Bolivia: President of Bolivia Carlos Mesa Supports Lawsuit Against Jiang Zemin

In November 2004, we travelled to Bolivia to file a lawsuit against Jiang Zemin and Luo Gan, the chief perpetrators in the persecution of Falun Gong, in the courts of Sucre. In the process, many opportunities to introduce Falun Dafa and expose the persecution presented themselves. We happened to meet the President of Bolivia, Carlos Mesa. He listened to our explanation of the facrts and expressed his support for our efforts. Many kind-hearted Bolivian people also expressed their support for our efforts to stop the brutal persecution of Falun Gong.

President of Bolivia Carlos Mesa listens to a practitioner explaining the facts about Falun Gong	President Mesa with Falun Gong information material in hand

Our first stop was the city of La Paz. Very soon we saw that everybody who heard us talk about Falun Dafa showed an interest to learn the practise. Many local residents immediately supported our cause to end the brutal persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners. This was similar to the case of the Bolivian lawyer who a few months earlier, when he heard about the persecution, offered help file a lawsuit in Sucre. The first day in La Paz, we had an interview with a public official in charge of human rights, Mr. Waldo Sánchez. Mr. Sánchez dedicated more than one hour of his time to us and expressed his concern about the persecution in China. He said that to end such genocide, what we needed an international coalition against this persecution.

That same day we were received and interviewed by a local paper, El Diario, which published two days later an article about the practise of Falun Dafa and about the persecution. The next day we travelled to Sucre. Having just arrived, a press conference was already awaiting us, where representatives from television, radio and newspapers recorded the announcement of the lawsuit, and also covered information about the practise and the story of Ms. Dai Zhizhen. Ms. Dai described in a personal and moving way the terrible genocide that has been happening in China for the last five years. At the end of the press conference we were told that the President of Bolivia was visiting Sucre and was only a few blocks away.

We went outside and hurried down the streets filled with people looking for the President. We were able to approach the President and speak with him, telling him that we had come to file a lawsuit against Jiang. We told him about the persecution, and he accepted the information material that we offered to him. He also expressed his support and said that we could seek the help of Bolivian government officials on this matter.

Half an hour later, news about the lawsuit was on the radio. Before actually filing the lawsuit in the courthouse, we visited various Bolivian government officials, who expressed their support. We were able to send righteous thoughts in the courthouse and clarified the truth to the officials and workers there. A few minutes later the lawyers officially filed the lawsuit.

Practitioners at a TV station

That same night a local television station that transmits its programs nationally and also to other South American countries via cable, interviewed practitioners in a live program, where Mrs. Dai and her daughter Fadu told their story and spoke about the practise of Falun Dafa, the persecution in China, and the lawsuit filed that day. The host of the program expressed his support and condemned the terrible persecution taking place in China.

The next day we returned to La Paz, where we were able to give out hundreds of flyers and teach the exercises to many people. Many of them said they had been waiting for something like this for a very long time.