Latin American Political Unrest Update Thread.

[TomSea]

Bolivia's Morales to call fresh election after OAS audit
    Bolivia election 2019

Bolivia's President Evo Morales has said he will call a new election after international monitors questioned the validity of his victory last month.

The Organization of American States (OAS), which monitored the elections, called for the result to be annulled.

Mr Morales's announcement comes after weeks of anti-government protests over reported irregularities and fraud.

Read more at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-50365340

Some opponents called for him to step down. If it looks like his side committed fraud, definitely Morales should.

For the record, Bolivia has about 10 million people and is landlocked... so, I believe its significance is severely limited.

OAS, the UN should get involved in Mexico. Really, the place is out of control.

[dfwgator]

Communists never give up power willingly.

[TomSea]

Bolivian army chief urges Morales to step down

President Evo Morales denies accusations of wrongdoing after weeks of protests
The army chief in Bolivia has urged President Evo Morales to step down amid protests stemming from his disputed re-election last month.

The call comes hours after Mr Morales agreed to call a new election after international monitors called for the result to be annulled.

The Organization of American States (OAS), which monitored the elections, found "clear manipulation".

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-50369591

It is sounding like he could step down at any moment to me.

[TomSea]

Yes, he has just resigned!! Amazing.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-50370013

Looks like a big fall to me. Nobody was going to bail him out. At least, there was little bloodshed but there was some, 3 died in protests at least.  Maybe some other situations...

CNN Spanish coverage.
https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/video/evo-morales-renuncia-presidencia-bolivia/

[TomSea]

This is very good news... and, twitter is abuzz.

A little schadenfreude Nov. 2019??

We Stand Against the Coup in Bolivia (statement from Noam Chomsky and Vijay Prashad)

Noam Chomsky and Vijay Prashad denounce the escalation of the coup attempt against democratically elected President Evo Morales
November 09, 2019 by Peoples Dispatch

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2019/11/09/we-stand-against-the-coup-in-bolivia-statement-from-noam-chomsky-and-vijay-prashad/

I didn't know Chomsky was still alive, he's quoted frequently.

Making a sticky, this is to celebrate though, there is a good chance, the next president will fail too and people will take to the streets again.

Jhanisse V. Daza
@JhanisseVDaza
·
8m
To new followers from international community: This is a 1.5 million people protest in #Bolivia about a month ago. That is more than 10% of the population of the country, more than you’ve mobilized recently.

We all demanded freedom then. We won it through nonviolence today.

Check this out, an arrest warrant has been issued for the former President per 2 net news sources, BNO who is pretty good:

BNO News
@BNONews
BREAKING: Arrest warrant issued for former Bolivian President Evo Morales, protest leader Luis Fernando Camacho says
7:39 PM · Nov 10, 2019·TweetDeck
29
 Retweets
17
 Likes

https://twitter.com/BNONews/status/1193704686324535298

That's getting pretty serious.

Will sticky if anyone wants that, it is a very important story really.

[TomSea]

This is how some of the irregularities in voting were:

The OAS General Secretary’s office went further, saying the vote was irredeemably flawed and that “the first round of elections should be held again as soon as there are enough guarantees in place.”

Phantom Server

One of the core problems was the online system that tallied and reported votes. On election night, with 83 percent of the vote counted, the system showed Morales was in the lead but not by enough to avoid a runoff against his nearest rival Carlos Mesa. However, the vote-counting platform went off-line for 23 hours, and when it was restored, Morales’ lead had grown enough to give him a first-round victory.

The OAS said electoral authorities couldn’t explain the interruption. In addition, auditors found that a previously unreported computer server, named B020, began processing the results when the system came back online.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/article237227304.html?utm_source=pushly&intcid=pushly_459263

So, a lot of speculation but if an election looks fraudulent, that's where the conversation needs to begin.  I looked up hashtag #Bolivia , almost every posting it seemed was squawking about a coup but there doesn't look like much evidence of that.  Morales certainly does not look like a Maduro or Castro or Ortega.

A situation to watch. Should there be some participation here, will sticky the thread.

[Cyber Liberty]

Bolivia can be a problem...this bears watching.  Could cause shudders in Venezuela, too.

 

[TomSea]

President of the Supreme Court in Bolivia was arrested over election irregularities (Spanish):

María Eugenia Choque Quispe
https://www.sinembargo.mx/10-11-2019/3676548

I hope they keep fairly peaceful, some low-scale unrest down there.

