“This Is a Military Coup”: Bolivian President Evo Morales Resigns After Army Calls for His Ouster

Democracy NOW! November 11, 2019

AMY GOODMAN: Bolivia is in a state of political crisis after longtime President Evo Morales resigned Sunday following what he described as a military coup. Bolivia has been the scene of weeks of protest since a disputed election last month. Morales announced his resignation in a televised address Sunday.

EVO MORALES: [translated] To my brothers and sisters of Bolivia, the whole world, I want to inform you, from Lauca Ñ — I’m here with the vice president and minister of health — that I have decided, after listening to my friends at CONALCAM and the Bolivian Workers’ Center, and also listening to the Catholic Church, to resign my position as president.

AMY GOODMAN: President Morales spoke shortly after the Bolivian military took to the airwaves to call for his resignation.

WILLIAMS KALIMAN: [translated] After analyzing the internal conflict situation, we ask the president of the state to renounce his presidential mandate, allowing for peace to be restored and the maintenance of stability for the good of Bolivia.

AMY GOODMAN: Bolivia’s vice president also resigned Sunday, as did the head of the Bolivian Senate and the lower house. The top two officials on Bolivia’s Supreme Electoral Court have been detained. Opposition leader Jeanine Áñez, who is the second vice president of the Bolivian Senate, is claiming she will assume the presidency today.

Evo Morales was Bolivia’s first indigenous leader, was credited with lifting nearly a fifth of Bolivia’s population out of poverty since he took office in 2006. But he faced criticism from some of his former supporters for running for a third and then a fourth term. Evo Morales’s whereabouts are unknown. His home was ransacked Sunday. Mexico has offered Morales asylum. Hours before resigning, Morales had agreed to call for new elections, after the Organization of American States issued a report claiming there was, quote, “clear manipulation” in last month’s election results. According to the official results of last month’s election, Morales won 47% of the vote and just narrowly avoided a runoff election. But the OAS immediately questioned the election process, sparking mass street protests. Critics of the OAS say the global body did not provide any evidence of actual vote rigging.

We go now to Washington, D.C., where we’re joined by Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, his latest piece for The Nation headlined “The Trump Administration Is Undercutting Democracy in Bolivia.” Talk about the latest developments, the resignation of President Evo Morales, the first indigenous president of Bolivia.

MARK WEISBROT: Well, this is a military coup. There’s no doubt about it now, after the head of the military told the president and vice president to resign and then they did. And I think it’s really terrible the way it’s been presented, because, from the beginning, you had that OAS press release, the day after the election, which hinted — or implied, actually, very strongly — that there was something wrong with the vote count, and they never presented any evidence at all. They didn’t presented it in that release. They didn’t present it in their next release. They didn’t present it in their preliminary report. And there’s really nothing in this latest so-called preliminary audit that shows that there was any fraud in this election. But it was repeated over and over again in all the media, and so it became kind of true. And, you know, if you look at the media, you don’t see anybody — you don’t see any experts, for example, saying that there was something wrong with the vote count. It’s really just that OAS observation mission, which was under a lot of pressure, of course, from Senator Rubio and the Trump administration to do this, because they wanted — they’ve wanted for some time to get rid of this government.

AMY GOODMAN: And explain how the election went — Morales stopping the election count, resuming it — and then what kind of majority he needed to avoid a runoff.

MARK WEISBROT: OK. So, this is very important, because this has been very badly described, I think, in most of the media. You have a quick count, which is not even the official count of the election, and it’s not binding. It’s not what determines the result. It’s just something that is done while the votes are being counted to let people know what’s going on at that time. And so, the quick count was interrupted, and when it resumed — and it was interrupted with Evo leading by about 7 percentage points. And when it came back, his margin increased. And if you read the press here, any of the articles, it’s reported as though something terribly suspicious happened. He didn’t have enough votes — he needed a 10-point margin in order to — a 10-point lead over the next runner-up in order to win in the first round, and he didn’t have that when the vote count, this quick count, was interrupted — or, the reporting was interrupted, I should say. And then, you know, he got it in the last 14 — last 16% of the votes counted. He reached 10%. But if you look at what was really — so, this was reported as a very suspicious thing. And this is what’s reported over and over again to make it look like something was wrong.

But if you look at it, actually — actually, the whole vote count — you see there was a steady trend of Evo’s margin increasing almost from the beginning. And it didn’t change in the last 16%; it just continued because — and you can look at the areas that were coming in — these were rural and poor areas where Evo Morales had more support. That’s all that happened. This happens in elections. You can see this if you watch election returns in the U.S. So, there was never anything there.

AMY GOODMAN: Several Latin American leaders have criticized the ouster of Evo Morales in Bolivia. This is Argentina’s President-elect Alberto Fernández.

