Aid Those Injured in Bolivian Violence
Posted 8th November 2000
From: Jim Shultz

For the first time, I am making an appeal on behalf of the more than 100 people who have been seriously injured here during the recent conflicts between the Bolivian people and their government. Let me begin with a brief story, a sad one. On Saturday morning, September 30th, at 4am the Bolivian government sent 1,100 army troops into Vinto, a small town on the outskirts of Cochabamba. There, for more than a week, local residents had erected and maintained a blockade of the main highway, one of many put up nationwide as part of widespread public protests. In the weeks since, in visits to the local hospital, I have spent a good deal of time listening to first hand accounts of what happened there. Tear gas canisters, I have been told repeatedly, "fell like rain" smashing onto people¹s roofs and into their small brick and adobe homes.

At 6am, one of those canisters flew at high velocity from 200 meters into the patio of the Zenteno family. It hit their six year old daughter, Jimena, directly in the face. Knocked out cold and bloodied, her mother thought she was dead. Fortunately she was alive, but her nose was completely destroyed and she will likely lose much of the sight in her left eye. Doctors say she will need re-constructive surgery over and over again through her adolescence. A short distance away Jimena¹s 15 year old cousin, Wilson, woke up choking from tear gas pouring into his house, and was forced to flee into the street. He told me the gas was so bad that three of the family chickens died on the spot from asphyxiation. As he and his friends walked through the town to see what had happened, Wilson became a target. Army fire - live rounds - caught him in the legs and has left him disabled for the rest of his life. Both of these are young people with whom I have spent time with personally.

There are other serious cases here as well, people I have also met, many with injuries still unattended from the conflicts earlier this year over water privatization. Antonio, a 16 year old, had the nerves severed in his right arm during last April¹s protests. Half a year later he still awaits surgery. Bolivian officials have signed formal agreements promising to pay for the care needed by the wounded, promises still not kept. Human rights groups will continue pressing the government on these promises but the injured can wait no longer. Even if and when the government does pay, it won¹t cover a good portion of costs the wounded must cover. It is important to note that, on our behalf, the U.S. government has had a significant role in this violence. Just hours before the military invasion of Vinto, the chief spokesman for the U.S. State Department made a formal declaration of support for the Bolivian government in the midst of its repression. There is little doubt here that that support emboldened the army to take the action it did shortly after. Much, perhaps most of the tear gas used here, was manufactured in the U.S. and we are investigating to determine whether the weapons used were among those previously donated to Bolivia by the U.S. government. So, today I am asking for your help. For those whose needs are special medical attention, beyond what is available from local doctors, we will work with those organizations who have offered such aid.

However, for most what is needed is money. Some examples: $30 will provide one 16 year old with the money he needs for bus far e to travel to the many physical therapy sessions he will need to recover use of his arm. $100 will pay three months of rent for a 21 year old who is unable to work, keeping he, his mother and his siblings from being evicted. $150 will pay for the care that six year old Jimena will need to retain as much sight as possible in her injured eye. To facilitate this support in an appropriate manner, I have arranged for Cochabamba¹s Catholic Archdiocese to establish and supervise a special fund to receive and disburse aid to the injured, in collaboration with the Assembly on Human Rights. I would not ask you to contribute to something I have not contributed to myself, so my family has provided an initial contribution of $200 to start the fund. Please send donations as follows: 1) Checks should be PAYABLE to: Pastoral Social de Arzobispado de Cochabamba and MAILED to: The Democracy Center, P.O. Box 22157, San Francisco, CA 94122, USA.