MEMORY OF FERNANDO BRAVO JAMES
The Tebruary issue of Lucha Obrera, official newspaper of the POR (Partido Obrero Revofucfonarie), Bolivian section of the Fourth International, which has resumed publication after some months suspension, carries the sad news of the death of one of the main leaders of Bolivian Trotskyism, Fernando Bravo James.
More than 3,000 people joined the funeral cortege in La Paz for the well-known professor. Hundreds of floral offerings banked the walls of the Salon de Honor del Rectorado, which the university made available for the services of its faculty member.
Yorkers of all trades, students, peasants, political and trade-union leaders, Trotskyists and their friends and sympathizers packed the hall to pay final tribute to Fernando Bravo.
Iucha Obrera does not give the cause of death, but the Trote skyist leader was stricken wiile conducting a teachers strike — last fall. The doctors ordered him to take a complete rest, but as head of the strike committee, he felt he could not do this. Only after the strike was won did he take a taxi and go to a hospital. Surrounded by friends and comrades, he realized that he would probably die. He asked the Bolivian Trotskyists to go forward, as he was sure of their eventual victory and he asked that his body be wrapped in the red flag. He died a few days later on November 17. . 4
Comrade Bravo belonged to the generation that was sent to Light in the Chaco war with Paraguay (1931-34). He was aroused by the senselessness of this slaughter which was precipitated by rivai imperialist interests. Going to work at la Joya, a well= Imown mine, he participated in organizing the Miners Federation.
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On this road he eventually became a Trotskyist and remained one until the day of his death twenty-five yeare later.
Seeking an education, he became a student at the Faculty of Iconomic Sciences at the University of Oruro. Later he was granted a chair in cconomic Geography, first at Oruwio and then the University of La Paz.
As a college professor he was very active in the union activities of the teachers but also maintained close contact with the miners union. He was one of the team that wrote the famous Theses of Pulacayo, a militant, revolutionary program that guided the miners in their struggles for many years. He was a prominent speaker at the miners congresses in Pulacayo, Colquiri, and Huanuni. His speeches were noted for their sharp opposition to the policy of betrayal of the Bolivian revolution that occurred under leadership of the IR (Moviriento Tacional Revolucionario).
Speakers at the funeral services included Dr. Nava ‘orales, Dean of the Faculty of Lconomic Sciences, who spoke in behalf of the entire university staff; Hugo Gonzalez lMoscoso, general secretary of the POR, who told about Comrade Bravo’s life and his dedication to the principles of Trotskyism; Jaime Dravo. represent-= ing the Federation of Urban Teachers of La Paz, and Comrade Atahuichi, a delegate to the COB (Central Obrera Boliviana) who represented the Center of Students of the Economic Faculty.
The casket was carried from the University to the Comibol. the building of the mining board, where speeches were made by Dr Octavio Lazo de la Vega, representing the Potosina Action Center. and Enrique Salinas, delegate of the Federation of Mine Vorkers of) Bolivia.
A cortege was then formed. lore than 3,000 mournars went to the cemetery where speeches were made by Jose Navarro in the name of the workers cells of the party, and the teachers’ leader, Villarroel. Finally the leader of the Trotskyist youth Jose lioreno. carried out the last wish of Ternando Bravo, laying over the dead leader's body the Red Flag of the POR and of the Fourth International, one in which Comrade Bravo himself had painted the hammer and sickle crossed by a "4."
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Supplément du 13 Iars 1963 au J° 18 de " Quatriime Internationale’. Le Directeur-gérant « Pierre FRAIK, 54, rue de Richelieu -- PArIS 2°, Coupte chéques postaux : P. FRAUX 12648-46 PARIS,