Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube

Violeta Tamayo: “Against the Coup in Bolivia, the Working Class Will Find a Way Out of the Crisis”

As part of the Trotskyist Fraction’s international rally this May Day, Violeta Tamayo, a member of the Revolutionary Workers League of Bolivia, explains how the right-wing coup against Evo Morales has exacerbated the coronavirus crisis and increased repression against the working class and oppressed sectors. She speaks about the brave resistance of Bolivia’s working class and women’s movement in the face of immense repression and persecution.

Left Voice

May 7, 2020
Facebook Twitter Share

On May 1 this year, the Trotskyist Fraction (FT) — an international revolutionary socialist organization spanning multiple countries and continents — came together for a virtual international rally to celebrate May Day. Over 7,000 people across the world joined the livestream. Socialist leaders from 14 different countries spoke in 6 different languages to address a wide variety of topics, but they had one singular message: the current crisis is caused by capitalism and we will not pay for their crisis. Instead, we must build our own independent, international organizations that will fight for the working class and oppressed when they come under attack and that will join together in the fight for socialism. Left Voice is publishing transcripts and videos of each speech. Watch the entire livestream on Left Voice.

Violeta Tamayo is part of the Revolutionary Workers League of Bolivia (LOR-CI). She is a leader of the socialist feminist group, Pan y Rosas (Bread and Roses) and is currently one of the main editors for La Izquierda Diario Bolivia. She has been active in the resistance against Bolivia’s right-wing coup and the fight for socialism.

We send greetings to everyone taking part in this livestream from the Izquierda Diario international network. My name is Violeta Tamayo and I am a member of the Revolutionary Workers League of Bolivia (LOR-CI). This May Day, we want to commemorate workers across Bolivia, especially those in the middle of this political crisis, who bravely confronted the coup d’etat last November that was led by big business, the military, and the church — a coup that was supported by imperialism, the OAS, and far-right groups. 

We are proud, comrades, to be part of an international current that, through the Izquierda Diario news network, has helped to break the complete media blackout on the massacres, the tortures, and the arrests in Bolivia. We salute the brave communities of Senkata, Ovejuyo, and Sacaba, who have been the vanguard of this resistance, and who have also fought for the justice and freedom of all political prisoners. We, the LOR-CI, fought side by side with these comrades, and we have chanted with them that we will not negotiate with the leaders of the coup as the MAS (Movement for Socialism, the party of Evo Morales) has shamefully done — even in the face of the enormous will of the people to fight. 

We know that working-class, peasant, and indigenous women have been on the front lines of this struggle and we are proud to tell you that this past International Women’s Day, the women of Senkata — sisters, mothers, daughters, and comrades of the victims of the massacre — led what was the largest mobilization ever by the women’s movement  in Bolivia. This was achieved despite the interference of the liberal feminist movement, which made a pact with the coup leaders, took part in the coup itself and, in the end, capitulated to the extreme right. 

Our country has seen the combined effects of the pandemic and the political crisis. During this crisis the government which has stepped up its repression and militarization. It is criminalizing and persecuting the poorest sectors and political dissidents, and it is curtailing the freedom of expression. The government’s fight against the pandemic without widespread testing of health and safety measures, is reduced to nothing more than social isolation enforced by the armed forces and the police. 

The current illegitimate government is continuing and deepening attacks on the living and working conditions of the majority of people as well exacerbating the already dismal health system left by Evo Morales. In this moment, the lives of tens of thousands of workers who cannot stay at home are at risk, workers who today are maintaining the functioning of the country. Bolivia’s largest union federation, the Bolivian Workers Center (COB), says nothing about this situation. The COB has not only collaborated with the leaders of the coup d’état but refuses to even fight for basic conditions of the workers and the Bolivian people. That is why we workers must recover our tools of organization from the hands of this collaborationist bureaucracy. We must recover the best traditions of the Bolivian labor movement. We must fight for our political independence and the independence of our unions.

Today we have an enormous task in front of us. We must draw lessons not only from recent months but also from the 14 years of the MAS government in order to build a political force that will definitively end the exploitation, racism, and sexism in this country. For us, this means constructing a socialist society. We  believe the only tool to achieve this is the Fourth International. 

This rally, comrades, represents for us an important step by the workers, women, and youth toward this objective and toward the emancipation of the working class. We send you revolutionary greetings and we shout together with you: long live May Day, and long live the working class!

Facebook Twitter Share

Left Voice

Militant journalism, revolutionary politics.

Latin America

Alfredo Cisneros, Mexican land defender from Michoacán, stands in a forest. He is the fifth land defender to be murdered in the country in 2023.

Alfredo Cisneros: Fifth Mexican Environmentalist Assassinated in 2023

Alfredo Cisneros Madrigal, indigenous leader and forest defender in Michoacán, Mexico was murdered on February 23. He is the fifth environmental defender to be murdered in the country so far this year.

Axomalli Villanueva

March 13, 2023

Lula Visits Biden to Repair Relations with U.S. Imperialism

Brazilian President Lula's U.S. visit shows that he's focused on maintaining the interests of Brazilian capital while aligning with U.S. imperialism and being careful not to alienate Beijing.

Caio Reis

February 16, 2023

SOUTHCOM Chief Aims to Increase Imperialist Plunder of Latin America’s Resources

U.S. Southern Command Chief Laura Richardson has expressed interest in lithium and other natural resources in South America. It shows the country’s commitment to corporate profits at the expense of workers, Indigenous people, and the environment.

Luigi Morris

January 26, 2023

The Peruvian Uprising: Massive Protests Demand the Fall of the Coup Regime and a Constituent Assembly

Peru has erupted in a massive uprising demanding that President Dina Boluarte resign, that the current Congress be shut down, and that a new constitution be established. The protests are the culmination of years of political oppression of the country’s indigenous communities, drastic poverty rates and precarity for Peru’s workers and poor, and a political regime that continues the legacy of Alberto Fujimori’s dictatorship.

MOST RECENT

“Lesser Evil” Biden Wants More Border Patrol Than MAGA Republicans

Over the weekend, Biden bragged about his support for even more resources than “MAGA Republicans.” to “secure the border” on Twitter. This is “lesser evilism” in action.

Molly Rosenzweig

March 28, 2023
Customers clear shelves of water Sunday at Fresh Grocer in West Philadelphia.

A Chemical Plant Just Poisoned Philadelphia’s Water: A First-Hand Account of the Crisis

A company dumped thousands of gallons of poisonous chemicals into Philadelphia’s drinking water. This is an on-the-ground account by a Philadelphia worker and socialist.

Jason Koslowski

March 27, 2023
A group of protesters, in the front of whom are a line of protesters wearing red vests. In the front right corner, a white sign reds "vive la retraite," with a skeleton wearing a red hat in the middle of the sign on a black background with a text bubble on its left that reads, "oiv a bosse, c'est pas pour en crever!"

“French March”: The Right to Revolutionary Optimism

Evoking memories of '68, the students enter the fight against Macron. In our chaotic world, the future can only be built in the streets.

Eduardo Castilla

March 26, 2023

Joe Biden Is Deporting Russians Who Escaped Putin’s Draft — Let Them All In!

The United States is deporting Russians who sought asylum following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This is a heinous attack against war resisters and shows that the proxy war in Ukraine is about capitalist rivalry first and foremost.

Sam Carliner

March 26, 2023