They are also dealing with a line of succession and problems with that. Let's not forget, in the last 2 months, Peru also dealt with a constitutional crisis over the presidency though by comparison, more mild.

I don't buy the conspiracy "coup" theories but if they say Bolivia has a wealth of natural resources including lithium, I will acknowledge this.

https://twitter.com/Keirforleader/status/1193889985675571201  (Conspiracy theory but I don't really buy that).

Spanish language news sources that are pretty good, I"ll have to look more at them later:

https://www.efe.com/efe/espana/1

https://www.infobae.com/america/


I hope the Bolivians don't set everything on fire, there is some of that going on.

[TomSea]

A number of people are calling this a Coup. I don't know personally at all.

After Morales resignation, a question for Bolivia: Was this the democratic will or a coup?
By  Anthony Faiola and Rachelle Krygier
November 11, 2019 at 11:15 a.m. CST

Bolivians awoke Monday, leaderless and dazed, to the smoldering embers of the torched homes of socialists after the resignation of longtime president Evo Morales, the leftist icon driven from office amid accusations his party stole last month’s election. As South America’s poorest nation processed the fast-moving events of the day before, its citizens confronted a key question: Had democracy failed, or prevailed?

Morales, who transformed Bolivia during his nearly 14 years in office, called the pressure that forced him out on Sunday a “coup.” Early in the day, the Organization of American States (OAS) said it had found “clear manipulation” of the Oct. 20 election. Violence that had simmered since the vote escalated. The heads of the armed forces and police withdrew their support, and the opposition unfurled a wave of attacks on Morales’s socialist allies.

By late Sunday, all four socialist officials in the constitutional chain of command — the president, the vice president and the heads of the senate and chamber of deputies — had resigned. What was left of Bolivia’s congress was set to meet Monday to pick an interim leader.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/after-morales-resignation-a-question-for-bolivia-was-this-the-democratic-will-or-a-coup/2019/11/11/ff36ce9a-040c-11ea-9118-25d6bd37dfb1_story.html

Hard to say what is going on. You certainly have "Marxist Trolls" on twitter and others, calling this a coup.

Mexico is calling it a coup, all of this is for individual research:

https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/nation-world/article237237489.html
Mexico says ouster a military coup.

https://www.ajc.com/news/the-latest-supporters-bolivia-evo-morales-protest/Y7XlnKVp1CmxAYMeOXbeVO/
Opposition says "not a coup".

[TomSea]

 From Fox News, I see someone with a slingshot:

Supporters of former President Evo Morales clash with police in La Paz on Monday. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

Bolivia ex-president Evo Morales on the run as supporters clash with police, barricade roads
By Stephen Sorace | Fox News

Hours after he was forced from power by a popular uprising and military desertions, Bolivia’s former socialist president, Evo Morales, was believed to be on the run Monday from authorities who he claimed wanted him arrested.

The allegation, though disputed, nevertheless spread amid a political leadership vacuum and escalating street clashes between Morales' supporters and the opposition.

Sunday began with a jubilant celebration among Morales' foes. But after nightfall, there were reports of tensions between Morales supporters and opposition protesters that led to the looting and burning of public property and homes.

Read more at: https://www.foxnews.com/world/bolivia-president-evo-morales-mexico-police-supporters

Some unrest but the country is mostly holding together it sounds like.

[kidd]

Perhaps the citizens of Bolivia didn't want a repeat of Venezuela.

Are there any reports of Cuban influence in Bolivia?

[Fishrrman]

"Coup" or not, makes no difference to me -- whenever socialists/marxists/communists are forcibly removed from governance, we of The West should rejoice.

[TomSea]

I am stunned, here is a very detailed article telling us what occurred at least from the Pro-Morales side, I have heard this explanation from folks on twitter and from some media since it began.

This is Bad: The Bolivian Military Coup Explained
Very Very Bad.
By Brittany KnupperNov 11th, 2019, 1:08 pm

....

Bolivian elections can run several rounds, and also operate on a two count system. The TREP, or “quick count”, and the official count. The quick count operates in a similar fashion to our exit polls, essentially so that there can be results reported on that evening.

To win in the first round, a candidate needs to get at least 50% of the vote, or 40% and win by 10 percentage points over the next highest candidate.

