Elsa’s voice trembled as she recounted her story: “We ran up the road as about 100 young men chased us shouting ‘kollas de mierda’ (Indian shits) as fast as we could. We found a policeman and asked him for help but he refused, saying he couldn’t because then he would be attacked too…Eventually the young men caught up with us, and started hitting us, grabbing our aguayos (vibrant indigenous shawl used to carry everything), taking our stuff. I lost everything…”

“We finally managed to get away and hid in a forest, dead still against the trees, thirsty because we hadn’t drunk anything, listening to their shouts of ´those Indian shits are here, we need to kill them.’” Elsa’s voice cracked as tears streamed down her face. “There is so much discrimination… I felt I was about to die, thinking well at least we have made history in our lives.” Elsa Vasquez, from El Alto who works at the Vice-Ministry of gender and generation affairs, recounted that she and about 40 women finally managed to escape by speaking Quechua and pretending to be from Potosi rather than La Paz.

Elsa told her story at a “Conversation on the Constituent Assembly and Racism” organised by Fundación Solón in La Paz on the 30 November 2007. The meeting brought together more than 20 women from various social movements including representatives from the  Household Workers Union, Federation of Campesinas Bartolina Sisas, El Alto Worker’s Federation, Indymedia as well as members of the Government and the  Constituent Assembly.

Many of the woman, such as Elsa, had been in Sucre at the time of the planned confrontations because a women’s summit had been convened there. They became witnesses to the racism unleashed by the Right determined to stop the Constituent Assembly. The conversation allowed their testimonies, which have been excluded from mainstream media, to be told. It also gave space for some reflections on the roots of racism and the rightwing backlash in Bolivia.

Elsa’s testimony was repeated in different forms by many of the women who had gone with great hope to attend the summit. Carla Esposito from Fundacion Solon recounted a story that brought back memories of Nazy Germany when young fascists in Sucre got on board her bus to examine identity cards in order to identify people from La Paz. She only escaped because she offered an card from a human rights’ organisation. Another told the story of a woman who was beaten and who was refused treatment by the hospital nurse. Irma Campos from the vice-ministry of gender spoke of seeing a woman from Tarija hide her indigenous hat: “Seeing this person hiding her very identity affected me greatly” she noted. With bitter irony, Irma noted that the attacks happened on the National Day of No-Violence against Women.

All those present in the workshop were clear that the principal cause of racist violence in Sucre was the Right who used classic division tactics to create confrontation. Carla Esposito said, “Let’s be clear, this was not spontaneous, it was very organised. At every violent demonstration you could see the “shock troops” of young fascist youths receiving orders by phone.” She concluded “The theme of capitalia [where the capital is] was used to divide people and set in train a cycle of violence. The violence, racism and division is a political project of the Right.” Carmina Moscoso from the El Alto Workers’ Federation noted that the Sucre InterInstitutional Committee used young people, who are more malleable, lack formation or a historical experience of Bolivian struggles for social justice to initiate violence. “How else can you explain that sons were fighting against their parents and grandparents,” she asked.

Jaime Cruz and Alicia Martín from Sucre detailed the growing involvement of Santa Cruz elites in supporting the Sucre Inter-Institutional Committee with funding for concerts, festivals and other events all with the aim of linking MAS, the Constituent Assembly and more broadly indigenous movements as forces opposed to Chuquisaca’s progress.

Elvira Parra, a MAS constituent from El Alto said “this racist logic was present within th Assembly with the aim of disrupting the process to design a new constitution.” It was both “revenge for throwing out Goni and other political elites” but also a rejection of plurality and diversity. She recounted how negotiations for proposals fought by social movements for many years had been systematically blocked at every point. “They talk about consensus, but never abide by it. They want to stop people taking power,” she noted saying that she would “fight to the end for the Constituent Assembly to meet the hopes of indigenous women across Bolivia.”

Beyond the political struggle, Bertha Blanca from the Bartolina Sisa Campesina Federation said the struggle was also about values. “Those who don’t want to listen or want to block change are those that only follow economic values. Yet economic power is poison that kills people and has led us to this violence. When Tuto [the opposition leader] dismisses a document fought for by social movements as ‘used toilet paper’ does that reflect values, is that democracy? He talks about two-thirds being the standard for democracy, but the Right has never lived according to those rules.” By contrast she said indigenous people had a different system based on a community vision rather than capitalist values. She was not interested in “revenge, just respect” for these differences.

The workshop attendants elaborated on some of the tools the Right had used to divide people. Elvira Parra was unequivocal: “Several of the media companies bear direct responsibility for the deaths” and named several TV channels including UNITEL, ATB and the University channel in Sucre. Jaime Cruz from Indymedia Sucre noted that the media campaign had been highly coordinated for several months: “Whatever medium you turned to, whether it was radio, TV, newspapers, the slogan and message was the same. That the Government and indigenous movements are blocking development for Chuquisaca. It was highly effective.” By the time of the confrontations, the media campaign had reached fever pitch. Carla Esposito said, “Right from the beginning, the news channels were saying that the Police are ‘massacring our people” when the only thing being fired was teargas. Then they said that 50 students were being held prisoner and being tortured when that wasn’t true. They were not verifying facts as media should do, but turning any rumours into reality and inciting violence.... They had turned into channels of hate.”

The media campaign fitted into what Carla calls the “construction of the internal enemy.” During speeches, in grafitti, at demonstrations, the same methods were used to try and create a division between the people of Sucre and indigenous people from other regions. At the first demonstration she attended, one of the demonstrators said, “We are with Marinkovich [head of the Santa Cruz civic committee and leading opposition figure] because he works. He is not lazy like the Indians.” This was repeated in different forms by others, suggesting that Sucre was civilised and the altiplano uncivilised. Some of it was directed into opposition between Quechua and Aymaran people, some targeted at indigenous people in general.

