Defend Bolivian Masses Against Imperialism

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Labour's new The driving force behind the vicious right wing coup unleashed by the Bolivian armed forces on July 17 is the relentless demands of world imperialism.

.And of course the main target of the new military junta is not the ousted President, the lacklustre Lydia Gueiler, or the scattered teminants of the charade of parliamentary demoracy in Bolivia.

The target is the Bolivian working class. The new junta seeks to eliminate the leadership of the workers' movement and assail the ranks of the working class with unrestricted violence until, through sheer brutal. ity, hunger and fear, its resistance is broken, What is occurring in Bolivia is an attempt to inflict a massive and decisive defeat on the working class in the manner of Chile and Uruguay in 1973 and Argentina in 1976. But as yet it is far from clear that the junta will succeed in this task.

Dictatorship

The first week of Garcia's dictatorship appears in many respects to be similar to that of the ill-fated regime established last November by Colonel Alberto Natusch Busch.

There are, however, important differences. Natusch, despite the violence employed by his troops, attempted to portray his regime as 'populist' He entered into negotiations with parliament and even the COB (Bolivian TUC). Natusch was also opposed by a significant sector of the army.

Even though faced with massive popular resistance, he was unable to control the right wing; and with the military divided it was necessary to concede the day to the advocates of bourgeois democracy.

The overthrow of his dictatorship after sixteen days was celebrated as a popular victory but in point of fact the right. simply retreated to reorganise its forces; it was far from Nine months later General Garcia Meza, presiding over a united military apparatus, after months of preparation and careful cooperation with both the civilian right wing and the dictaBolivian miners armed with dynamite Lydia Gueiler torships of Chile and Argentina was better prepared, both politically and militarily to bring to a halt the "anarchy and chaos" of successive elections and the lame Bolivian parliamentary pantomime.

Disarmed

He was also, however, greatly aided by the fact that the working class had been politically disarmed and fed grotesque illusions in parliamentary democracy during the election campaign by the petty bourgeois nationalists (MNR), the Stalinists and the reformists.

Yet the facade of the Bolivian elections was vividly exposed when a 'dry run' coup attempt was made in mid-June before the poll.

This was stopped as a result of open hostility from the US, unrest among army conscripts and hopes amongst the officer corps that the eventual result might place rightist Victor Paz Estenssoro in power.

Alliance The elections therefore were allowed to take place. But the victor, it soon became clear, would be Hernan Siles Suazo of the Popular Democratic Union (UD) in alliance with the pro-Moscow CP and the reformist MIR.

The prospect of seeing "communists" elected to power was too much for the military high command.

Troops took over the major despite the anti-coup preparations made by the National Committee for the Defence of Democracy (CONADE), a broad civic front supported by all the main bourgeois parties and the Church as well as the COB.

The COB headquarters were attacked by rightist vigilantes Continued, page 2 SI Prior's anti-union Bill Bugging technology..

TG WU leaders on Chile demonstratio for reviewed chief Garcia Gormley

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cities, meeting little organised resistance for the first 24 hours,