The OAS (Organization of American States) has been promoting this process and helping to implement it in several countries, including Bolivia.

-   https://www.themarysue.com/bolivia-military-coup/

It's amazing, some people are calling foul in what happened in Bolivia... I found an article where what these people are saying is very much as what is in this article. The Mary Sue is feminist and leftwing as far as I'm concerned. I've only stumbled on their webzine one time before; but this article AS A COUNTER to the general narrative isn't a bad article to read. So, that's a bit of a disclaimer I suppose.

BUT, here is part of one comment, a counter to the counter-argument:

Ryoken • 4 hours ago

I really like how this article doesn't mention how Morales has continued to push and manipulate in order to stay in power defying the constitution, how protestors were treated in the past by the the pro morales military, how Morales has deep links with narco cartels and the political corruption of his party.
I dont agree with the coup and the violence, but this was Bolivians been fed up with Morales looking to turn himself and Bolivia into Chavez/Maduro and Venezuela, and the same that happened in Ecuador when people were fed up with Correa.....

[Cyber Liberty]

It appears Bolivia has a similar rule about term limits as we do, and they are being ignored or broken by the fellow who just resigned. 

[TomSea]

2016, relevant, WSJ:

    Opinion The Americas

The Bolivia-Jihadist Axis of Cocaine
Evo Morales denies running a narco state. Mounting evidence suggests otherwise.
By Mary Anastasia O’Grady   Feb. 7, 2016 5:05 pm ET

A Boko Haram massacre in a northeastern Nigerian village last month captured world-wide attention as it was reported that the terrorists burned children alive.

Far less reported are credible allegations that a key source of funding for Boko Haram and other Islamic extremists is cocaine, produced and exported by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and other drug-smuggling cartels working in concert with the Bolivian government. This is the same FARC supposedly negotiating a peace agreement with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santo s—an agreement that would derail its drug-trade gravy train.

Europe’s recreational drug users like cocaine. European and U.K. drug warriors thought they could curb the availability of the white powder by cracking down on South American supply lines. But the cocaine capos have shifted their trans-Atlantic routes to Africa, where weak institutions are no match for transnational organized crime. Numerous press reports have named both Boko Haram and al Qaeda in the Maghreb as key players in the business of smuggling coke across the Mediterranean into Europe.

More at:   https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-bolivia-jihadist-axis-of-cocaine-1454882756

I'm getting no paywall today; maybe I am looking at archived articles or something.

[TomSea]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-50383608

Granted political asylum in Mexico, he is there now. Maybe he should run it, I dunno. He helped get Bolivia in shape BUT... that government probably has or could have narco-connections.

In a Nov. 10 message, the bishops' conference, along with several civic groups, encouraged “Bolivians to peace and to not commit acts of vandalism or revenge or anything we could regret. We all have a grave obligation to defend the lives of all Bolivians.”

They also pointed out that “what's happening in Bolivia is not a coup d'état, we say it before all Bolivian citizens and the entire international community.”

“In the name of God we tell you: stop the violent acts and let us preserve life and the peace. Let us maintain the peaceful spirit that has reigned in the people in this time,” they said.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/bolivian-bishops-call-for-end-to-vandalism-after-morales-resignation-69478

Okay, I only post above, most people in Bolivia, anecdotally, seem to be glad this has happened actually. That's just anecdotal but versus the Marxists and apologists for the regime, many who are not there... most Bolivians seem glad.

Propagandists, Counter Theorists at the Gray Zone .  A lot of Marxist type bots out there but most South Americans, those actually there,  don't seem to agree with this.  Lost my original post, so this is a trimmed down version. This has turned into a very big story.

Progressive common dreams writes:

Bolivian Coup Comes Less Than a Week After Morales Stopped Multinational Firm's Lithium Deal

...

The Morales move on Nov. 4 to cancel the December 2018 agreement with Germany's ACI Systems Alemania (ACISA) came after weeks of protests from residents of the Potosí area. The region has 50% to 70% of the world's lithium reserves in the Salar de Uyuni salt flats.

Among other clients, ACISA provides batteries to Tesla; Tesla's stock rose Monday after the weekend.

As Bloomberg News noted in 2018, that has set the country up to be incredibly important in the next decade:


https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/11/bolivian-coup-comes-less-week-after-morales-stopped-multinational-firms-lithium-deal?amp

This is an interesting angle but I would need to hear nore, otherwise, it could be a hare-brained theory, plus, Indigenous or not, a group should not be able to hold a whole nation back.

