A week of unrest in Bolivia has seen the military take over after one president’s resignation, and a new president declaring herself to be in charge despite not having anywhere near the votes to assume the post. The week ends with large protests.
Thousands are taking to the streets in all of the major cities of Bolivia, criticizing the military coup and demanding the resignation of the interim president. Large numbers of protesters are from the country’s indigenous people, who are condemning the new president as racist for her previous comments that indigenous people don’t belong in the cities.
Anger at interim president Anez was also directed at Bolivian security forces, particularly the police who have been stopping protests in recent days, and who have assisted Anez’s takeover by blocking marches on parliament.
One Bolivian hospital director in Sacaba reported at least five protesters killed and 75 injured. Most casualties are reportedly the result of gunfire. The interim government is not directly commenting on casualties, and there are no figures yet for nationwide casualties in attempts to stop the protests.
It cannot be allowed that the people control natural resources. particularly Oil and rare earth.
“One Bolivian hospital director in Sacaba reported at least five protesters killed and 75 injured. Most casualties are reportedly the result of gunfire.”
Just restoring democracy.
My faith in Antiwar.com has been somewhat restored recently after the right-wing Trump supporter pandering by the honest coverage of the Bolivian coup. Antiwar.com is one of the only news sources right now reporting it honestly and calling it what it is: a power grabbing military coup. Morales is the rightful president, and the accusations of electoral fraud are sketchy at best. For one thing, the OAS did not determine their was electoral fraud, they determined their were “irregularities.” If you looked at just about any election outside of the industrialized societies, you are bound to find some irregularities. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if their were “irregularities” in some regions of the U.S. That doesn’t change the fact that Morales almost certainly won a majority in an election that was far more democratic than U.S. elections are, in that average people could actually vote for a candidate who represents their interests. It’s unbelievable manipulative of the American mainstream media to completely ignore the release of phone calls planning on claiming the election was illegitimate almost two months before the election even happens. When the military is planning a coup months before an election, and decides in advance that the elections are “illegitimate” how naive do you have to be to not see through that propaganda? Notice that nowhere (at least that I have seen) in the mainstream media besides antiwar.com and Aljazeera has the fact that Morales’s top ministers had their families held hostage until they resigned! If that isn’t a military coup then what the hell is? The New York times ran an article fawning over the “prospects for democracy” and such under the new “president”. Buried within the article is the mention that Morale’s party holds the majority in the legislature, and that without their vote the Bolivian Constitution does not allow the new “president” to take office. But of course, that’s what democracy is to American elites. Ignoring and subverting the will of the people and their representatives in favor of elites subservient to U.S. interests is called democracy.
Thanks for this comment.
While antiwar.com is an important news source, it is far from being the singular source for coup news…the Intercept, and Democracy Now come to mind right away, I’m sure there are more if I wanted to take the time.
Give em hell.
It is amazing that our snowflakes that see
racism and bigotry in a cereal bowl, are so totally blind to brutal suppression of indigenous people of Central and Latin America. El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and still trying to undermine Nicaragua. Then Columbia. Propping up the descendants of European colonists against natives, resulted in decades of oppression of native population, and pushing them away from the coastal region into hinterland. The same racist project was tried in Venezuela — not for the first time. First, Chavez was on the verge of being killed , dragged into basement, but rescued by supporters.
Then came the self- proclaimed Guaido. With the straight face, US declared completely valid elections, invalid — and tried all the tricks in the book. Did not work, and the majority, the native Venezuelans, are punished for their temerity to have their votes be respected. But in Venezuela, they are better organized — and armed.
In Bolivia, although Morales could easily win elections — he could not push for reforms. Regional governments were manipulated by the non-indigenous businesses and dark money, to not just block, but to scare indigenous population into believing that development would hurt tribal lands.
I do not expect that the people who took power, and hate natives, will ever allow them to vote again.
They will be marginalized again.
Latin America natives as well as the descendants of slaves have for ever been marginalized, while the elites were the descendants of European colonists and those that identify with them. The threat of natives getting to vote — was truly unthinkable to businesses operating in the hemisphere.
But then come sanction to the rescue, to create conditions for unrest. Voting and democracy is smashed all over the globe, in the name of “democracy”.
This time, coup was done by infiltrating police units with people that refused to guard presidential building. As soon as that happened — Morales had to flee.
This reminds me of Ukrainian coup. Morales has just agreed to repeat election and fake peace ensued. Just like Ukrainian president signed a document with French, German and Polish foreign ministers with opposition agreeing, riot police pulled back — but by the time foreign ministers were on the plane the “opposition” thugs broke into Parliament, and forced majority to remain inside, so there is a quorum. President fled before gangs came to kill him.
It was tried in Turkey in July 2016.
I am wondering if Army will remain loyal to the usurpers. Leader, appointed last year to appease the non-natives, one WILLIAMS KALIMAN, has been sneaky — let the police unit take the blame, and Army did not have to do anything. But now, as the coup clique is out in the open, army will have to take sides.
But, but it’s not a coup if the US orchestrates it and has trained a great number of the coup plotters at the School of the Americas. It’s ‘democracy’ if we do it- it’s only a coup if someone else does it. Isn’t that how it’s supposed to work? I’m pretty sure none of this has anything to do with Bolivia’s vast lithium deposits, lithium being vital to electric car battery production and Morales cancelling a contract Mercedes had on it all just a mere four day before he was ousted. Nope, not a thing to do with it.