Bolivia November 14, 2019
US and OAS help overthrow another government: Behind the coup against
Bolivias Evo Morales
The US targeted Evo Morales for overthrow ever since he became president.
And the Organization of American States helped set the stage for Bolivias
coup.
By Leonardo Flores / CODEPINK
The United States and the Organization of American States can add another
coup to their scorecards, even if U.S. media refuses to recognize it as
such.
This time it was in Bolivia, where President Evo Morales was forced to step
down on November 10, following weeks of pressure and extremist violence.
Morales resigned under duress in order to avoid bloodshed, and emphasized
that his responsibility as an indigenous president of all Bolivians is to
prevent the coup-mongers from persecuting my trade unionist brothers and
sisters, abusing and kidnapping their families, burning the homes of
governors, of legislators, of city councilors
to prevent them from
continuing to harass and persecute my indigenous brothers and sisters and
the leaders and authorities of the MAS (Movement towards Socialism,
Morales political party).
His resignation has yet to take effect, as it must be approved by the
legislature. This did not stop opposition party member Jeanine Añez, the
senates second vice president, from declaring herself interim president,
further proving that whats happened is a coup.
MAS legislators, who have a majority in both chambers, have been unable to
attend parliamentary sessions as security forces have not guaranteed their
safety.
Currently, indigenous and labor movements are on the streets in several
Bolivian cities, demanding that President Morales be reinstated.
Meanwhile, police forces are ripping the Wiphala flag, a symbol that
represents the indigenous peoples of the Andes, from their uniforms and from
government buildings.
Coup leader Luis Camacho entered the government palace with a Bolivian flag
and a bible; upon leaving, one of his supporters, a Christian pastor,
declared that Pachamama will never return to the palace
Bolivia belongs to
Christ. (Pachamama is an Andean goddess representing Mother Earth.)
The coup and its aftermath are not just a rejection of President Morales,
but of Bolivias indigenous majority and the social gains of the last 13
years.
US government fingerprints all over Bolivia coup
Morales resignation came hours after the head of the armed forces and the
chief of Bolivias police suggested that he resign.
The head of the army, General Williams Kalimán Romero, was Bolivias
military attaché in Washington from 2013 to 2016. The chief of police,
General Vladimir Calderón, was Bolivias police attaché in Washington until
December 2018.
As attachés they would have been in constant communication with the Pentagon
and other agencies; it is no stretch of the imagination to wonder if they
were still in contact with their U.S. counterparts as the overthrow of the
Morales government unfolded.
The coup was carried out over three weeks after the October 20 elections,
but it was months, if not years in the making.
The United States first began targeting Evo Morales in 2001 five years
before being elected president when the US embassy in La Paz warned that
his political base needed to be weakened.
Afterwards, USAID began funding right-wing political parties and civil
society organizations that would feature heavily in attempts to overthrow
President Morales.
The first such attempt came in 2008, two years after Morales was first
elected president and days after he survived a recall referendum with 67.4%
of the vote. On that occasion, coup plotters in eastern Bolivia, a region
rich in minerals where the white minority population is concentrated,
attempted to secede from the country.
According to the International Federation for Human Rights, the opposition
in eastern Bolivia promoted separatism and ethnically and socially based
hatred through the Civic Committees (Comités Civicos), in particular the
Pro-Santa Cruz Civic Committee.
Luis Fernando Camacho, the millionaire coup leader with ties to
paramilitaries, is the current president of this committee, which has
received U.S. funding in the past.
The desire to overthrow Morales has existed for years, but more immediate
plans were finalized in the weeks before the election.
Bolivian media outlet Erbol published leaked audio of conversations held
from October 8 and 10 between civic leaders, former military officials and
opposition politicians who discussed a plan for social unrest, before and
after the general elections, with the aim of preventing President Evo
Morales from remaining in office.
One opposition politician mentioned being in close contact with Senators
Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and Bob Menendez.
The OAS role in the coup
The OAS also played an important role in stoking protests and ensuring that
the coup was successful.
On October 21, a day after the election, it issued a statement casting doubt
on the process due to an inexplicable change in the trend of the vote
count.
This statement was thoroughly debunked by the Center for Economic and Policy
Research (CEPR), which found that trend did not change and that Morales
widened the gap over his rivals due to late reporting rural precincts, where
he enjoys a tremendous advantage.
A later statistical analysis by CEPR found that there was no evidence that
the election results were affected by irregularities or fraud.
However, the damage was done: protesters took to the streets decrying
electoral fraud. These claims were echoed by the State Department and
Senator Rubio on Twitter.
After being invited by President Morales to conduct an audit, the results of
which he promised to respect, the OAS instead opted to destabilize the
country.
The full electoral audit was initially due by November 12, but on November
10, a day after Morales announced that a coup was taking place and amid
political violence throughout the country, the OAS decided to issue a
preliminary audit.
This report, which did not include data that could be independently
verified, repeated the false claims of the October 21 statement and called
for new elections.
In response, Morales agreed to new elections and to replacing the board of
the electoral body, yet this offer was rebuffed by coup leaders.
Rather than denounce the coup and insist that Morales be allowed to finish
out his term (which ends in January), the OAS held a vote that refused to
call it a coup, although several countries dissented.
Mexico criticized the OAS for being surprisingly quiet given the violation
of constitutional order, while Uruguay condemned the bodys double standard
depending on antipathy or sympathy for the government in question.
Earlier in the day, Argentinian president-elect Alberto Fernández said what
happened in Bolivia is a shame, the behavior of the OAS is shameful because
the audit the OAS held is significant in its flimsiness and has conclusions
that are absolutely manipulated.
It should be noted that the 2008 coup was neutralized in part because of the
role played by UNASUR, the Union of South American Nations. This regional
bloc has been severely debilitated in recent years as a direct result of
State Department pressure and the willingness of right-wing Southern
American presidents to give up on long-term regional integration plans for
short-term political benefits.
The decline of UNASUR and CELAC (the Community of Latin America and
Caribbean States another target of the State Department), coupled with the
OASs bias, leaves the region with no credible multilateral organization.
Leonardo Flores
Leonardo Flores is a Latin American policy expert and campaigner with
CODEPINK.