[TomSea]

This seems to be a writer from 'Democracy Now' but he's not writing some liberal, leftist or even Marxiyst theory.

Excerpt:

Bolivia in Crisis: Don’t Mistake a Public Uprising for a Coup
Jim Shultz
Nov 12  (2019)

...

A set of elaborate conspiracy theories have bounced across the left wing press and social media at the speed of sound, most all of them from foreigners who have never lived there and who have no real knowledge of the country: It was a military coup engineered by Donald Trump and Marco Rubio. It is part of a secret imperialist plan to seize control of the country’s lithium. None of these reflect the actual reality of an authentic public uprising with deep roots. I lived in Bolivia for nineteen years and wrote about that nation a good deal. It seems time to write about her again.

“We Don’t Want to Become Venezuela”

If you are really looking for a one word explanation for what is happening in Bolivia right now, it is this word: Venezuela. For years Bolivians across all economic classes have been watching the nightmare of Venezuela — the government of authoritarian clowns, the shortages of food and medicine, the fleeing of more than four million people from the country in desperation. They have watched all this and worried how much Morales planned to send Bolivia down the same authoritarian path, and they began to see dangerous warning signs.

Read more at: https://medium.com/@jimshultz716/bolivia-in-crisis-4ef2f25471ed

That is some angle and probably the basic truth per the author.

[TomSea]

Bolivia crisis: Jeanine Áñez declares herself interim president

Bolivian opposition senator Jeanine Áñez has declared herself interim president of the South American country following Evo Morales' resignation.

Lawmakers from Mr Morales' party boycotted the session, meaning there was no quorum for the appointment.

But Ms Áñez said she was next in line under the constitution and vowed to hold elections soon.

Read more at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-50399640

U.S. issues warning on Bolivia as opposition leader claims power

November 13, 2019 / 12:25 AM / CBS/AP


U.S. issues warning on Bolivia as opposition leader claims power

November 13, 2019 / 12:25 AM / CBS/AP

The United States authorized non-emergency U.S. officials to leave on Bolivia Tuesday, citing "ongoing political instability" in the nation. The announcement came as clashes broke out in the streets in response to an opposition leader in the Senate declaring herself Bolivia's interim president.

"The U.S. government has limited ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in Bolivia," the State Department said in a statement. "There are recurring demonstrations, strikes, roadblocks, and marches in major cities." The statement ordered family members of government employees to leave the nation.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bolivia-evo-morales-news-us-issues-warning-as-opposition-leader-jeanine-anez-claims-power/

[Cyber Liberty]

All Wiki says about her politics is she's "anti-Morales" and a "proud Christian."  The Pope says he's "Christian" too, and he's a far leftist, so that tells me nothing.  What's she going to be like?  I don't cheer on politicians who are extreme leftists, even if they are replacing another far leftist.  That guy in Venezuela is an example of somebody I refuse to go gaga over.

[dfwgator]

All Wiki says about her politics is she's "anti-Morales" and a "proud Christian."  The Pope says he's "Christian" too, and he's a far leftist, so that tells me nothing.  What's she going to be like?  I don't cheer on politicians who are extreme leftists, even if they are replacing another far leftist.  That guy in Venezuela is an example of somebody I refuse to go gaga over.

"Meet the new boss, same as the old boss."

[Cyber Liberty]

"Meet the new boss, same as the old boss."

The New Boss is a lot easier on the eyes than that Lizard Neck Argentina has....

[TomSea]

Debunker: Bolivia’s Lithium Isn’t The New Oil
A popular theory around Evo Morales’s removal is completely mistaken.
By Keith Johnson, James Palmer | November 13, 2019, 4:34 PM

The recent ouster of Bolivian President Evo Morales has sparked plenty of theories, especially on the left. One of the most prominent has been the idea that the military’s intervention is a coup intended to ensure U.S. control of a critical global resource: lithium.

That’s part of a tradition that sees U.S. foreign policy as being essentially about controlling natural wealth by any means necessary—one rooted in real American practices, from the deployment of U.S. Marines in defense of the United Fruit Company’s interests in Central America to President Donald Trump’s repeated orders to troops to protect oil, not Kurds, in Syria. But in this instance, the idea, heavily touted in the online left-wing media and by the occasional politician, is fundamentally mistaken.

