October 2003: History will absolve some, while others will condemn them.

By: Hugo Marcelo Balderrama - 31/08/2026

Guest columnist.
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After a relatively calm 1990s, Latin America started the 21st century with a proliferation of conflicts, but always under the same common thread: blaming neoliberalism for all possible evils.

In Ecuador they managed to overthrow President Mahuad; in Argentina Duhalde's head rolled, and in Bolivia Sánchez de Lozada was the victim of a coup d'état orchestrated and sponsored by the Sao Paulo Forum, although the rebels call it: "Gas War".

In the specific case of Bolivia, the official narrative claims that the protests were peaceful and spontaneous; however, the evidence shows otherwise. For example, the deceased terrorist Felipe Quispe, El Mallku, stated in his book, The Fall of Goni:

The ambush of peasants in September 2003 in the highland town of Warisata, in the department of La Paz, involved armed individuals with guerrilla training and whose main objective was to kill the then Minister of Defense, Carlos Sánchez Berzaín, known as “El Zorro”.

On other occasions, he very proudly claimed to have ordered his militiamen to use firearms to confront police and military personnel, as can be seen in the following excerpt from an interview on the website: https://rqpquenallata.wordpress.com/2018/07/23/entrevista-el-mallku-la-emboscada-a-policias-era-para-matar-al-zorro/:

Once our comrades were imprisoned, I ordered the rank and file, some of whom had received guerrilla training from the EGTK, to implement our strategy against the government. I also ordered them to take up arms to confront the military. Our guerrilla-trained people then ambushed the police, resulting in one death and several injuries. This prompted the military intervention in Warisata on September 20th. On that day, they killed an eight-year-old girl, along with other people. Five people died that day: one in Ilabaya, one in Sorata, and three in Warisata. Those bullets from Warisata roused the people of El Alto to action.

Regarding the death of the young girl, Emilio Martínez, in his essay "The Five Myths of October," explained that the bullet's trajectory was from top to bottom and, furthermore, it did not correspond to any official caliber used by the Armed Forces or National Police. Given that the girl died on the second floor of her home, it is most likely that she was the victim of a stray bullet fired by Quispe's partisans, who had taken up positions in the surrounding mountains.

Confronting a subversive movement requires the government to remain united. However, Bolivian politicians, true to their opportunistic nature, abandoned the governing coalition. It began with Jorge Torres of the MIR and Manfred Reyes Villa, head of the NFR. But the coalition not only lost its temporary allies, but Mauricio Antezana Villegas, a member of the MNR, Sánchez de Lozada's party, resigned as presidential spokesperson in the midst of the armed conflict.

However, the final blow came from Vice President Carlos Mesa, as the historian had already been chosen by the violent groups as their pawn to blackmail the government. In fact, it was Evo Morales who declared: "To resolve this political crisis, we demand: Presidential succession and a Constituent Assembly, now! Carlos Mesa for president!" In this way, Mesa seized control of the government.

The day after he took office, in a show of subservience to the highway robbers who had bloodied Bolivia, he went to the city of El Alto to finalize the October agenda, which, among other things, opened the possibility for the Sao Paulo Forum to set up a constituent assembly to replicate the Cuban dictatorial model.

Mesa faithfully followed his partners' instructions, immediately launching a persecution against the military and police leaders who had defended the country against the armed attack. Generals Roberto Claros Flores and Juan Veliz Herrera were sentenced to 15 years and six months in prison, General José Osvaldo Quiroga Mendoza and Admiral Luis Alberto Aranda Granados to 11 years, and General Gonzalo Alberto Rocabado to 10 years.

Just a year later, Congress authorized a trial, in which some 320 witnesses testified, including former presidents, former deputy ministers, and other Bolivian officials. The Attorney General's Office, which had requested a 25-year prison sentence for the military officers, sought the extradition of seven other former ministers who are currently in exile, refugees, or residing in the United States, Peru, and Spain. Their trial was suspended until the extradition requests are finalized, as Bolivian law does not permit trials in absentia.

More than two decades later, in the second week of August 2026, Carlos Sánchez Berzain won a writ of habeas corpus. The direct consequence is that the trial for his alleged wrongdoing has ceased; therefore, all measures stemming from the process, such as arrest warrants, must be lifted.

As expected, the militants of that era and their partners abroad emerged from their hiding places to shout slogans against the ruling. Nothing to worry about, since we know their only interest is manipulating the narrative.

What is truly important is that Bolivia is finally on the path to historical truth regarding October 2003, since it was never a social uprising to defend gas, but rather a coup d'état. This constitutional breakdown is the origin of all the ills we suffer today, including the energy crisis and the economic chaos.

«The opinions published herein are the sole responsibility of its author».