Statement against the military coup in Bolivia
The coordinators of CLACSO Working Group on Borders, Regionalization and Globalization, Based on the principles and objectives of this Working Group, we declare ourselves against the Military Coup in Bolivia, driven by the business sectors and right-wing political forces of that country supported by the United States.
This military coup adds to the mechanisms through which sectors linked to transnational capital and right-wing political forces have advanced in the last decade in the Americas and other parts of the world, displacing, in the case of Latin America, the so-called left-wing or progressive governments (which have even called themselves socialist, although only in discourse, or by posturing as ecosocialist, in the case of Evo), which, in order to reach power or to remain in it, have established alliances with transnationalized business sectors, as in the case of the pact and incorporation of Camba businessmen made by Evo to appease the soybean-oil regionalism of the East.
These governments have continued to support neoliberal policies, primarily promoting extractivism as a mechanism for “development” for the people, when in reality the well-being of the majority is only achieved in a very limited way, while transnational capital continues to reap the lion's share of the profits from accumulation. These developmentalist policies have opened the door for transnationalized business sectors and right-wing forces (even neo-fascist ones) to come to power through elections, technical coups, or military coups, seeking to consolidate the neoliberal project primarily for the benefit of transnational capital.
Fed up with these neoliberal policies promoted worldwide, and in a more violent way by right-wing governments, people have mobilized against these measures, and continue to do so despite repression and military coups, mainly in Latin America.
From this perspective, we must understand that the neo-fascist policies of Trump in the United States and those of Bolsonaro in Brazil are not separate, despite the thousands of kilometers separating the two countries. Meanwhile, other reformist, social-democratic, or openly neoliberal policies are leading other countries down the same path. It is therefore important to analyze the crisis of state legitimacy as a backdrop for understanding the rise of Trumpism in the United States and the shift to the far right around the world. Furthermore, it is important to analyze the new round of penetration and expansion of transnational capital in Latin America and the ways in which this expansion intertwines with the region's political dynamics, including the resurgence of the Right.
We must consider that the political and electoral democracy that neoliberalism has been promoting for four decades through the "promotion of democracy" allows this "promotion of polyarchy" (the view of democracy by economic elites as if they were the interests of the entire population) to facilitate the manipulation of electoral processes, or accusations of fraud if the winner is not from the right.
We consider it worrying that the military coup in Bolivia opens the door again for the militaries of other countries (read Chile where neoliberalism was imposed under the military boot, with thousands dead and disappeared, which was followed in the same way by other military dictatorships in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Brazil, as well as during civilian governments such as in Colombia, Peru, and other countries) to see in Bolivia the example to follow.
We reiterate our condemnation and repudiation of the military coup in Bolivia and reaffirm our support and commitment always in favor of the popular and workers' movements of this country, as well as of Chile, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Haiti, and other countries, which fight for a true participatory democracy and the well-being of the working and popular sectors of those nations.
November 2019
Statement from the coordinators of the CLACSO Working Group
Borders, regionalization and globalization
