Skip to content

Bolivia

Possible Recurrence Of OAS Electoral Fraud In Bolivia

Washington, DC — Bolivia’s general elections on Sunday, October 18, could again be threatened by the involvement of the Organization of American States (OAS), Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) Co-Director Mark Weisbrot warns. On September 30, OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro met with the de facto interior minister of Bolivia, Arturo Murillo, at the OAS’s Washington, DC headquarters. Following the meeting, Almagro Tweeted that Murillo had “conveyed his concern about the possibility of a new fraud” in Bolivia’s October 18 elections.

Top Bolivian Coup Plotters Trained By US Military

The United States played a key role in the military coup in Bolivia, and in a direct way that has scarcely been acknowledged in accounts of the events that forced the country’s elected president, Evo Morales, to resign on November 10.  Just prior to Morales’ resignation, the commander of Bolivia’s armed forces Williams Kaliman “suggested” that the president step down. A day earlier, sectors of the country’s police force had rebelled.  Though Kaliman appears to have feigned loyalty to Morales over the years, his true colors showed as soon as the moment of opportunity arrived.

Morales Warns About US Meddling In Upcoming Elections

The former head of state made the remarks in an exclusive interview with Iran’s Hispan TV Spanish-language television network on Tuesday. Morales was seeking to nationalize the extraction of Bolivia’s lithium reserves when he was forced to resign last November under pressure from the military and following the opposition’s challenging the victory that he had secured in presidential elections a month earlier. The former president, who both himself and his Movement for Socialism (MAS) still wield influence in Bolivia’s politics, sought exile in Mexico back then and is currently residing in Argentina, closely monitoring the domestic developments.

Bolivia: Amid New Crisis, Coup Government Seeks To Divide Spoils

Just weeks out from the October 18 elections, Bolivia’s coup government is again in crisis following the departure of three key ministers over an unconstitutional attempt to privatise an electricity company. It comes as polls show Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) presidential candidate Luis Arce potentially winning in the first round, less than a year after his party was thrown out of office by a right-wing coup. Relatively unknown senator Jeanine Áñez was sworn in as “interim president” last November following the coup against then-MAS president Evo Morales.

What The OAS Did To Bolivia

Bolivia has descended into a nightmare of political repression and racist state violence since the democratically elected government of Evo Morales was overthrown by the military on November 10. That month was “the second-deadliest month, in terms of civilian deaths committed by state forces, since Bolivia became a democracy nearly 40 years ago,” according to a study by Harvard Law School’s (HLS) International Human Rights Clinic and the University Network for Human Rights (UNHR) released a month ago.

Bolivia: Violent Pro-Coup Extremists Assault MAS Canvassers

Bolivian coup supporters waged an attack on Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) canvassers, setting fire to campaign tents and destroying materials. Videos circulating on social media show what appears to be people in MAS t-shirts being chased down in the area of the 4 de Noviembre plaza in Cochabamba, while posters and other materials were taken down. Speaking to local news networks, MAS members said they were campaigning for the party’s Arce-Choquehuanca ticket and local candidates in the Plaza, when members of the Resistencia Juvenil Cochala (RJC) appeared and began setting off firecrackers and tear gas, while others were chased, grabbed and beaten.

US-Linked PR Firm Ran Fake News Networks For Right-Wing Latin American Regimes

A major US PR firm located just a few blocks from the White House has been caught running an industrial grade propaganda operation on social media. The information warfare blitzkrieg relied on fake accounts and pages to spread disinformation on behalf of right-wing, US-backed governments in Latin America, while deploying covert propaganda to destabilize the leftist governments in Venezuela and Mexico. The company behind the campaign, CLS Strategies, signed a contract to represent Bolivia’s far-right junta and provide “strategic communications counsel” in the lead-up to that country’s ostensible election.

US Political Scientists Argue Evo Morales Should Be President Of Bolivia

Three political scientists from the United States closely studied allegations of fraud in the Bolivian election of 2019 and found that there was no fraud. These scholars—from the University of Pennsylvania and Tulane University—looked at raw evidence from the Bolivian election authorities that had been handed over to the New York Times. They suggest late-counted votes came from rural regions where the candidacy of incumbent President Evo Morales Ayma was popular; the character of these votes, and not fraud, accounts for the margin of victory announced by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) on October 21, 2019. Allegations of fraud were made most sharply by the Organization of American States (OAS). It is the OAS report that is closely scrutinized by Professors Nicolás Idrobo, Dorothy Kronick, and Francisco Rodríguez, and it is found wanting on statistical and analytical grounds. If what the professors say is correct and if the OAS allegations were incorrect, then Evo Morales should have been serving his fourth term as president of Bolivia rather than be exiled to Argentina.

For Democracy And Transparency In The Plurinational State Of Bolivia

We are witnessing the systematic destruction of democracy at the hands of the de facto government of Jeanine Añez and its allied forces of repression in the streets, on the highways, and the communities across Bolivia. Through this letter, the members of the Progressive International demand that you take urgent action within your mandate to restore the fundamental rights of the Bolivian people to peace, protest, and democratic self-determination. In our message to you, we emphasize the urgency of your action to protect the integrity of the electoral process in the Plurinational State, to prevent the violent persecution of the indigenous population, and to ensure that similar coup d’états do not spread throughout Latin America and the world. We are outraged that the de facto government has been permitted to continue its assault on the democratic institutions of the Plurinational State of Bolivia.

