Trayectorias discursivas de una masacre. Rememorar 2003 en Bolivia

Abstract

During the months of September and October 2003, Bolivia experienced an escalation of military violence as hundreds of protesters took to the streets of the main cities. The demonstrations focused on halting the capitalization policies of the hydrocarbons sector, while demanding the nationalization of natural resources, the convening of a constituent assembly, and, in turn, the resignation of then-president Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada. This article begins with the following central question: How are meanings constructed around a past marked by State-perpetrated violence? Over time, the ways of articulating the event have undergone transformations linked to the social and political conditions in which they were produced. Thus, the definition of the event, the actors involved, and what the experiences of 2003 symbolize in Bolivia have been subject to ongoing changes and, at the same time, constant disputes. To this end, the study examines discourses produced over a twenty-year period (2003–2023) by the national government of Bolivia. Government speeches from the following administrations were analyzed: Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada (2003), Carlos Mesa (2003–2005), Evo Morales (2006–2018), and Luis Arce (2020–2023). These discursive trajectories reveal disputes over the definition of the event, shifts in the construction of speakers and adversaries, yet continuities in the silences and omissions present in the narratives of Bolivia’s central governments.