Bolivia, President Evo Morales resigns denouncing an attempted coup
Rights — di Lorenzo Brenna
Following the unrest that broke out after allegations of electoral fraud, Morales stepped down from his post at the explicit request of the army chief.
Bolivia, President Evo Morales resigns denouncing an attempted coup
Following the unrest that broke out after allegations of electoral fraud, Morales stepped down from his post at the explicit request of the army chief.
After almost 14 years, Evo Morales is no longer the president of Bolivia. Morales, a member of the Aymara people, was the first indigenous president of the South American nation and for years fought to make Bolivian society more inclusive, particularly for the country's millions of poor. On 10 November, Morales announced his resignation at the explicit request of the armed forces, explaining that he was stepping down to protect the families of political allies who had been targeted in attacks, and urged protesters to "stop attacking brothers and sisters."
Bolivia in revolt
For weeks the country had been in turmoil, shaken by massive anti-government protests triggered by reports of electoral fraud during the first round of elections on 20 October. Morales's party, the Movement for Socialism (Mas), had won with 47 per cent of the vote, but the opposition party, Comunidad Ciudadana, denounced irregularities. Numerous acts of violence followed, led largely by the Unión juvenil cruceñista, an ultra-Catholic and neo-Nazi group described by the International Federation for Human Rights as "a paramilitary group."
The violence was directed above all against the indigenous and rural population and against members of trade unions and of Mas. Patricia Arce, mayor of the municipality of Vinto in the department of Cochabamba, was abducted by a group of people linked to Comunidad Ciudadana. The woman was beaten, her head shaved, covered in red paint, and forced to walk barefoot for seven kilometres. At least three people died during the clashes and hundreds were injured, while in many cities uniformed police officers joined the protesters and the entire police force mutinied and sided with the opposition.
Morales's resignation
The Organisation of American States, which opened an inquiry into the outcome of the vote, did indeed find anomalies and suggested holding new elections. Morales agreed, but the army chief, General Williams Kaliman, "invited" the president to resign "to allow the maintenance of stability." Morales therefore relinquished his post, announcing his resignation at a press conference. He stated that he was stepping down for the good of the country, but added that he had been the victim of a coup and that "dark forces have destroyed democracy." His deputy, the president and the vice-president of the senate also resigned.
Acabo de saber que houve um golpe de estado na Bolívia e que o companheiro @evoespueblo foi obrigado a renunciar. É lamentável que a América Latina tenha uma elite econômica que não saiba conviver com a democracia e com a inclusão social dos mais pobres.
People's hero or tyrant?
On the streets of Bolivia many people celebrated the fall of Morales as the end of a tyranny. His supporters, however, likened the process that led to his resignation to a coup. Among them were prominent figures of the Latin American left, such as Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and Argentine president-elect Alberto Fernández. "It was a coup carried out against a president who had called a new electoral process – Fernández wrote on his Twitter profile. As defenders of democratic institutionality we condemn the violence that prevented Evo Morales from completing his term and that altered the course of an electoral process."
Read also: Bolivia's president Evo Morales: "The real driver of climate change is capitalism"
An arrest warrant for Morales
An arrest warrant was reportedly even issued against the former president. Police commander Yuri Calderón denied it, while Luis Fernando Camacho, leader of the civic committee movement that brought about Morales's resignation — who was photographed Bible in hand inside the looted and ransacked former president's home — confirmed the news. "The police and the military are looking for him in the Chapare, where he is hiding," wrote the president of the Comité pro Santa Cruz on Twitter. Morales, however, made it known that he had no intention of leaving the country and that he would move to the Cochabamba region. "I have no reason to flee, since I have stolen nothing. My sin is being indigenous, anti-imperialist and left-wing."
Morales's legacy
During his terms in office, Morales led Bolivia through a period of great development; the country became the nation with the highest growth rate in Latin America, while also significantly reducing poverty and making major advances in social equity, giving voice to indigenous peoples. The former president was criticised, however, for excessive attachment to power and for encouraging deforestation by increasing the amount of land that farmers are allowed to deforest. In 2018, Bolivia was the fifth most deforested country in the world, according to Global Forest Watch.
The future of Bolivia, after years of democracy and stability, nevertheless appears to be wavering under the blows of what the former vice-president of the state, Álvaro García Linera, has called "a fascist wave." Eloquent is the gesture of the Bolivian military, who lowered the wiphala — the flag representing the native peoples living in the Andean territories, a symbol of Bolivia's multiethnic make-up and championed by Morales — from government buildings.