Walking The Tightrope: Latin America’s Pink Tide

Latin America’s Pink Tide: Breakthroughs and Shortcomings, edited by economic historian and prominent Latin Americanist Steve Ellner, offers a critical ethical theoretical framework for assessing the performance of left and left-of-center governments in Latin America during the Pink Tide. The “Pink Tide” refers to the wave of progressive governments beginning with the election of Hugo Chávez in Venezuela in 1998. These progressive governments provided alternatives to the neoliberal economic model that had brought growing economic and social inequality, austerity, privatization of public resources, and political subordination to Washington to most of the region during the last two decades of the twentieth century. Pink Tide governments were brought to power by widespread disillusion with traditional political parties and were buoyed by social movements that sought economic and social justice and more democratic participation in the political life of their nations.

Bolivia: The Scream Of Áñez Out!

Áñez Out is the main demand of the current popular protest mobilization in Bolivia. Barely a week ago the demand was: Elections, now!  That was calling for September 6, agreed date by the political organizations and the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), for the elections to be held. That was at the time against  the new postponement of the elections for October 18 adopted by the TSE, which was the third one, with the excuse of protecting the population against the coronavirus, without having carried out any consultation with the political forces and the popular movement. Áñez proclaimed herself “interim” president, in violation of constitutional law, on November  12, 2019. The United States and the local right-wing carried out a series of actions, before and after the October 2019 elections, to make a part of the urban population believe, through a delirious national and international media campaign, that the elections would be fraudulent and to encourage anti-indigenous racism in the urban middle classes and, consequently, demonize the leadership of Evo Morales.

As Bolivian Regime Delays Elections A Third Time, Media Continue To Ignore Coup

After both of the nation’s leading papers admitted that the reason for declaring the October election a fraud was itself a fraud, few have asked the critical questions about why the OAS and the United States were so quick to have Morales removed from office. In fact, few media outlets altered their coverage of Bolivia at all. Reuters (7/9/20) described how “a disputed election led to widespread protests that eventually toppled…Evo Morales,” with a later piece (7/15/20) reporting that Añez “took power in a political vacuum.” A CNN segment (7/17/20) on the COVID crisis in Bolivia described how “widespread unrest last year led to the resignation of longtime leader Evo Morales.” None of these gave any hint that the complaints about the election had been debunked, and that the shift in power amounted to a coup. Last week, the Bolivian government announced that elections would be delayed for a third time. Critics again claim that the crisis is being used to further consolidate power.

Bolivians Continue To Block Hundreds Of Roads

The national strike and nationwide road blockades, called for by the Bolivian Workers’ Center (COB) against the postponement of general elections, have intensified across Bolivia. The number of interdepartmental and interprovincial highways and roads and interior streets in big cities blocked by citizens, to pressurize the coup-installed government to reverse its decision to delay the elections, increased from 24 to 140 within a week. Social movements, trade unions, Indigenous and peasant organizations began the measures of protest last Monday, on August 3, to demand restoration of democracy and compliance with the decision to hold elections on the originally agreed date, September 6. Within the week, their demands also intensified. In addition to democratic elections, many people on the streets are also demanding the immediate resignation of the de-facto president, Jeanine Áñez.

Bolivia: Political Strike Shuts Down Country

Once again, a scenario of multiple crises that began with the November coup defines Bolivia’s future. De facto President Jeanine Áñez’s main achievement was to unleash a shameless wave of racist repression against Morales’ Movement for Socialism (MAS) and the Aymara and Quechua Indigenous peoples. Áñez kept none of the promises she made to pacify the people after the November coup, nor did she offer any assistance to the poor during the twin crises of COVID-19 and the ensuing economic collapse. 

‘Dialogue’ Called by Añez In Bolivia Failed; New Election Date Set

After more than five hours of dialogue between the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), the Central Obrera Boliviana (COB) and the Bolivian social movements, a consensus was not reached to define a new intermediate date for the general elections, which would bring political and social stability in the country run by an interim government, Xinhua reported. “There was no agreement and Salvador Romero, president of the TSE, did not accept an intermediate date, our fight is with the Electoral Tribunal,” said the executive secretary of the COB, Juan Carlos Huarachi, leaving the meeting. He explained to journalists that he was considering setting up a new “intermediate” date, which was not accepted. The leader left responsibility for the situation the country is going through to the TSE appointed by the de facto government of Áñez. He reiterated the validity of the resolution of the council of his sector: indefinite general strike with mobilizations demanding elections on September 6.

Urgent End Of Year Fundraising Campaign

Online donations are back! Keep independent media alive. 

Due to the attacks on our fiscal sponsor, we were unable to raise funds online for nearly two years.  As the bills pile up, your help is needed now to cover the monthly costs of operating Popular Resistance.

Urgent End Of Year Fundraising Campaign

Online donations are back! 

Keep independent media alive. 

Due to the attacks on our fiscal sponsor, we were unable to raise funds online for nearly two years.  As the bills pile up, your help is needed now to cover the monthly costs of operating Popular Resistance.

Sign Up To Our Daily Digest

Independent media outlets are being suppressed and dropped by corporations like Google, Facebook and Twitter. Sign up for our daily email digest before it’s too late so you don’t miss the latest movement news.