El Alto - La Paz (Bolivia) : Las transformaciones socio territoriales del neoliberalismo y la derrota del movimiento obrero

• Main Author: Mariela Paula Díaz
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Groupe de Recherche Amérique Latine Histoire et Mémoire 2014-01-01
• Series: Les Cahiers ALHIM
• Subjects: Bolivia; labor movement; neoliberalism; migration; urban changes
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/alhim/4738
• ISSN: 1628-6731; 1777-5175

The city of El Alto, currently the second largest city in Bolivia after Santa Cruz, was a suburb of the city of La Paz until March 6 of 1985. It then became the capital city of the fourth section of the province of Murillo, and later in independent city in September 1988.The government reports and newspapers in those years indicate that this transformation of El Alto was the result of the thrust of its organized neighbors, mostly based at the Frente de Unidad y Renovación Independiente de El Alto.Surprisingly the literature misses to connect the process of city formation with a 16 days general strike led by the COB and the mine workers in March 1985. The strike centered in the city of La Paz and had the support of the Federation of Housewives, college students, factory workers and farmers. The main economic demand was to have higher minimum wage with regular pay raises, challenging the neoliberal policies of President Siles Suazo to address hyperinflationary times.The strike was ended by the leadership of the COB despite the willingness of grassroots groups of workers and housewives pushing to continue with the strike action. This decision gave priority to the trade union leadership at the expense of developing democratic decision making processes among workers sectors. Without an alternative path when the strike ended, the action of the miners was powerless and ended up defeated, and the ruling class found a way out of the crisis through the early elections of July 1985. This election allowed the rise of Paz Estenssoro's MNR, who issued Decree N° 21 060 in August 1985. This decree condenses the program of  neoliberal reforms in Bolivia. The workers responded with a general strike in September of that year, but it was crushed under a state of siege. The cycle of resistance ended with the defeat of the Marcha por la Vida y la Dignidad in August 1986 with the military siege in Calamarca.Thus, neoliberal restructuring implemented after defeating the labor movement had an impact on socio-territorial level, as the mass migration of miners mainly relocated to El Alto. This massive migration (among other factors) led to the formation of a city that was recognized as such by the Congreso Nacional in 1988.This paper analyzes the connections between the defeated general strike and the emergence of the city of El Alto from the perspective of critical historical sociology. This perspective understands that the dynamics of urban transformations are closely related to the outcomes of class struggle. Data comes from the analysis of articles published on the topic in the national newspaper Presencia during the month of March of 1985. This was the only national newspaper at the time publishing news about El Alto. The critical analysis of newspaper articles will allow us to understand the connection between the defeat of the general strike and the emergence of the city of El Alto.