Hunger Strike: Activist Protests Ahmadinejad’s Visit to Bolivia
"He shouldn’t be allowed to come here because this is the only country on the continent that authorized visas throughout WWII to more than 7,000 Jews who escaped from the Nazi terror."
Carlos Aliaga Uria, dressed in a black poncho with the yellow Star of David on the front, holds a poster that translates: “Ahmadinejad Denier of History and the Holocaust Get Out of Bolivia.”
Aliaga began his hunger strike in La Paz to protest the November 24th visit of the Iranian president. Aliaga said:
Recently Angela Merkel, the German president, admitted to the horrors committed by her country during the Nazi period, which claimed the lives of 6,000,000 Jews. Ahmadinejad denies this historical fact. Ahmadinejad can visit Venezuela, Brazil or even the moon, that doesn’t interest me; however, he should be prohibited from visiting Bolivia. He shouldn’t be allowed to come here, not just because this is my country, but because Bolivia was the only country on this continent that authorized visas throughout WWII to more than 7,000 Jews who escaped from the Nazi terror.
Aliaga proclaimed an “ambulatory” hunger strike because he is worried about being harassed or arrested for his protest. During the last six months, there have been many arbitrary arrests without due process. It is important that the Evo Morales government abides by the law. Instead, it is intentionally subverting the institutions in the judiciary branch. The Supreme Court, which should have 12 voting members, is now down to six and is without a quorum. This is just the latest attempt to paralyze the Bolivian judicial system.
Because Evo Morales is such a popular leader, many in the human rights community feel that to criticize the Morales government is to be aligned with the old, corrupt opposition. During the last visit by Ahmadinejad, Evo Morales had all female ministers wear headscarves. Ironically, the minister of justice, who is female, dutifully followed orders. No feminist leaders spoke out against this act.
Many in South America and the world are worried about the region’s new alliance with Iran. Iran has promised Bolivia materials for a new state-run television station. It has already given milk-processing plants and a new hospital to one of Bolivia’s poorest cities, El Alto. There are more projects in the works, such as a cement plant, help with the petrochemical industry, and the mining of lithium and uranium. There is a lot of money being distributed by Iran on every level.
Apart from the obvious economic aid pouring into Bolivia from Iran, there are very strong ideological ties. Since the Evo Morales government came to power, it has methodically broken relations with countries that it considers part of the imperialist empire. Bolivia ordered the expulsion of U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg on September 11, 2008. Soon after, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration was expelled and USAID was thrown out of the coca-growing Chapare region. Economic trade agreements were canceled, as was a meeting that was scheduled last week to renegotiate American-Bolivian ties.
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Anna Hosbein lives in Bolivia, where she and her husband Carlos fight to defend civil liberties and get the word out about the real story in South America.
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4 Comments
1. Mike2:Hating Jews has become one of the benchmark tenets of the left these days so the embrace of the Iranians by the mentioned countries is no surprise. It will get worse.
Nov 28, 2009 - 4:09 am 2. David W. Lincoln:The Goldstone Report to the UN is an interesting way of seeing how advanced countries are, instead of how advanced they deem themselves to be. I see
that Bolivia had company in voting for it.
Well, I say this: Bolivia, like the rest of South America which voted for the Goldstone Report has to be placed under a preparatory regime for the continent of South America.
As long as the nonsense which is peddled by the Morales government continues, Bolivia will continue to pay the price for not coming to grips with its past – just like Mexico.
Nov 28, 2009 - 1:12 pm 3. Branwen:notice how Israel was the first nation to defend Honduras with the ouster of Zelaya. makes sence, and which side will our own leftest government take?
Nov 28, 2009 - 4:04 pm 4. Carol:Sounds like Boliva has jumped on the anti-Israel-jew-hating bandwagon.
Nov 30, 2009 - 9:13 pm