The President delivered a speech estimating the investment in creating this network at one million bolivianos (more than $140,000) and stating that the government plans to guarantee 9,260 facilities of this type in 2023.
Arce thanked the courage of the people of El Alto in defending the gas against neoliberal politicians in 2003, and of Wiphala and the Plurinational State after the November 2019 coup d’état.
“I remember that in 2003 in the famous gas war here the October agenda was set, you, brothers and sisters, with this fight that set the October agenda gradually became a reality,” assured the head of state.
He described how the nationalization of hydrocarbons, the Constituent Assembly, and many actions that arose from that 2003 conflict emerged from these demands.
In October 2003, the people of El Alto rose up en masse against plans by Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada’s government to export gas to the United States through Chilean ports, when the people lacked this resource.
The protest consisted of a roadblock preventing fuel from being transported from El Alto to La Paz, and this action led to military intervention against the mobilized, resulting in about 70 deaths and 400 wounded.
After this massacre, Sánchez de Lozada and his Secretary of Defense, Carlos Sánchez Berzaín, fled to the United States, where they are safe from that country’s authorities.
As a result of these mobilizations, the Movimiento al Socialismo drafted the October agenda calling for the nationalization of hydrocarbons, which was implemented in May 2006 with Supreme Decree 28701.
This arrangement made new contracts with foreign oil companies possible, which improved the income of Bolivians.
The Constituent Assembly also became a reality, and in 2009 the new Constitution was drafted and promulgated, giving rise to the Plurinational State.
During his speech, the President also highlighted the role played by the people of El Alto in defending Wiphala and democracy following the November 2019 coup that imposed a de facto government headed by Jeanine Áñez.
“In tribute to the people of El Alto who defended themselves in 2003 and 2019, we are confident they will continue to defend our natural resources, our economy, our Wiphala and our Plurinational State,” the President concluded.
jha/jpm