MY TURN: Attack on free speech
by Benjamin Dangl
I recently visited Leonida Zurita Vargas at her house in the Chapare, Bolivia, the same coca-growing region where newly elected President Evo Morales came from. I was there to interview her and research coca issues for a book I am writing. Though she is an alternate Senator and long time organizer among coca farmer unions, her house is just like the others on the dirt road through the jungle; no electricity, a roof made of palm tree leaves, a dirt floor and loft with mosquito netting to sleep in.
Her husband was a gregarious host, constantly making jokes and playing with their two young sons. Leonida's cell phone (which had been charging in her husband's car) rang incessantly. As she dried freshly harvested rice in the sun she took calls from journalists, politicians and voters. While she made lemonade for us with water straight from the well, she was being interviewed. We asked her where the journalist was from. She answered casually, "BBC in London."
The war on drugs in Bolivia has been far from pretty. Legal markets are huge in this country where the leaf is used a mild stimulant and medicine for sickness and daily hard work. US funded militarization of the Chapare and other regions of Bolivia has resulted in violence, forced eradication without alternative crop development, human rights violations and a traumatized population of innocent farmers.
She has spoken in numerous countries around the world about the drug war conflict and last year, she was a candidate for the RF Kennedy Human Rights Award.
Leonida is supposed to be in the United States right now as part of a three week speaking tour which would take her to Washington DC, Harvard, Stanford and Burlington for the Winds of Change in the Americas conference which will take place on Sunday, March 5 from 3-9 p.m. at the Unitarian Church at the end of Church Street in Burlington.
But when she tried to board her plane to the United States on Feb. 20, she was told her 10-year visa (which she had used to travel to the U.S. on previous speaking tours) had been revoked by the U.S. embassy because of links to terrorist activity.
So why was her visa revoked?
Leonida, like other coca farmer organizers such as Evo Morales, posed threats to previous administrations because of their political power and popularity. The word "terrorism" was used to label such powerful political opponents. None of these accusations stuck, she was found innocent time and time again.
We invited Leonida here to open up lines of communication between citizens of both countries, to learn about the hopes and successes of the new Morales government. Is the Bush administration afraid she poses a security threat or is it afraid this powerful women will come to speak the truth about the negative effects of US-backed and economic and military policies in Bolivia?
In the Orwellian nightmare that the Bush administration has created "War is Peace" and Leonida Zurita Vargas a human rights leader, is a terrorist. Where will this irrational behavior end?
Organizers of the "Winds of Change in the Americas" conference are working to bring Zurita to speak in spite of the visa rejection. We have contacted the US embassy in La Paz, the offices of Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy and Congressman Bernie Sanders to obtain a new visa for Zurita in time for Sunday's conference. If she cannot arrive in person, she will give a speech via phone to the conference crowd.
The "Winds of Change in the Americas" conference will take place on Sunday, March 5 from 3-9 PM at the Unitarian Church at the head of Church Street in Burlington. In addition to the presentation by Zurita, George Ann Potter, Zurita's political advisor in Bolivia, will also to speak at the event. There will be discussions led by Vermonters who recently returned from Caracas, Venezuela for the World Social Forum, a gathering of social movements, NGOs and activists from around the globe. Representatives from the Vermont Worker's Center will be discussing social movements in Vermont.
Benjamin Dangl of Richmond just returned from Bolivia where he was doing research on a book.
I recently visited Leonida Zurita Vargas at her house in the Chapare, Bolivia, the same coca-growing region where newly elected President Evo Morales came from. I was there to interview her and research coca issues for a book I am writing. Though she is an alternate Senator and long time organizer among coca farmer unions, her house is just like the others on the dirt road through the jungle; no electricity, a roof made of palm tree leaves, a dirt floor and loft with mosquito netting to sleep in.
Her husband was a gregarious host, constantly making jokes and playing with their two young sons. Leonida's cell phone (which had been charging in her husband's car) rang incessantly. As she dried freshly harvested rice in the sun she took calls from journalists, politicians and voters. While she made lemonade for us with water straight from the well, she was being interviewed. We asked her where the journalist was from. She answered casually, "BBC in London."
The war on drugs in Bolivia has been far from pretty. Legal markets are huge in this country where the leaf is used a mild stimulant and medicine for sickness and daily hard work. US funded militarization of the Chapare and other regions of Bolivia has resulted in violence, forced eradication without alternative crop development, human rights violations and a traumatized population of innocent farmers.
She has spoken in numerous countries around the world about the drug war conflict and last year, she was a candidate for the RF Kennedy Human Rights Award.
Leonida is supposed to be in the United States right now as part of a three week speaking tour which would take her to Washington DC, Harvard, Stanford and Burlington for the Winds of Change in the Americas conference which will take place on Sunday, March 5 from 3-9 p.m. at the Unitarian Church at the end of Church Street in Burlington.
But when she tried to board her plane to the United States on Feb. 20, she was told her 10-year visa (which she had used to travel to the U.S. on previous speaking tours) had been revoked by the U.S. embassy because of links to terrorist activity.
So why was her visa revoked?
Leonida, like other coca farmer organizers such as Evo Morales, posed threats to previous administrations because of their political power and popularity. The word "terrorism" was used to label such powerful political opponents. None of these accusations stuck, she was found innocent time and time again.
We invited Leonida here to open up lines of communication between citizens of both countries, to learn about the hopes and successes of the new Morales government. Is the Bush administration afraid she poses a security threat or is it afraid this powerful women will come to speak the truth about the negative effects of US-backed and economic and military policies in Bolivia?
In the Orwellian nightmare that the Bush administration has created "War is Peace" and Leonida Zurita Vargas a human rights leader, is a terrorist. Where will this irrational behavior end?
Organizers of the "Winds of Change in the Americas" conference are working to bring Zurita to speak in spite of the visa rejection. We have contacted the US embassy in La Paz, the offices of Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy and Congressman Bernie Sanders to obtain a new visa for Zurita in time for Sunday's conference. If she cannot arrive in person, she will give a speech via phone to the conference crowd.
The "Winds of Change in the Americas" conference will take place on Sunday, March 5 from 3-9 PM at the Unitarian Church at the head of Church Street in Burlington. In addition to the presentation by Zurita, George Ann Potter, Zurita's political advisor in Bolivia, will also to speak at the event. There will be discussions led by Vermonters who recently returned from Caracas, Venezuela for the World Social Forum, a gathering of social movements, NGOs and activists from around the globe. Representatives from the Vermont Worker's Center will be discussing social movements in Vermont.
Benjamin Dangl of Richmond just returned from Bolivia where he was doing research on a book.
posted by Alice at
Thursday, March 02, 2006
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