Early this week, groups of indigenous Aymara of the Omasuyos province announced their intention to violently face off with the promoters of the division of Bolivia, in reference to the referendum on May 4.
La Paz / ANF
On Tuesday night, the Government enacted Supreme Decree 29543, which provides a plan to disarm the civilian population that carries firearms and ammunition of military, police or even civilian use, unless they have the proper authorisation.
It also determines the regulation of the possession, use of weapons and ammunition for military, police and civilian use, with a clear desire to counter threats of clashes between pro-autonomy and anti-autonomy groups during consultations to be conducted in Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando and Tarija.
The new legal tool also determines the regulation, possession and use of weapons and ammunition for military, police and civilian use, taking into account recent developments in Cochabamba and Santa Cruz, where people were killed by gunfire.
The Defense Minister, Walker San Miguel, and the Minister of Government, Alfredo Rada, presented the decree in Palacio Quemado and argued that in recent months several criminal acts have occurred, including the recent deaths of three policemen after a shooting incident along the border with Brazil.
They also made reference to the mutual threats of weapons use by the so-called "red ponchos" of Omasuyos and members of the Cruceñista Youth Union, which is generating a climate of violence that could erupt during the Cruceño referendum scheduled for 4 May.
The decree regulates the import, sale, possession, handling, use, carrying, destruction, deactivation, control, monitoring, seizure and confiscation of weapons and ammunition for military, police and civilian use, in article 1.
Article 3 prohibits the bearing, possession and sale of weapons, ammunition, explosives, whose import has not been previously authorized by the Ministry of National Defense through an expressed Ministry resolution.
It prohibits the bearing, possession and sale of weapons and ammunition for military and police use by individuals, the staff of private security companies and other public or private institutions who are not empowered by the Constitution and existing laws.
Article 4 stipulates that confiscation for the carrying, possession and illegal use of firearms or ammunition shall be carried out by the National Police or the Armed Forces of the Nation, as well as the verification of their legal authorization to import, bear and use.
This decree establishes in Article 7 that the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Nation and the General Commander of the National Police will coordinate the design, development and implementation of the Programme for Active Disarmament.
Article 8 stipulates that all national military units and police of the must carry out a detailed inventory and registration of the arms and ammunition in their possession, and that this task must be done within a maximum of 120 days by the Ministry of Defence in the case of the Armed Forces, and the Ministry of Government in the case of the Police.
Illegally-held firearms will be confiscated without compensation and become the property of the Police. The bearing, use and possession of illegal weapons, ammunition and explosives for military use, will lead to immediate seizure by the Armed Forces of the Nation.
translation: humanist movement toronto
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2 comments:
If you want to support Bolivia why don't you give us the same freedoms you enjoy in Canada? I am a Canadian, who has lived and worked in Bolivia for 13 years. I have lived in a Guaraní village, where the poorest of the poor live. Don't we Canadians benefit from having a Provincial government? Or would we like Ottawa to make all our laws and control all our industry. A local government is what 85% of us in the department of Santa Cruz want. It's not seperation or a break up of the country as you report. Bolivian's don't want to be the next Cuba, being ruled by a dictator as Evo has been from the beginning with his decrees. The way to help the poor in Bolivia is by allowing them the freedoms that other countries such as Canada enjoys. I welcome your comments.
Mike
Thanks for your comments. But they're a bit disingenuous, no? You say that the "autonomy" movements in Santa Cruz are just fighting for rights like we have in Canada, and that "the way to help the poor in Bolivia is by allowing them the freedoms countries such as Canada enjoy".
Surely you've heard of 'equalization payments' in Canada, where money from rich provinces are given to the poorer regions? It's part of the Canadian Constitution:
"Parliament and the government of Canada are committed to the principle of making equalization payments to ensure that provincial governments have sufficient revenues to provide reasonably comparable levels of public services at reasonably comparable levels of taxation." (Subsection 36(2) of the Constitution Act, 1982)
Seems to me that Santa Cruz has plenty of wealth and resources to share with their FELLOW Bolivians in other regions.
And I'm not sure how you can call a President elected with the largest majority in Bolivia's history, a "dictator".
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