Thousands of Bolivians from the countryside and the cities, meeting at the Second National Conference against the FTAA and War, which took place on June 6th and 7th, resolved to demand that Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada's Government (MNR) call a referendum to allow the people to decide whether they are in favor of or against the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). The city of La Paz, where the Bolivian government holds office, was the setting for this momentous event where the representatives of different social groups exchanged experiences and agreed on criteria with political figures from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Chile, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela. The priest representing the Bolivian Episcopal Conference, Father Gregorio Iriarte, declared that the FTAA is the neocolonial expression of a project with a strictly economic focus and not concerned with integration. "When we speak of resistance to this mechanism it is not because we are against integration, because the FTAA is not about integration, it is about annexation, about submission to the multinationals in the US", he stated. In accordance with the secret way negociations are carried out, the Bolivian government is opting to maintain an official silence regarding this project. Only the Vice Minister of Industry and Trade, Luis Fernando Peredo, acknowledges that before the FTAA comes into effect, an agreement must be reached with the general public of each country concerned. Given its condition as an underdeveloped country, Bolivia would be able to protect its market in sensitive areas for 10, 15 even 20 years, after the FTAA comes into effect. Rosa Flores, representative of the school "Primero de Mayo" warned that if the government does not call a referendum, the peoples' organisations could employ other methods to put pressure on them. While the government's official position regarding the FTAA is not known, various organisations within the peoples' movement of Bolivia are speeding up the process of providing information, communicating and of raising public awareness regarding these plans for so-called continental integration. Slave countries The Nobel Peace Prize winner, Adolfo Pérez Esquival, who also attended the conference, said that the FTAA is simply the annexation of Latin America towards the United States and that those governments that submit to the plans of the US nation are "slave countries". "It has no elements of free trade, and a great deal of domination, subjugation, and loss of national sovereignty. Don't be misled by the coloured glass mirrors: If you take as an example what is happening in Mexico you can understand how the future of Bolivia and of the rest of the continent could turn out", he stated. He suggested strengthening regional markets, like those of the Andean Community of Nations or the Common Market of the South, as alternatives to integration through the FTAA. The demonstration against the FTAA was of a peaceful nature and characterised by an air of cultural reaffirmation; however, the presence of heavily armed police prevented the protest marchers from culminating in front of the US Embassy in La Paz. What neither the uniformed guards nor the authorities themselves could prevent was the extraordinary mass protest, which brought about a standstill of a different kind to the centre of the seat of government and sparked a debate on the matter at a national level. The Movimiento Boliviano de Lucha Contra el FTAA is a growing seedling, a fact of which the current government is well aware, although it maintains its curtain of silence on the matter. Only a few writers and commentators in the media, in the pay of business interests and who defend the little that remains of the current government, are attempting to minimise the effects of this historical event, which, without doubt, marks a milestone in the struggles of social movements. Summit against the FTAA During the two days of debates opinions were shared in 12 workshops and covered three areas: the valuable experiences of the fight and struggle of the Bolivian social movement and the current situation, the experiences and knowledge of the delegates from other countries and the analysis of the FTAA project. In a stand against the violation of the dignity of these nations, for the defense of human rights and for economic justice with sovereignty, a resolution was reached to reject the FTAA negotiations, to take a stance in opposition to the new round of negotiations within the World Trade Organisation and to question the negotiations of the Treaty of Free Trade with Chile, as this entails agreements which compromise natural resources, such as water and minerals. The member of parliament, coca producer and principle leader of the opposition to the Bolivian government, Evo Morales Ayma, suggested holding a summit against the FTAA with the participation of the Cuban President Fidel Castro, his opposite number in Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, Brazil's Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva, Argenitina's Néstor Kirschner and others with anti- neoliberal and anti-imperialist politics. "The FTAA is synonymous with death for the native nations of this continent and we defend life. For this reason, we have to organise a summit against the FTAA in order to formulate strategies on an international level, that are adequate to confront North American imperialism", he said. In the meantime, a chain of events is in progress to organize a series of actions in Bolivia, expressing rejection of the seventh ministrerial meeting of the FTAA, which is due to be held in November in Miami (United States), and opposition to the fifth ministrial meeting of the WTO in September in Cancun (Mexico). Following the closure of the meeting against the FTAA in La Paz, thousands of coca producers gathered with invited foreigners in the population of Chimore, 180 kilometres from Cochabamba, to lead a mass demonstration in rejection of North American plans and in support of the international manifestation. At the Congress of the Six Tropical Federations (June 13th - 16th), Morales Ayma was reelected Leader by general consensus. While determining how best to defend the coca leaf, the land and the region, how to recover gas and petrol, to reject the FTAA and to establish a Constituent Assembly, it was announced that on November 15th, they would join a congregation in Santa Cruz in order to participate alongside regional leaders in the anti- neoliberal event. From the coca producing regions – which have become a reference point of struggle on a national and international level – and from other sections of the people´s movement, there is complete clarity in the determination to put a stop to the FTAA. That is Bolivian reality. (Translation by ALAI)