PRESIDENT-ELECT ALBERTO FERNÁNDEZ: [translated] What’s happening in Bolivia is that there’s a dominant class that will not resign themselves to losing power to the hands of a president who is the first Bolivian president that looks like Bolivians. That’s what’s happening.

AMY GOODMAN: And British Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn tweeted Sunday, “To see @evoespueble who, along with a powerful movement, has brought so much social progress forced from office by the military is appalling. I condemn this coup against the Bolivian people and stand with them for democracy, social justice and independence. So, if you can talk, Mark Weisbrot, about the role of the Bolivian military? And what about the Trump administration?

MARK WEISBROT: Well, I think the most — you know, the Bolivian military very clearly said — I mean, before they did that, they said they weren’t going to intervene, in terms of the protests. But they very clearly — the head of the armed forces said that Evo should resign, right before he did that. And so it was a military coup. And Evo Morales is calling it that, of course. And there isn’t any doubt about it. The media hasn’t really mentioned it as much as a military coup, but it definitely is.

In terms of the Trump administration, you can look at tweets and statements from Marco Rubio right before the votes were even counted, saying that there was going to be fraud, and, you know, making it clear that they didn’t want this government to be there. And so, yeah, I think that — I mean, it’s very obvious that they supported this coup. And it’s very obvious that they pressured the OAS, where the United States supplies 60% of the budget.

And, you know, this is the problem. The media treats this OAS as though it’s really an independent arbiter here. And they do have electoral missions, and most of the time they’re clean, but they are not always. You know, in Haiti in 2011, for example, they reversed the results of a first-round presidential election without any statistical test, recount or any reason. It was completely political. And in 2000, they reversed their position, their report on the election, when the United States, as you know and you’ve reported on this show, wanted to cut off all international aid to Haiti and spent four years preparing for the coup of 2004. So, the OAS played a major role in that by changing their report on the election in Haiti. And so, I think this is a kind of a classic military coup supported by the United States.

AMY GOODMAN: So, Mark Weisbrot, you have the CIA involvement in coups in Bolivia in 1952, in 1964, 1970, 1980. Would you add 2019 to that list?

MARK WEISBROT: I would add it to the list. I mean, we don’t have the hard evidence of what they did. You know, it’s not like 2009 in Honduras, where Hillary Clinton wrote in her memoirs that she worked in the OAS, too, to prevent the elected president, who you’ve had on this show, from coming back to the country and to the presidency. But I think we’ll probably find out more later. But it’s just — it is very obvious that they supported this coup.

AMY GOODMAN: Earlier today, Evo Morales tweeted, “The coup perpetrators who attacked my house & my sister’s, who threatened to kill ministers and their kids, who humiliated a mayor, are now lying & trying to blame us for the chaos and violence that they created. Bolivia & the world are witnesses to this coup.” Among those who condemned the coup are Lula — yes, the Brazilian former president, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, also big news. And we just have 30 seconds. But if you, Mark, can talk about the significance of his release from prison after a year and a half? He had been the front-runner in the election before he ultimately was imprisoned. Now he’s out. What does this mean?

MARK WEISBROT: Well, this is definitely a victory. But the thing that I worry about most is they could arrest him at any time for any reason. You have the so-called justice minister of the country who is the judge who put him in prison and in a trial that really almost everyone now knows was lacking in evidence and was really a political trial. And so, and you have, you know, a very — I don’t know how else to say, but a fascistic government. So, he is definitely in danger, and there’s going to be a need to really defend him.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, I want to thank you very much for being with us. Of course, we’ll continue to follow these developments. Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, speaking to us from Washington, D.C. The president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, resigned yesterday, saying he was ousted by a military coup.

This is Democracy Now! When we come back, the first-ever Presidential Forum on Environmental Justice. It’s held in South Carolina. I co-moderated. Today we play you our segment with Elizabeth Warren.

Bolivian Military to Join Police in Responding to Unrest

AP. November 11, 2019

The head of Bolivia’s military says that following reports police have been overtaxed by weeks of unrest, the armed forces will now provide help in keeping order.

Gen. Williams Kaliman said Monday night the joint police-military force will seek to “avoid bloodshed” and he called on Bolivians to help restore peace.

The announcement came as supporters and opponents of former President Evo Morales clashed in Bolivia’s streets. Morales resigned Sunday after weeks of protests over a disputed presidential election.

Bolivian police chief Yuri Calderon says the joint policing operation will begin immediately and “end when the peace is recovered.”

He also denies reports that he had resigned.

