Even though we are still waiting for the official final data from the Plurinational Electoral Body, the victory of Evo Morales and the MAS (Movement Towards Socialism) is clear and massive, as was expected. The overwhelming support for change in society has been graphically shown by Morales winning 2/3rds of the vote.

We are proud to announce the publication the first issue of El Militante-Bolivia, the voice of the IMT in Bolivia. We provide here the front page to give our readers an idea of the high quality production of the journal. We would also like to thank all those comrades, supporters and sympathisers who contributed to the financial appeal to help the Bolivian Marxists. Your donations have been invested well and have served to strengthen the Marxist tendency in this key country for the Latin American revolution.

On October 21 hundreds of thousands of workers and peasants cheered enthusiastically in the Bolivian capital La Paz on hearing the news that the calling of the long awaited referendum on a new constitution had been agreed. But while the masses mobilised on the streets, the leadership of the MAS had been negotiating behind closed doors with the oligarchy, changing key aspects of the CPE which fundamentally change its character.

As 100,000 workers and peasants arrive in La Paz, this article by Darrall Cozens, written as the march was setting off, explains the issues that are pitting the Bolivian workers and peasants against the oligarchy.

We publish here this statement signed by all the working class and people's organisations in the city of Santa Cruz on September 13. The statement clearly expresses the anger of the people faced with the fascist attacks organised by the oligarchy and correctly appeals for mobilisation and legitimate defence in order to face up to them.

On Friday, September 12, we reported on the attack on pro-MAS peasants in the department of Pando, in the East of Bolivia. We said at the time that 9 people had been killed by the hired thugs of the opposition regional prefect (governor), Leopoldo Fernández. But only later was the full scale of the massacre revealed, with the death toll currently at 30, and many more still missing.