Even more disturbing was the frequent use of animal names for identifying anyone opposed to the Sucre committee, with fascist groups frequently referring to indigenous groups as llamas and dogs. Carla pointed out this had disturbing precedents in countries like Nazi Germany and Rwanda in the run-up to genocide. “This tactic is about subhumanising people to make it much easier to excuse killings and violence. It is usually the precursor to massacres and ethnocide.” Carla Esposito also noted that much of the reactionary rhetoric had a sexualised dynamic citing the graffitti: ‘Silvia, whore; Evo, bastard; Alvaro, Fag’ [Silvia Lazarte is the President of the Constituent Assembly, Evo Morales the President, and Alvaro Garcia Linera the Vice-President). “This isn’t a coincidence, it fits into the reactionary social values that the Right is trying to resurrect.”

The construction of the internal enemy manifested itself in the vicious attacks mentioned in this article as well as the rise of tension across Bolivia, which has been exploited by the media. It became targeted at any visible signs of indigenous identity: the pollera in particular became a symbol of the enemy. For Carmina Moscoso, her terrifying experience of being attacked in Sucre had made her feel like “a foreigner in my own land.” It has also been accompanied by an increasingly oppressive environment in areas of Bolivia controlled by Right-wing authorities. Martha Herrera from the Household Workers’ Union in Beni said her support for MAS had led to her husband losing his job, two unfounded penal cases being launched against her, the exclusion of her neighbourhood from all municipal projects, and systematic persecution by the political authorities. Jaime and Alicia said it was no longer safe to express dissident views in public in Sucre. “The same people who shout loudly about democracy and defending against MAS dictatorship are creating local dictatorships in their backyard,” said Carla.

Yet whilst recent events in Sucre have exposed the ugly face of racism in Bolivia, all participants were clear that racism has long and deep historical roots in Bolivia. Asunta Quispe from the Household Workers Federation recalled living in Sucre in the 1970s and says racism was equally bad: “In Bolivia, if you had a name like Quispe you have always suffered from discrimination.” In tears, Asunta thanked her parents for telling her to “never lose pride in who you are, and to invest in education so she could prove she was equal.”

Jaime and Alicia explained that the racism in Sucre had profound colonial roots: “Sucre built itself on a racist republican identity. This was a city built by owners of mines who treated Potosi as their hacienda,” said Alicia. “These values are replicated in key families of the city who have retained power. It is a very static society. Holding the assembly here was a confrontation with the reality of a diverse society with different visions.”  Rosa Apaza from the Household Workers Union racism said that nearly all household workers experienced racism: “This is not just Sucre, it happens in La Paz too where I have several times been called a ‘cholita de mierda.’ Sadly even between women, this racism is present and deep.” Elyzabeth Peredo, of the Fundación Solón who chaired the conversation, said the influence of colonialism was so profound that “racism is inside each one of us.” Basilia Catari of the Household Workers’ Union added, “There is discrimination even inside this government.”

To tackle racism, all the women present agreed that more communication and education was fundamentally important. Elvira Parra said: “Now is the time to unite not with poles or sticks but raising peoples’ consciousness, explaining to people that we can not believe lies that have been used for so long.” She said that for her as an Assembly delegate, this meant constantly going out to seminars, using every opportunity to speak and explain what was behind events and expose media lies. Rosemary Silaipi said this had to extend out into the east of Bolivia. “It is not only in the West that people suffer discrimination. I woke up because of discrimination and I can tell you there is a different environment in neighbourhoods outside the centres of power. Yet the government doesn’t get here, there is no good information, we are isolated because the government identifies everyone in the east of the country with the Right.”

Basilia Catari explained that it was vital not to be part of provoking further conflicts and worsening the situation. “We have to admit that both the government and some social movement leaders are provoking violence. Who died after all in Sucre? Was it someone rich? No, it was one of the popular classes. This should make us reflect...This is the President after all not of Aymaras but of everyone who wants change. A life is a life even if it is that of an enemy. Yet too often the words of our leaders strengthen the power of the Right.”

But most of all what was clear in the seminar is that despite the worrying rise in racist attacks and the critical political situation in the country, that there is an indigenous pride in Bolivia that can’t be supressed. Rosa Apaza despite all the dangers to her life in Sucre refused to take her pollera off, Martha Herrera in Beni said threats led her to just put up a bigger MAS banner. Irma Campos said “We are not afraid, we are in fact strengthened to fight against hate and racism.” Bertha Blanco also dismissed the viability of tactics to divide aymaras and quechuas: “We are one family with too much history together.” Carmina Moscoso vowed that, “With or without MAS, with or without Evo, we will continue.” Elsa Vasquez who had faced such a terrifying ordeal was not weakened either: “We need to unite, show our identity, we can’t be ashamed of who we are.” Martha Herrera likened the process of change to one of pregnancy: “We are in the final months of birth which involves pain and blood. As women we know what this means, we knew what might come, we now need to fulfill the role of mother and prepare for the new birth.”

The meeting left with the echoing and challenging words of Basilia Catari: “We are women here, we need to unite, to find new and creative ways to overcome these divisions. We can’t repeat what other governments did. We made this change democratically and so many have huge hopes invested in this. We must realise that if indigenous people lose in Bolivia, everyone loses not just here but all around the world.”

* Some of the names have been changed to protect the individuals