• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Tuesday, July 15, 2025
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Featured

Power Vacuum in Bolivia After Morales Deposed in Coup

Staff Writer by Staff Writer
11/11/19
in Featured, World
Bolivian President Evo Morales speaks from the presidential hangar in El Alto, Bolivia, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2019. Photo/AFP

Bolivian President Evo Morales speaks from the presidential hangar in El Alto, Bolivia, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2019. Photo/AFP

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Bolivia’s Evo Morales called Monday on the opposition that ousted him to “pacify the country” after he resigned Sunday under pressure from the military and right-wing protesters.

Morales, who was Bolivia’s first indigenous president, said his opposition rivals, Carlos Mesa and Luis Fernando Camacho, “discriminators and conspirators, will go down in history as racists and coup plotters.”

The ousting of Morales came three weeks after he won reelection in polls that were marred by disputed, unsubstantiated allegations of fraud.

Election Controversy 

The final vote count showed Morales had won 47.1 percent of the vote to Mesa’s 36.5 percent. Because Morales had won by more than 10 points, he was declared the winner without an additional runoff being scheduled, as outlined in the Bolivian constitution.

But Mesa and the opposition claimed that Morales only cleared the 10-point margin after a suspicious pause in vote reporting, after which Morales’ lead increased, implying the results had been tampered with.

The government offered a benign explanation, saying it took longer for votes in rural areas, where Morales’ popularity is stronger, to be counted and reported. Officials also said that they stopped posting preliminary “quick count” results later in the day because they wanted to avoid having two sets of results at the same time.

But the Organization of American States, an ostensibly neutral intergovernmental body that oversaw the election, released a statement the day after the election expressing “deep concern” over supposed irregularities in the final result.

The OAS statement was followed by similar statements from the White House and Republican U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, an outspoken critic of left-wing governments in Latin American including that of Morales’ Movement Toward Socialism party.

Weeks of Violence 

The election controversy sparked three weeks of protests and violent clashes between opponents and supporters of the government. Last week, a 20-year-old student was killed in the clashes and an indigenous, left-wing female mayor from a small town was terrorized by a right-wing mob, who cut her hair off and doused her with red paint.

Protesters kidnapped the mayor of a small town in central Bolivia, forcibly cut her hair, drenched her with red paint, made her sign an improvised resignation letter, then marched her through the streets barefoot, witnesses said https://t.co/uEZcXCGdx5

— The New York Times (@nytimes) November 8, 2019

The chaos came to a head Sunday after police forces began to join the anti-government protests and the military “suggested” that Morales resign.

Following the announcement, opposition protesters ransacked Morales’ house, painting graffiti and destroying the president’s property.

Despite the widespread allegations of tampering, the OAS, the opposition, nor Washington have yet to produce conclusive evidence of fraud in the October 20 election.

Reports indicated Sunday that Morales is likely to flee the country and is looking for a country that will grant him asylum.

Power Vacuum 

A raft of ministerial resignations followed Morales’ announcement, with some officials some seeking refuge in the Mexican ambassador’s residence over fears of violence or arrest by forces loyal to the opposition.

Police announced on Sunday night that they had detained Maria Eugenia Choque, the head of the country’s electoral court, and

The mass wave of resignations raised the question over who was in charge, given that vice president Alvaro Garcia Linera also resigned.

Under the constitution, power then passes to the president of the Senate and the speaker of the lower house of Congress, in that order. But they have resigned, too.

An opposition senator, Jeanine Anez, said on Sunday she would assume the interim presidency of Bolivia. But Congress will first have to be convened for a vote to take place.

With the situation in Bolivia unclear following the fast-moving events, the right-wing government of Colombia called for an urgent meeting of the OAS permanent council to look for solutions.

Allies Denounce Coup

Morales, a member of the Aymara indigenous community, is a former coca farmer who became Bolivia’s first indigenous president in 2006.

He defended his legacy Sunday, which includes landmark gains against hunger and poverty and tripling the country’s economy during his nearly 14 years in office.

Latin American leftist allies rallied to denounce what they called a coup against one of their own.

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro said Morales and Bolivia’s indigenous communities were “victims of racism.”

Hooded demonstrators overran Venezuela’s embassy in La Paz on Sunday, the country’s ambassador, Crisbeylee Gonzalez, told state news agency ABI.

Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez described Morales as “a protagonist and a symbol of the rights of the indigenous peoples of our Americas.”

Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the coup that removed Morales was evidence of “an economic elite in Latin America that did not know how to share democracy with poor people.”

Argentina’s president-elect Alberto Fernandez said a coup had been carried out “by the joint actions of violent civilians, police personnel who confined themselves to their barracks, and the passivity of the army.”

On Monday, the Russian government, also an ally of Morales, said violent action by the opposition had forced Morales out, while UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres called for “restraint” from all sides.

The Globe Post’s Bryan Bowman contributed reporting to this article.


More on the Subject 

Former Brazil President Lula Freed from Prison After Supreme Court Ruling

ShareTweet
Staff Writer

Staff Writer

AFP with The Globe Post

Related Posts

Jeanine Anez was arrested on terrorism and sedition charges. Photo: AFP
World

Bolivia Ex-President Anez Arrested in ‘Coup’ Probe

by Staff Writer
March 13, 2021
Former Bolivian President Evo Morales
World

Morales Says Will Return to Bolivia After Ally’s Election Victory

by Staff Writer
October 19, 2020
People take to the streets of Santa Cruz to celebrate the resignation of Bolivian President Evo Morales on November 10 after weeks of protests
World

Deadly Pandemic and Postponed Elections: Bolivia’s Explosive Cocktail

by Staff Writer
July 31, 2020
Right-wing Bolivian Senator Jeanine Anez declared herself interim president following a coup that ousted Evo Morales
World

Thousands in Bolivia Defy Quarantine Restrictions in Anti-Government Protest

by Staff Writer
July 15, 2020
Bolivian President Evo Morales speaks from the presidential hangar in El Alto, Bolivia, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2019. Photo/AFP
Featured

MIT Researchers Find No Evidence of Fraud in Bolivia’s October Election

by Bryan Bowman
March 2, 2020
Interim Bolivian president Jeanine Anez stands behind members of the Bolivian military in La Paz. November 18, 2019.  REUTERS/Manuel Claure.
Featured

Bolivian Lawfare: Interim Gov. Targets Opposition Ahead of Election

by Bryan Bowman
January 31, 2020
Next Post
The Supreme Court of the United States.

US Supreme Court to Examine 'Dreamers' Program Trump Wants Axed

The Israeli settlement of Beitar Illit in the occupied West Bank. Photo: AFP

EU Court Says Israel Settlement Goods Must be Labeled

Recommended

Ursula von der Leyen

EU Ministers Weigh Response to Latest Trump Tariff Threat

July 14, 2025
UN rapporteur Francesca Albanese

UN Says US Sanctions on Expert Sets ‘Dangerous Precedent,’ Must Be Reversed

July 11, 2025
Women in Afghanistan wearing a blue burqa

ICC Seeks Arrest of Taliban Leaders Over Persecution of Women

July 9, 2025
Kenya, Nairobi, 2024-07-16. Protesters in the streets

Nairobi Tense as Kenya Marks Democracy Uprising

July 7, 2025
President Donald Trump

Trump Wins ‘Phenomenal’ Victory as Congress Passes Flagship Bill

July 4, 2025
University students march in protest towards the Istanbul Municipality in Sarachane as they demonstrate against the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu in Istanbul, Turkey, on March 21, 2025.

‘Remember Charlie Hebdo!’ Protesters Seethe at Istanbul Magazine

July 2, 2025

Opinion

Donald Trump

Fact vs. Fiction: The Trump Administration’s Dubious War on Reverse Discrimination

June 18, 2025
Tens of thousands of protestors shut down Fifth Avenue in Manhattan on Saturday, April 5, 2025, protesting the Trump administration's abuse of the separation of federal powers as well as the deep cuts to governmental services overseen by presidential advisor Elon Musk.

Civil Society Is Holding the Line. Will Washington Notice?

June 17, 2025
A Black Lives Matter mural in New York City.

Fuhgeddaboudit! America’s Erasure of History

April 2, 2025
Bust of Deputy Rubens Paiva in the Chamber of Deputies

Democratic Brazilians Are Still Here

March 18, 2025
A woman from Guatemala

Dispatch From Central America

January 28, 2025
US President Donald Trump

Dear Trump Supporters: Is This the America You Wanted?

January 28, 2025
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post