Statement in support of the statement of the Bolivian Network of Political Economy
In Bolivia, a coup d'état is underway that not only threatens democracy and the state's institutions, but also aims to establish a de facto government with clear fascist, racist, and neoliberal characteristics.
Following the general elections for president, vice president, and representatives to the Legislative Assembly, presidential candidate Carlos Mesa, representing the opposition party Citizen Community, announced just two hours before the polls closed, based solely on data from a media-contracted firm or preliminary figures, that the winner would be decided in a runoff election. He explained that with these numbers, Evo Morales' MAS party had surpassed 40%, one of the requirements for a direct victory, but had not yet reached 10% or more of the second-place party to win in the first round.
This “announcement” effectively decreed a second round, ignoring the fact that the official results from the Electoral Body had not yet been published and disregarding the decision of the Bolivian people. With the vote count completed in 8 of the 9 departments, and 99% of the ballots verified, it indicates that Evo Morales of the MAS party is the leading democratic force in the country, exceeding the 10% margin required by law when a candidate does not reach 50% plus one. Votes from approximately 350 of the 34.555 polling stations remain to be counted, primarily in rural areas of the Chuquisaca department, which clearly show a strong showing for the MAS.
This victory of the Bolivian people is being threatened and thwarted through a coordinated effort by opposition parties and right-wing Civic Committees, via an indefinite strike, generating violence and discrimination against social sectors and the working class. The OAS position is that a second round should be held if Evo Morales wins with more than 10% of the vote. The Plurinational State of Bolivia has requested an external audit by the OAS to evaluate and validate the electoral process. The OAS is led by individuals with a clear right-wing bias, supported by neoliberal governments and the countries of the Lima Group.
What is happening in Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, and Chile shows that the United States has no allies, only subservient and subservient governments. The Bolivian people are not willing to be enslaved, nor to return to neoliberalism; therefore, they will defend their sovereignty, dignity, and democracy against imperialist intervention. Democracy and elections are being used as a pretext to marginalize Indigenous people, peasants, workers, and laborers from political power, and to punish them by erasing the achievements they have made through their governance, in contrast to a tarnished history of poverty and plunder written shamefully by oligarchies allied with imperialism and the interests of a few mining and agro-exporting family clans.
For all these reasons, we call upon the peoples of the world and democratic governments to speak out against this coup d'état in the making, supporting respect for the decision of the majorities that safeguard the self-determination of the Bolivian people, sovereignty and dignity.
Consuelo Silva, Gabriela Roffinelli, Josefina Morales, Rebeca Peralta and Mónica Bruckman
November 2019
CLACSO Working Groups
Latin American Integration and Unity
Crisis and the global economy
Geopolitics, regional integration and the world system
