women in the long march for Land, Dignity, Development and Political Participation of Indigenous People (a woman died during the march); the march for Sovereignty of the People and Natural Resources; the campaign for legislation to uphold women’s rights; participation in the Water War in 2000. In the 2003 Gas War (where 11 women lost their lives), women’s participation was decisive in the downfall of a neo-liberal government which was auctioning off our natural resources and productive industries to foreign companies. The toppling of the subsequent right wing government in 2005, the repossession of our hydrocarbons, and the establishment of the Constituent Assembly are other examples.
Mining women, rural women, Indigenous and Native women, women of African descent and middle class women took part in all these events to bring about a change in the history of our country. This led to the election of the first Indigenous president, Mr Juan Evo Morales Ayma, a product of the class which has been exploited and excluded for 500 years. Bolivians have placed their hope in this president. Because of his social and ethnic background, his working class convictions and his commitment to being accountable to the movement which carried him to power, Evo Morales is implementing measures, such as an equal and equitable redistribution of resources, which will benefit all women and men in Bolivia, signalling the beginning of change, with the participation of all, towards inclusion – a continuous demand throughout our history.
THE CRY OF WOMEN FOR THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE STATE
In the chaotic and desperate situation in which we now find ourselves, it is essential that we don’t allow the focus that guides our struggle to become clouded. Our basic aims are: a country in which basic food is guaranteed; a country where the extreme poverty caused by the neo-liberal capitalist system is brought to an end; a country where our children’s lives are guaranteed.
If we continue down the miserable road to death imposed by neo-liberalism’s genocidal exploitation of us and of our environment, not only is our future not safe, but even our present will perish. This is why we must fight today and now! For the transformation of the State, against those who oppose radically changing this situation which daily threatens not only our lives as women, but the lives of our children and their ability to live with dignity.
We, women, cry not just as women, but also as mothers who struggle to provide for our families. Let’s not forget that we are one of the poorest countries in Latin America, and our struggle must direct itself at the poverty which consumes our people.
We, women, are up against the most atrociously blatant and cynical face of the right wing OLIGARCHY, which is RACIST to its core. It is determined to oppose any change towards a pluri-national and inclusive State, towards the transformation of State and government structures, so that those who have historically been exploited and repressed (Indigenous and Native people, rural people, people of African descent and the whole impoverished class), can write a new Magna Carta which reflects our reality and our needs.
We, women, will defend the Constituent Assembly and its deliberations until it has drafted and presented a new political Constitution for the State, which recognises economic and social rights, and the participation and inclusion of all Bolivians, regardless of social, gender, ethnic or religious differences.
We, women, will not allow the clear attempt, promoted by the U.S. with its balkanizing intentions, to destabilise and divide the country in order to split it into small States, as was done through war on what used to be Yugoslavia. Women will have to take on the task of preventing this happening to our people, whatever the cost.
We, women, will not allow the neglect which forces us to live in conditions of deprivation to continue. Now is the time to say enough to any attempt to frustrate our dream of a life with dignity as is our Human Right.
We, women, will support all changes and implementation of regulations which promote the reduction of POVERTY and the protection of the environment.
We, women, protest against the violation by the oligarchic opposition of our rights to equality, equity, justice, liberty, peace, solidarity and a peaceful coexistence between Bolivians and the other peoples of the world.
WOMEN’S DEMANDS
1. Bolivia has one of the highest rates of poverty in Latin America with 67% of the population (approximately 6 million people) in poverty. The other 30% live moderately well and only 3% can be considered rich. According to statistics, 6 out of every 10 Bolivians live on $2 a day. The distribution of wealth in Bolivia is among the most unequal in Latin America. The poorest 20% receive 4% of the GNP. Between 20% and 34% suffer from severe malnutrition. In rural areas only 25% of households have electricity and only 41% have drinking water.
For these reasons, we women demand that the State implements policies to eradicate poverty, which causes exclusion and marginalisation, and makes it hard for women and men to access formal work, health services, quality education and justice. This historical discrimination by the State affects mainly Indigenous and Native people and those in rural areas – and first of all women and children who are the poorest of the poor – and also the middle class and the impoverished class.
2. Eliminate discriminatory and racist practices; implement laws which punish drastically any form of discrimination.
3. Social and economic recognition of the caring work we do in the home. Despite the harsh conditions in which the majority of women live, both in urban and rural areas, we produce and reproduce the entire human species, that is, all the workers, ensuring their survival and creating social wealth and welfare. According to UN statistics, women do two thirds of the world’s work, yet we are the poorest and are treated as if we do not contribute to society. Article 88 (and proposed Article 87) of the Venezuelan constitution already recognises the vital contribution of housewives and domestic workers, with fundamental employment rights such as social security, pensions and maternity leave. The women of Bolivia and the world also want our work recognised.
4. The right to an adequate diet, decent housing, free health care, social security, education, training, and basic services.
5. The poorest mothers who have no access to employment should be paid a minimum wage which covers their basic needs and ensures the family’s survival and dignity. The State should use the revenue from hydrocarbons for this purpose.
6. If a household lives in extreme poverty and neither husband nor wife receives a secure wage or social security, the State should support the pregnant woman until the child is two years old, with a food subsidy (rich in protein, vitamins and minerals), in order to ensure breastfeeding and the health of the mother and her children.
7. Rural women demand the right to the land we work and a fair price for our produce.
8. Women who work outside the home demand decent wages, equal to those of men doing the same work or whose work requires the same level of skills. We also demand paid maternity leave to ensure breastfeeding.
8. The right to protection – physical and psychological. The State must protect women and girls from rape and other violence, in the family or outside, and by people in positions of authority – such as employers, police and military – and punish the attackers.
9. Create soup kitchens in every district, while employment is generated to eradicate the hunger and poverty from which so many Bolivians suffer.
11. Offer more support to projects promoting opportunities for those sectors that have been impoverished.
12. Regulate the proliferation of premises selling alcoholic beverages which are destroying our society and that of future generations. We mothers suffer when our children’s health deteriorates. Create voluntary centres for rehabilitation and training to help young people who suffer from alcohol or drug addiction.
13. We, women, should have the right to check how the State uses its economic resources, whether these come from internal revenue or external transfers or donations. We should also be able to demand annual reports on how policies and objectives are being implemented by State institutions. In this way, we can monitor and assist in the fight to eradicate the corruption which has been a daily reality under previous administrations.
ACTIONS TO DEAL WITH THE POLITICAL SITUATION IN THE COUNTRY
Form ALLIANCES between organisations to deal with the oligarchy and the opposition – meetings, protests, statements, visual and written media, peaceful marches, vigils, etc.
Form international ALLIANCES of mutual support to circulate and get backing for our demands, and to learn from the struggle of women and grassroots people in other countries.
For the transformation of our reality!!!!!!!!!!!
For a country where the lives of our people and families are guaranteed!!!!!!!!!
For a better life in a different world!!!!!!!!!
The cry of women will be heard and echoed by all the families and people of the world!!!!!!!
Women of Bolivia, united in struggle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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