Bolivia - June 26th, 2021

Transcripts of the speeches made by Senkata's relatives during the day of solidarity for Colombia

Speech by Marisol Rodriguez, president of the "Association of Victims of the massacre of El Alto, Dead and Wounded of Senkata" (El Alto-La Paz-Bolivia)

"We stand in solidarity with all those who are suffering, in different places like in Colombia, in Syria and in other places more where they are living. Let’s not allow people, the military and police to be our murderers, our massacrators..."

Hello, how are you? Good afternoon, thank you for inviting us to this meeting. Also to send our solidarity to Colombia for all the massacre they are suffering there.
Well, here in Bolivia we have experienced a similar situation. Unfortunately they have killed us, they have wounded many, they have arrested innocent people, minors, they have tortured them, they have beaten them and that is why we also stand in solidarity.
(...)We have lived in our own flesh, here the wounded, we have suffered the violation of our rights.
Thank you for the opportunity to transmit what we have lived in 2019. Thank you all very much for listening to me, because we are united in the struggle demanding justice and we will continue until we get justice. They are human beings who have been murdered, they are human beings who have been wounded.

Speech by Marcela Calle, representative of the leadership of the Association

"We want our relatives to be released with pure and simple freedom and to be acquitted in this situation."
"...the struggle continues, we will always be with you, from the Association of Detainee’s Relatives of Bolivia-La Paz, we will always be with you"

How are you? Very good afternoon to all, greetings. Thank you very much for giving me the floor. For all the fallen, for those who have suffered what we have also experienced in Bolivia. Greetings to all. I wanted to tell you that on November 11, 2019 we have suffered. I am the president of the detainees.
To date, there has been no justice here for 1 year and 7 months. I believe that all the countries that are now connected must have gone through this. The pain of the detainees is very strong, only those who can and who have gone through this situation will understand us.
I would like to tell you that the struggle continues; let us continue fighting for justice, because every family that has lived through this understands our situation. And to this day, look, there is no justice for us. That is why I want to give you all a hug and a kiss from a distance.
Keep on fighting, keep on until we achieve our goal. The police and the military are really our enemies and they are not with us, we are only one country, one family of indigenous people and because they are professionals they seem to think they are better. But the reality isn’t like that, we are all equal before the law.
I would like to tell everyone that we are still in the struggle and we will continue until we achieve justice and also that we the people who are not professionals, that because we are humble we don’t have to be discriminated against. Perhaps they are more qualified, that is why they are police and military. As professionals, they should understand those of us who are not qualified like them.
I would like to tell you that the pain is big, look at what every family goes through, for example, in the city of La Paz before this pandemic arrived, we were all perhaps with the economy fine. Now we have to cancel the bank, we are in a very bad economic situation. But we are still in the fight.
We want our family members to be released with pure and simple freedom and to be acquitted in this situation. I just want to tell you that the struggle continues. It’s very difficult to be the head of an Association, sometimes people are nice and sometimes people are ungrateful, but we are still in the struggle.
Thank you for making me participate, I believe that we are in one mind and one heart, we have lived through the massacre, what it is to be discriminated (...) there are mothers and fathers who have raised their children and this situation is very pitiful for each family.

Speech by Maria Cristina Quispe, representative of the leadership of the Association

"We stand in solidarity with all the countries, with all the people who have gone through our situation and we hope that one day we will find justice, that we will unite and seek justice because I say Enough of this situation".

First of all, good afternoon, I am the vice-president of the deceased of November 19, from Senkata, I am connected here from the church, from the square where we have mourn our relatives.
It has been very sad and regrettable to have gone through this situation. To this day we have not been able to find justice, the people, the military and police who have killed our relatives are still free, as if nothing happened, after all the damage they have done to us. It has been very regrettable to have lived through this situation. We have met people who have taken advantage of our pain, they have manipulated us like puppets for their own benefits and it’s very sad to know that not only in this country has this situation happened, but also in other countries, where humble people pay the price for the benefit of a corrupt government, of people who do the impossible to get to power and we have been the ones who have paid.
I am one of the widows left with my little baby, just like me there have been many. It’s very sad to know that my son will grow up without his father. And that only people who have lived, who feel and who are in my place know, because there are people who have insulted me, who have treated me the worst because I am young, because I am a woman and because I am a widow. And that is the saddest thing.
We are still fighting, as family members, as wives, as mothers, as sisters, because we are women and we are still fighting for justice so that the murderers of our relatives pay, because they have hurt us, not only us but the whole family, our children. We continue to seek justice and we will not tire.
We stand in solidarity with all the countries, with all the people who have gone through our situation and we hope that one day we will find justice, that we will unite and seek justice because I say enough of this situation! Because we are humble people who work for our children, for our families, let's stop paying for the ambition of corrupt governments, for corrupt people who exist in this world, they are cruel. It’s very sad indeed.
Greetings and thank you for listening to me. With more strength we will go forward looking for justice. We really want justice, we want the people who have harmed us to pay so that they don’t commit this type of, the truth has no name, this type of murder can be said. Because losing a family member at the hands of the police as we have lost them has been very painful, because I found my husband in this church, dead, and I haven’t even been able to say goodbye to him. No one understands that pain and no one will understand it, only those of us who have gone through the same thing. That is why we are still looking for justice, for my son I keep going forward and I want justice. Like me, the mothers, the sisters continue and we will continue to move forward.
Thank you for listening to me and strength, we are with you, with all the victims who have gone through the same situation as us, truly, thank you.