Febrero Negro and Ana Colque Remembered – Three Years Later

It was exactly three years ago today, on a rooftop in La Paz, that Ana Colque, a 24-year-old single mother and student nurse, was assassinated by Bolivian military sharpshooters. Colque was one of 34 people killed during the two days of protest and repression in La Paz known as Febrero Negro, the direct product of economic belt-tightening demands from the International Monetary Fund. She had climbed to the rooftop, dressed in nursing whites, to come to the aid of an unarmed handyman shot and killed an hour before.

The story of Febrero Negro is an important one to remember – both because of the losses suffered (and still suffered three years on) and because it is an x-ray view into how the IMF functions in poor nations and the tragedies it leaves in its path.

The Democracy Center’s investigative report on Febrero Negro, Deadly Consequences can be read here in full. For our readers interested in Bolivia, globalization and the on-the-ground impacts of institutions like the IMF, the report is one you must read. We encourage you to take some time this week and know a history paid for in blood and fire. The book is dedicated to Ana Colque’s son, Luis Colque, who was not quite two when his mother was killed on February 13, 2003.

For our readers in Cochabamba, The Democracy Center and the Cochabamba Assembly on Human Rights will be hosting a public information event on Febrero Negro this week. Please join us for a brief film and comments, as well as a chance to meet new people:

Thursday, February 16th -- 7pm
La Republica Bar
On Calle Ecuador between Espana and 25 de Mayo
Entrance Free