Lithium is critical to batteries, clean energy, and electric cars—is lithium the new oil?

More at: https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/11/13/coup-morales-bolivia-lithium-isnt-new-oil/

So, in all likelihood the below, "get out of Bolivia if you can" is a caution against reprisals I'd say.  Anyway.

Travel - State Dept
@TravelGov
#Bolivia: US citizens should depart Bolivia as soon as safely possible. US citizens should make their own travel arrangements - commercial flights remain available. US citizens unable to depart via commercial means contact BoliviaEmergencyUSC@state.gov. http://ow.ly/AEMp50xa3qi

https://twitter.com/TravelGov/status/1194669008701796352

Anyway, a lot of people are blaming us. Well,  Morales should not have been running again for President and I think that he was, was pretty shameful.

[TomSea]

World News
November 13, 2019 / 6:35 PM / Updated 3 hours ago
Morales decries U.S. recognition of new Bolivian government

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Bolivia’s former President Evo Morales said on Wednesday that he condemned U.S. recognition of the South American country’s new “de facto government” that has installed itself since his departure.

Read more at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bolivia-election-trump/morales-decries-u-s-recognition-of-new-bolivian-government-idUSKBN1XO01V

Also, check this out, it is likely a previous president vacated office in 2003 due to mass protests that Evo was a part of and then, some few years later, Evo was president. The president in 2003 was Gonzalo Sanches de Lozada.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonzalo_S%C3%A1nchez_de_Lozada#Gas_War_and_resignation  (first with an interim president as we are seeing now... lots of detail)

Some real detail to study.

Jim Shultz seems to know all of this well. 
https://twitter.com/jimshultz

[TomSea]

Stand-in President 'Brings Back Bible' To Bolivian Politics
By José Arturo CÁRDENAS
11/14/19 AT 9:43 AM

Mounting the steps of the presidential palace as acting head of state, Jeanine Anez raised in both hands an old leather-bound volume of the holy Gospels.

The gesture made it clear what side of the country's political and social divide she was on -- and reflected the rise of Evangelical groups in the Latin American country.


Anez brandished a copy of the Gospels as she arrived at the presidential palace Photo: AFP / Aizar RALDES

Gone was Socialist leader Evo Morales, an atheist who had done away with oaths on the Bible and had overseen a new constitution that made Bolivia a secular state.

Read more at: https://www.ibtimes.com/stand-president-brings-back-bible-bolivian-politics-2866303

She's holding a very antique Bible, I look closer, it looks like it is saying it is just the books of the 4 Evangelists though, I saw a picture of her holding the "Santa Biblia" (Holy Bible) as well.   I didn't know Morales was an atheist. Some disturbances down there. Hopefully, it isn't too severe. That area, Chile, Venezuela, Colombia, all have quite a bit of unrest right now.  Evo as a ruler probably wasn't that bad but he tried to hold on to power too much and in an unsportsmanlike unfair way I'd say.

[TomSea]

I take issue with this, isn't it thought of that, say for the case of a country like Mexico, there is already a lot of Indigenous blood in the people?  I doubt if the cabinet is 100% percent Spanish blood. They are trying to make an issue here where it doesn't exist. Look at the guards, I think they could potentially have some "indigenous blood" in them....and my personal thoughts would be she has some though, I certainly do not know for sure.

Bolivia's interim president's indigenous-free cabinet heightens polarization
Dan Collyns in La Paz


© AP Jeanine Áñez, the opposition senator who has claimed Bolivia’s interim presidency, arrives at the government palace in La Paz.

Bolivia’s controversial new interim president has unveiled a new cabinet which critics say could further increase polarization in the country still deeply split over the ousting of her predecessor, Evo Morales.

To the applause of military top brass, lawmakers and senators, Jeanine Áñez vowed to “reconstruct democracy” and “pacify the country” at a late-night ceremony in the “Palacio Quemado” (Burnt Palace) presidential building.

“We want to be a democratic tool of inclusion and unity,” said the 52-year-old religious conservative, sitting at a table bearing a huge open Bible and crucifix.

More at: https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/bolivias-interim-presidents-indigenous-free-cabinet-heightens-polarization/ar-BBWLBii

Her biography says she was a newswoman; she has that look to me.