THANK YOU, comrades, and revolutionary greetings to you all.

We are here to celebrate May Day, to celebrate workers’ struggles and achievements and the struggles of the oppressed around the world. 

It fills me with emotion to remember May Day because as a trade unionist, I have great experiences of fighting for equality and justice in Bolivia.

I would like to pay tribute to the struggle of the indigenous brothers and sisters, who made up the ranks of the highly politicised and militant mining workers, who have given us invaluable lessons in popular struggles, but also they suffered outright massacres confronting military dictatorships. 
 
In 1967, the Catavi and Siglo XX mining workers decided to contribute one day’s wages to support Che Guevara. 

And on Saint John’s Night, June 24, the dictator Rene Barrientos, by orders of the US, sent the army to massacre them. 

He set up military bases in mining towns under the pretext of fighting “communism,” banned trade unions and reduced miners’ wages. 

The same year, Barrientos and the US carried out the assassination of Che Guevara.

When Juan Jose Torres became president in 1970, he withdrew military troops from the mines, trade unions returned, wages were restored and a popular assembly was born. 

However, another dictator, Hugo Banzer took power in 1971. Torture, killings and disappearances were his trademark.  

And in Argentina, as part of Operation Condor, Torres was assassinated. I am myself a survivor of the Achocalla concentration camp. 

We lived under 18 years of military dictatorships, until the Banzer regime was defeated in 1978 and in 1982 democracy was restored. 

But the neoliberal period began. IMF measures followed and with decree 21060, in the name of “worker redeployment,” more than 30,000 mining families were thrown out onto the streets. 

I vividly remember that, at the same time here in Britain, in 1984, the historic miners’ strike began, which became one of the most bitter industrial disputes. 

In 2006, Evo Morales with the Movement Towards Socialism [MAS] won the elections and he took a historic step to dignify the indigenous people, who for centuries lived exploited and marginalised. 

Now the great majorities, empowered, could walk the streets that were previously forbidden to them. 

Evo never had privileges, he was born and raised in the countryside and became one of the best presidents of Bolivia.

And every May Day we remember Evo’s historic decision, when he fearlessly nationalised the country’s natural resources. 

Before Evo, Bolivia belonged to transnationals, not to Bolivians. The IMF even had its offices in the Bolivian Central Bank. 

Evo defended our sovereignty, he expelled the US ambassador and USAid when they intended to turn Bolivia into another Yugoslavia. 

And the historic process of change began. Evo changed our lives! 

Now, we recognise that the world crisis affects economies in general, and Bolivia is no exception to this.  

And the reactionaries are taking advantage of the economic hiccup, trying to once again destabilise the country. 

Today, president Luis Arce assures everybody that, with the approval of the new laws, an immediate solution will be found for the economy.  

He also assures us that he will continue with industrialisation programmes, diversifying the economy and the substitution of imports.

The government has just increased wages up to 3 per cent and 5 per cent and we look forward to more job opportunities and to continue improving the living and working conditions of Bolivians. 

We oppose any attempts to introduce neoliberal measures dictated by the IMF or other international organisations. 

We salute the co-operation and integration agreements signed between Bolivia and Venezuela. This strengthens the unity of our peoples and reinforces regional integration.

The mass mobilisations defeated the 2019 coup in Bolivia and the Movement Towards Socialism returned to government. And this has been a true inspiration to the left around the world. 

Now, we want to make sure that President Luis Arce stays on the left, implementing the MAS-IPSP working plan.

As Leonardo Loza, Senator of the Tropico of Cochabamba, said: “A lot of blood was shed to build up the process of change in Bolivia and this process cannot be reversed.”

Only by following the anti-colonial, anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist struggle we will achieve the liberation of our people.

Because imperialism does not rest and is still intending to take over Latin America’s natural resources and Bolivian lithium, with the pretext of being a matter of “national security for US.”  

They spend trillions running the war machine, invading countries, installing military bases, imposing criminal sanctions and blockades. They have no morals. We say loud to them — Latin America is not your back yard!

Last, we send fraternal greetings to all workers in the struggle against austerity: NHS workers, teachers,  public-sector workers.  

The right to strike is a basic right for all workers and should be respected. And, yes, we will also fight the anti-refugee Bill.

Workers of the world unite to break the chains of injustice! Long live internationalism! 

Follow Bartolina Sisa Resistance on Twitter @BartolinaLives.