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Evo Morales Arrives for Asylum in Mexico, Condemns the Military Coup in Bolivia

November 14, 2019

 

Evo Morales arriving in Mexico, after resignation, November 12, 2019

Bolivian supporters of Evo Morale take part in a protest march from El Alto to La Paz, November 13, 2019	Anti-Morales groups celebrating his resignation, November 13, 2019

 

Evo Morales Condemns 'Coup' After Lawmaker Assumes Bolivia's Interim Presidency

NPR, November 13, 20193:51 PM ET

Colin Dwyer

Evo Morales may be out of the country, but he's not out of the picture.

Just days after the longtime Bolivian president stepped down under pressure from protesters and the military, fleeing to Mexico City over his controversial election victory last month, Bolivia has descended into a muddle of mass demonstrations and anger. And the chaos continues despite an opposition lawmaker's swift attempt Tuesday night to fill the power vacuum he left behind.

The Senate vice president, Jeanine Áñez, 52, declared herself interim president, as the next in the line of succession after the resignations of Morales, 60, and several of his high-ranking allies. She made the proclamation at a Senate meeting that was boycotted by members of Morales' socialist party — and that therefore lacked a quorum — but Bolivia's highest constitutional court has endorsed her move, as have government officials in Brazil, the U.K. and the U.S.

Áñez donned the presidential sash and vowed to quickly hold a new vote to determine Morales' permanent replacement. "God bless you and allow us to be free and to hold transparent elections soon," she said Wednesday, in a tweet addressed to the country's young people.

That's not to say Morales or his supporters are on board.

Supporters of Evo Morales, who recently resigned as president of Bolivia, take part in a protest march Wednesday from El Alto to La Paz. Morales has condemned Áñez, who declared herself interim president, as the perpetrator of a "sneaky coup."

Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images

From his refuge in Mexico City, where he has been granted asylum, the former president called a news conference Wednesday to denounce what he has called "the racists and coup leaders" who have claimed the highest rungs of Bolivian power.

Morales, the country's first indigenous president, had been in office since 2006 and was seeking a fourth term in last month's presidential election. Constitutional term limits initially prevented him from doing so, but the longtime leader called a referendum to amend the rules — and when that bid was voted down in 2016, he took his case to court, where his candidacy was ultimately accepted.

During the election itself, which resulted in a resounding victory for Morales, monitors found a host of irregularities that prompted widespread protests and led the Organization of American States to suspect fraud at the polls. The multinational organization found the results so questionable, its team of auditors said it "cannot validate the results of this election and therefore recommends another electoral process."

On Wednesday, Morales dismissed the findings as "a political decision, not a technical or legal one," since the OAS is "in the service of the North American empire." And he said he would be willing to return to Bolivia to restore peace "if the people ask me."

Meanwhile, back in Bolivia, Morales' supporters have mobilized for mass protests in El Alto, the country's second-largest city, where tens of thousands of demonstrators clogged the streets. And in the capital, La Paz, security forces have clashed with protesters who have repeatedly tried to force their way into the building where the legislature convenes.

Áñez, for her part, met with military and police commanders at the presidential palace as her own backers hailed her assumption of the interim presidency.

"All success in the challenge you face," former President Carlos Mesa, who lost last month's disputed election, tweeted on Tuesday. "Long live the country!"

https://www.npr.org/2019/11/13/778842712/evo-morales-condemns-coup-after-lawmaker-assumes-bolivia-s-interim-presidency

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What the coup against Evo Morales means to indigenous people like me

Nick Este, AP, Thu 14 Nov 2019

The indigenous-socialist project accomplished what neoliberalism has repeatedly failed to do: redistribute wealth to society’s poorest sectors.

“My sin was being indigenous, leftist, and anti-imperialist,” Evo said after being coerced into resigning this week. Photograph: Henry Romero/Reuters

Evo Morales is more than Bolivia’s first indigenous president — he is our president, too. The rise of a humble Aymara coca farmer to the nation’s highest office in 2006 marked the arrival of indigenous people as vanguards of history. Within the social movements that brought him to power emerged indigenous visions of socialism and the values of Pachamama (the Andean Earth Mother). Evo represents five centuries of indigenous deprivation and struggle in the hemisphere.

A coup against Evo, therefore, is a coup against indigenous people.

Evo’s critics, from the anti-state left and right, are quick to point out his failures. But it was his victories that fomented this most recent violent backlash.