Calling for an 'End to Violence,' Bernie Sanders Becomes First 2020 Democratic Presidential Contender to Criticize Bolivian Coup

Eoin Higgins. Common Dreams. November 11, 2019

Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday became the first 2020 Democratic presidential candidate to speak out against Sunday's military coup in Bolivia which saw that country's President Evo Morales forced to resign before going into hiding.

"I am very concerned about what appears to be a coup in Bolivia, where the military, after weeks of political unrest, intervened to remove President Evo Morales," Sanders tweeted. "The U.S. must call for an end to violence and support Bolivia's democratic institutions."

The Vermont senator's comments came after a day of mounting pressure to speak out from his left-wing grassroots movement. Earlier Monday, as Common Dreams reported, Sanders supporter Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) condemned the coup in no uncertain terms.

"The people of Bolivia deserve free, fair, and peaceful elections," said Ocasio-Cortez, "not violent seizures of power."

Sanders' expression of support for Morales was welcomed by supporters.

"By far the biggest difference between Bernie and the rest of the Democratic candidates is how well versed he is in and how much he cares about the type of international left issues that, say, The Nation writes a lot about," said reporter Matthew Zeitlin.

Earlier Monday, Sanders released a new plan to help veterans; held a town hall with veterans in Des Moines, Iowa; and published at Jewish Currents an essay on combatting anti-Semitism.

Trump celebrates resignation of Bolivia's president

BRETT SAMUELS. The Hill. November 11, 2019

President Trump on Monday hailed the ouster of Bolivian President Evo Morales as a "significant moment for democracy" even as Morales's supporters and some U.S. lawmakers likened it to a coup.

Trump issued a statement approving of Morales's resignation, which capped weeks of unrest following the country's elections last month.

"After nearly 14 years and his recent attempt to override the Bolivian constitution and the will of the people, Morales’s departure preserves democracy and paves the way for the Bolivian people to have their voices heard," Trump said in a statement.

Trump said the events in Bolivia "send a strong signal to the illegitimate regimes in Venezuela and Nicaragua that democracy and the will of the people will always prevail. We are now one step closer to a completely democratic, prosperous, and free Western Hemisphere."

Mexico on Monday offered asylum to Morales, and later said the Bolivian leader had requested it.

Morales and his leftist government have been in power for 14 years, but the country's first indigenous president has come under scrutiny toward the end of his tenure. Morales changed the country's laws in order to run for office a fourth time and declared he won last month's election despite widespread accusations of fraud.

The Washington Post reported the the heads of the armed forces and police withdrew their support for the government in recent days amid escalating protests. By Sunday, all four socialist officials atop the Bolivian government had resigned in what Morales likened to a coup.

That language was echoed by prominent liberals in the U.S. Congress, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), both self-described democratic socialists.

"I am very concerned about what appears to be a coup in Bolivia, where the military, after weeks of political unrest, intervened to remove President Evo Morales," Sanders tweeted.

"What’s happening right now in Bolivia isn’t democracy, it’s a coup," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. "The people of Bolivia deserve free, fair, and peaceful elections — not violent seizures of power."


Trump has used socialist governments around the world to attack Democrats and their progressive policies ahead of the 2020 presidential election.

The Trump administration has pushed for the ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, but has thus far been unsuccessful.

Evo Morales Flies to Mexico but Vows to Return to Bolivia ‘With Force’

Clifford Krauss. New York Times. November 11, 2019

LA PAZ, Bolivia — Evo Morales, the former president of Bolivia who resigned under pressure from street protests and the military, flew to Mexico on Tuesday, but not before recording an audio message promising Bolivians, “I will return soon with force.”

Mr. Morales, who stepped down on Sunday, left his country deeply polarized and leaderless, and his resignation, along with those of other top officials, touched off a new surge of violence as his supporters took to the streets in protest.

Opposition leaders hope to assemble a quorum of the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday to choose an interim president, but it is unclear whether Mr. Morales’s political party, which holds majorities in both chambers, will allow that to happen. Mr. Morales, who was granted refuge by Mexico “for humanitarian reasons,” has described his ouster as an illegitimate coup.

Mr. Morales left office after weeks of growing unrest over a disputed presidential election and after the military indicated it would support the people in the streets calling for him to step down.

Hundreds of his supporters took to the streets of central La Paz late on Monday, some of them armed with sticks and chanting “here we go, civil war.” Officials said demonstrators had attacked police officers, and some frightened residents barricaded doorways to homes and stores with old furniture.

The military and the police took up positions throughout La Paz and several other cities Monday night to stop vandalism.

In his audio message, which was released by the Mexican news media and broadcast in Bolivia, Mr. Morales called on the military to “stop the massacre.” Photographed draped in a Mexican flag aboard a Mexican Air Force plane, Mr. Morales also told his supporters: “We’ll work together for Bolivia.”