Evo and his party, the indigenous-led Movement for Socialism (MAS in Spanish), nationalized key industries and used bold social spending to shrink extreme poverty by more than half, lowering the country’s Gini coefficient, which measures income inequality, by a remarkable 19%. During Evo’s and MAS’s tenure, much of Bolivia’s indigenous-majority population has, for the first time in their lives, lived above poverty.

The achievements were more than economic. Bolivia made a great leap forward in indigenous rights.

Once at the margins of society, Indigenous languages and culture have been thoroughly incorporated into Bolivia’s plurinational model. The indigenous Andean concept of Bien Vivir, which promotes living in harmony with one another and the natural world, was written into the country’s constitution becoming a measure for institutional reform and social progress. The Wiphala, an indigenous multicolor flag, became a national flag next to the tricolor, and 36 indigenous languages became official national languages alongside Spanish.

Evo’s indigenous socialism has become the standard bearer for the international indigenous community. The esteemed Maori jurist, Moana Jackson, once referred to Bolivia’s 2009 constitution as the “nearest thing in the world to a constitution that has come from an Indigenous kaupapa (a communal vision).”

The indigenous-socialist project accomplished what neoliberalism has repeatedly failed to do: redistribute wealth to society’s poorest sectors and uplift those most marginalized. Under Evo and MAS leadership, Bolivia liberated itself as a resource colony. Before the coup, Evo attempted to nationalize its large lithium reserves, an element necessary for electric cars. Since the coup, Tesla’s stocks have skyrocketed. Bolivia rebuked imperialist states like the United States and Canada by taking the path of resource nationalism to redistribute profits across society.

This was Evo’s crime.

“My sin was being indigenous, leftist, and anti-imperialist,” Evo said after being coerced into resigning this week.

His replacement, Jeanine Añez Chávez, agreed. “I dream of a Bolivia free of satanic indigenous rites,” the opposition senator tweeted in 2013, “the city is not for the Indians who should stay in the highlands or the Chaco!!!” After Evo’s departure, Chavez declared herself interim president while holding up a large bible, though she failed to get the required quorum in the senate to do so.

Next to her stood Luis Fernando Camacho, a member of the Christian far-right. After Evo’s resignation, Camacho stormed the presidential palace, a flag in one hand and a bible in the other. “The bible is returning to the government palace,” a pastor said on a video while standing next to Camacho. “Pachamama will never return. Today Christ is returning to the Government Palace. Bolivia is for Christ.”

In places where the opposition is strongest, Wiphala flags, symbols of indigenous pride, were lowered and burned. Police officers cut the flags from their uniforms. What were symbolic acts quickly escalated into street-level violence.

MAS members’ houses were burned. Evo’s home was ransacked. Masked armed men began rounding up suspected MAS supporters and indigenous people in the streets, loading them into the back of trucks. A handful of protesters have been killed. The same social movements that ushered Evo and MAS into power have taken to the streets to defend the gains of their indigenous revolution.

Amidst the chaos, anti-indigenous race-hatred has gripped the country since Evo’s October 20 re-election. While left critics continue to rail against Evo, paradoxically blaming him for the coup that overthrew him, no evidence has emerged of election fraud. The Organization of American States cited “irregularities” without yet providing documentation. A report by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, however, found no irregularities and no fraud.

To appease critics, Evo even agreed to re-elections but was forced to resign under orders from the military and escalating rightwing violence. No one resigns with a gun pointed to their head. Clearly, it was a coup.

Fearing assassination, Evo fled to Mexico where he was granted asylum and greeted by a cheering crowd.

The future of Bolivia is currently marching in the streets, the millions of people who voted for Evo in the last elections, the 47% whose voices and votes were stolen by the violent return of the old, colonial oligarchy.

Other critics still contend that Evo’s 13-year tenure was too long. They mention Evo losing a referendum to amend constitution but failing to note the Supreme Court ruling that allowed him legally to run for another term. For our indigenous president, after five centuries of colonization, 13 years was not long enough.

“We will come back,” Evo recently assured supporters, quoting the 18th-century indigenous resistance leader, “and we will be millions as Tupac (Katari) said.”

Nick Estes is a citizen of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe. He is an Assistant Professor in the American Studies Department at the University of New Mexico. In 2014, he co-founded The Red Nation, an Indigenous resistance organization. He is the author of the book Our History Is the Future: Standing Rock Versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Long Tradition of Indigenous Resistance (Verso, 2019)

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/14/what-the-coup-against-evo-morales-means-to-indigenous-people-like-me

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The extraordinary rise and fall of Evo Morales

By CHRISTINE ARMARIO, November 13, 2019

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) —

The surprise resignation of Evo Morales as Bolivia’s president can perhaps be matched only by his equally extraordinary rise to power. The country’s first indigenous chief of state upended politics in a nation long ruled by light-skinned descendants of Europeans and he vowed to reverse centuries of inequality. He succeeded on many fronts but was ultimately compelled to step down after both the military and even one-time supporters turned against him.