Early Monday, Mr. Morales urged resistance to attempts to form a temporary government, but by later in the day he had softened his tone, urging Bolivians to resolve their differences with dialogue, not force.

Mr. Morales was not able to fly directly to Mexico, after Peru prohibited his plane from flying over its airspace. Instead, the aircraft refueled in Paraguay before taking off for Mexico early Tuesday.

Jeanine Añez Chavez, the Senate’s second vice president, an opposition politician who is the highest remaining elected official in the line of succession, has said she is ready to assume power as interim president.

Venezuelan foreign ministry temporarily loses access to Twitter account

Reuters. November 11, 2019

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela’s foreign ministry temporarily lost access to its account with social media service Twitter Inc over the weekend, a spokeswoman said on Monday.

A notice on the ministry’s profile on the platform visible on Monday morning read: “Caution: This account is temporarily restricted” and cited “unusual activity” from the account. The notice had been removed by Monday afternoon.

The spokeswoman said the suspension occurred between late Saturday night and Sunday morning, and that the ministry had alerted Twitter to its loss of access and requested an explanation.

A Twitter spokeswoman said the suspension was reversed and that a notice was sent to the account via email. The spokeswoman added that the account was “accidentally caught in a spam filter” which occasionally happens when an account tweets in sudden high volume.

Social media companies, including Twitter, are under pressure to stem illicit online political influence campaigns.

In September, the company blocked the accounts of Cuban Communist Party Leader Raul Castro, a major backer of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s socialist government. Asked to comment on that suspension, Twitter said its platform manipulation policies prohibit users artificially amplifying or disrupting conversations by using multiple accounts.

Before the suspension, Venezuela’s foreign ministry had tweeted several messages of support for leftist former Bolivian President Evo Morales, who was fighting for political survival due to unrest over a disputed Oct. 20 re-election.

The foreign ministry’s account has not sent any tweet since early Sunday morning. That was before an eventful day in Bolivia, which began with Morales accepting a call for new elections and ended with him resigning under pressure from the military. Other foreign ministries from across Latin America weighed in on the events on Twitter.

Opposition rejects plan for new Chilean Constitution

EVA VERGARA. AP. November 11, 2019

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — A plan by President Sebastián Piñera to draft a new constitution for Chile was criticized Monday by the opposition and even his own political ranks.

The proposal unveiled Sunday by Interior Minister Gonzalo Blumel is one of a series of measures aimed at quelling weeks of protests by Chileans over economic inequality and other grievances.

It calls for a new charter to be drafted by a “constituent congress” and then put to a plebiscite, Blumel said.

But the opposition said the proposed process was inadequate, partly because it would rely on current legislators who are viewed with suspicion by protesters. They also said the plebiscite should occur at the beginning of the process, so people’s views could be considered.

“The citizenry is demanding something different,” opposition Sen. Felipe Harboe said. He said people want a “constituent assembly” or some other form of direct participation in writing any constitution.

“Parliamentarians don’t have credibility today,” said Sen. Manuel José Ossandón, who is part of Piñera’s governing coalition. “The parliament doesn’t have credibility to do something without the more active participation of the community.”

Karla Rubilar, the government spokeswoman, on Monday rejected the call for a constituent assembly, which would involve the election of a group of citizens to draft the new constitution.

Students in Chile began protesting nearly a month ago over a subway fare hike. But demonstrations quickly blew up into a huge protest movement demanding improvements in basic services and benefits, including pensions, health and education. Chile is one of Latin America’s richest, but most socially unequal countries.

While most protests have been peaceful, at least 20 people have died in clashes between protesters and police.

A key demand of demonstrators has been to throw out the constitution that was drafted in 1980 during the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet. The constitution is the legal basis for the market-driven system that protesters say favors Chile’s affluent minority.

The public health care system is bogged down with months-long waiting times, and those seeking higher education are often saddled with crushing student debt.

Piñera has responded with a series of proposals over the weeks, including an increase in the basic monthly pension of $146, a cut to the salaries of legislators, and a tax hike for people who earn more than $11,000 a month.

But anger in the streets still boils. Protests continued Monday in the capital of Santiago, ahead of a national strike called for Tuesday.

“We’ve seen that, in general, the government arrives late and with a weak response to societal demands,” said Claudia Heiss, a professor at the Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Chile, who considers this an opportunity for the government to react in a more convincing way.

Marcelo Mella, an analyst at the University of Santiago, said it is doubtful sectors of the opposition will accept the government’s plan as a legitimate procedure.

Given the low levels of approval for Congress and the government, “legitimacy (of the process) is a very scarce commodity within the political class,” Mella said.