WHY WAS HIS PRESIDENCY SO NOTABLE?

When Morales, the son of a llama herder, won Bolivia’s highest office in a landslide 2006 election, it was hailed as a milestone achievement for the nation’s sizeable indigenous population that had not gained the right to vote until 1952.

At the time, Bolivia’s 36 indigenous groups represented 60% of its 8.5 million citizens. A native Aymara, Morales was the first leader for many Bolivians who looked and thought like they did.

Like many Bolivians, Morales grew up in extreme poverty. Four of his six siblings died in childhood. On the campaign trail, he ditched the traditional politico’s suit and tie, preferring casual short-sleeved shirts and even a leather jacket, while affectionately calling women “sister” and men “boss.”

He earned a spot in the political limelight as the leader of a coca growers union who played an important role in protests that unseated two governments and vowed to reverse centuries of inequities against the disenfranchised.

“The time has come to change this terrible history of looting our natural resources, of discrimination, of hate, of despise,” he said after his triumph.

HOW DID HE CHANGE THE SOUTH AMERICAN NATION?

Under Morales’ tenure, more than a half-million Bolivians climbed out of poverty, while schoolchildren, the elderly and mothers benefited from new subsidies. The economy grew strongly thanks to high prices for its commodities.

According to the World Bank, moderate poverty stood at 59% of Bolivia’s people two years before Morales became president and had fallen to 39% by 2014.

He ushered through a new constitution that created a new Congress with seats reserved for Bolivia’s smaller indigenous groups and recognized the Andean earth deity Pachamama instead of the Roman Catholic Church. The charter also “refounded” Bolivia as a “plurinational” state, allowing self-rule for the nation’s indigenous peoples.

However, despite fears of some that Morales would oversee a stark turn to the left economically, he kept the nation dependent on extractive industries while negotiating more favorable terms that allowed greater distribution of gas and mineral wealth.

WHAT WAS HIS DOWNFALL?

There is no one easy moment to identify, but rather a series of missteps that led to his exit.

The same indigenous organizers who propelled Morales to power grew increasingly disenchanted with a president they felt betrayed promises to protect the environment and move away from reliance on big industries like mining. Thousands took to the streets in 2011 when he proceeded with plans for a highway across a protected Amazon reserve.

And despite improving economic indicators, a substantial part of the new middle class found job opportunities hadn’t expanded sufficiently and also grew fed up with corruption many felt the president did not combat.

When Morales held a 2016 referendum on removing term limits, voters turned him down. He then upset many people by getting Bolivia’s top court to throw out the limits, allowing him to seek a fourth term in this year’s election.

He claimed victory in the Oct. 20 ballot, but unexplained lapses in reporting results drew allegations of vote fraud and set off weeks of protests by his opponents. His support weakened, and finally a push by the chief of the Bolivian military led him to resign.

“If he had tried not to force the issue of running again, he probably would have been remembered fairly positively,” said Alissandra Stoyan, a professor of political science at Kansas State University.

WHAT MIGHT BE THE RIPPLE EFFECT OF HIS DEPARTURE?

His resignation comes at a time of social upheaval around Latin America coinciding with what those on the left hoped might be a comeback.

Frustrated citizens have staged mass protests against right-wing leaders in Honduras and Chile and voters in Argentina thrust the Peronist party back into power in a rejection of an incumbent backing free market reforms.

But Morales’ party, the Movement for Socialism, now will likely face an uphill battle against an empowered opposition in a new presidential election.

“It seems Latin America is getting more complex over the last few years and we can’t talk about ‘tides’ like we used to,” said Jorge Derpic, a University of Georgia sociology professor focused on Latin American social movements.

IS BOLIVIA’S DEMOCRACY AT RISK?

Some people are concerned Bolivia could be turning back a page to a turbulent time in its long history of political volatility, after nearly 14 years of relative stability under Morales.

By one count, Bolivia has had more than 190 coup attempts and revolutions since its 1825 independence in a repetitive cycle of conflict between political elites in urban areas and disenfranchised by mobilized rural sectors.

There is uncertainty over who will step in to fill the power vacuum before elections can be held. An opposition leader in the Senate proclaimed herself interim president Tuesday, though it isn’t clear how much support she has.

Nancy Postero, an anthropology professor at the University of California, San Diego, is optimistic Bolivia’s young and educated middle class will find a way out, recalling how over a decade ago Morales himself charted a path toward stability after the wave of upheaval the preceded him.

“The Bolivian people wrote a new constitution, remade society and came up with a completely different way of thinking about the state,” she said. “I have no doubt that is going to happen again.”

https://apnews.com/80df3152c79f4ca8997a2e23644bbfe8  

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Venezuela Condemns Bolivia Coup d’État

Government forces and grassroots movements are holding vigils across the country in support of Evo Morales.

By Paul Dobson

Mérida, November 11, 2019 (venezuelanalysis.com) –

Venezuelan authorities and grassroots movements have condemned the coup d’état in Bolivia on Sunday.

President Nicolas Maduro joined regional leaders in repudiating the ousting of his close ally Evo Morales, while calling for international solidarity. The governments of Cuba, Mexico, Nicaragua, Uruguay, and the president-elect of Argentina all expressed similar positions on Sunday.

“We categorically condemn the coup d’état against our brother president. The social and political movements of the world declare ourselves mobilised to demand the preservation of the life of the indigenous Bolivian people, victims of racism,” Maduro wrote on Twitter.

Speaking at a Caracas press conference on Sunday, Maduro also warned that Morales’ life is endangered by the “brutal repression” from “fascist” coup-mongers, pointing the finger at the Organisation of American States (OAS) for instigating the coup.

Morales was forced to resign on Sunday after the armed forces requested that he step aside. He had called for new presidential elections hours before, despite having been declared the winner of the October 20 elections with 47 percent of the vote, and a 10 percent margin that removed the need for a second round. However, the right-wing opposition refused to recognise the results and subsequent violence left three dead.

The OAS, which Maduro has previously denounced as being the “US Ministry of Colonies,” had been invited to audit the results, with their preliminary report claiming “irregularities.” On Friday, however, the Washington DC-based Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) published a statistical analysis of the vote count which showed no signs of fraud or irregularities.

Opposition violence in Bolivia during the weekend saw groups torch a number of buildings, including Morales’ house, as well as attack trade unionists, destroy public property, and loot shops. Meanwhile, social movements opposed to the coup have announced mobilisations to the capital.

During Sunday’s violence, Venezuela’s La Paz embassy was also reported to have been “overrun” by hooded assailants carrying dynamite.

Cuban news agency Prensa Latina quoted Venezuela’s ambassador to Bolivia, Crisbeylee Gonzalez, as saying that “They want to make a massacre out of us, we need everyone to denounce this.” The Venezuelan government is yet to comment on the reports.

In Caracas, and with national right-wing street protests scheduled for Saturday, November 16, Maduro warned Venezuela’s opposition leaders against “incorrect calculations” in applying the Bolivia strategy to Venezuela.

“If you overstep the mark, we will act with a firm hand and in strict accordance to the Constitution,” he said.

The opposition has previously led failed efforts to spur a military coup in April this year and oust the government through violent street protests in 2014 and 2017.

While opposition leader Juan Guaido is yet to comment on the coup, US President Donald Trump claimed it was "a significant moment for democracy" on Monday, linking it to Venezuela's opposition's agenda.

"These events send a strong signal to the illegitimate regimes in Venezuela and Nicaragua that democracy and the will of the people will always prevail," he said.

Maduro’s condemnation of the coup in Bolivia was reiterated by an array of ministers and political leaders on Sunday and Monday, including the Foreign Ministry which described events in Bolivia as a “grotesque” and “sophisticated” operation carried out by “racist radicals, the private media, the US embassy, and the OAS.”

The head of the Armed Forces Vladimir Padrino Lopez also manifested his condemnation, reiterating the loyalty of the military to the Maduro government.

Solidarity vigils and concentrations were held in most major cities across Venezuela on Monday, with an ‘Anti-Imperialist Tribune’ organised at the symbolic Llaguno Bridge in Caracas, epicentre of the 2002 coup d’état.

The ruling United Socialist Party (PSUV) has also convened a counter-demonstration this Saturday, promising to have “the people out on the streets.”

Left wing parties, including the Communist Party and the Homeland for All Party, were also quick to join the government in rejecting the coup and expressing their support for the elected Morales, with the former claiming that the coup was “orchestrated by imperialism.”

Likewise, grassroots movements expressed their support for the Bolivian progressive movement, including the Bolivar-Zamora Revolutionary Current (CRBZ), the Platform of Campesino Struggle, and the International Solidarity Committee (COSI).

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/14722

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