Éirígí For A New Republic Stands In Solidarity With Morales And Bolivia
Éirígí For a New Republic condemns the ongoing right-wing coup in Bolivia and stands in solidarity with Evo Morales and the Movement For Socialism (MAS). The usurpation of the MAS mandate and the Bolivian democratic process by a coalition of US backed right-wing oligarchs, mercenary gangs and sections of the Bolivian security forces must be condemned by all progressives across the globe.
Since taking Presidential office in 2006, as Bolivia’s first indigenous leader, Evo Morales has funded many social programmes aimed at promoting democracy, equality and environmental sustainability. Using revenue raised from a booming economy Morales has accomplished much in the fight against poverty, homelessness, illiteracy, racism and sexism.
Other achievements by the Bolivian revolution include land reforms, strengthening the constitutional rights of indigenous people, restrictions on the size of private landholdings and the part-nationalisation of the country’s extremely valuable natural gas, oil an other natural resources.
Morales sent the military in to take control of Bolivia’s natural gas reserves in 2006, earning him the enmity of the big energy, the United States and Bolivia’s economic elite.
These reforms earned Morales many determined enemies among an elite of wealthy families who had previously had full control of Bolivia’s natural resources and wider economy. These powerful families and their supporters, with the backing of the US government, have organised themselves ceaselessly to overthrow the MAS government.
These forces seized their moment during last month’s Presidential election count. Realising that they stood to lose a fourth election in a row, they claimed fraud and refused to accept the poll results. Their campaign of de-stablisation escalated from street protest into full blow violence, including attacks on elected officials and political opponents as well as the burning of buildings.
Patricia Arce, the elected socialist Mayor of the town of Vinto, was paraded through the streets by masked right-wing forces after they had beaten her, shorn her hair and drenched her in red paint. Faced with such violence, Morales was forced to resign and flee Bolivia.
The coup-de-grace came when the Chief-of-Staff of the army called on Morales to stand down. Faced with a credible threat to his own safety and that of his family, Morales was left with little choice but to stand down and seek refuge in Mexico.
The result of the October election with an 88% turnout was clear. Evo Morales emerged as the single most popular candidate and a majority of seats in both the Chamber and the Senate were won by the Movement For Socialism.
The overthrow of Morales is the latest in a long line of coups in Latin and South America that have been sanctioned and supported by the United States. Thankfully many within Bolivia and across that continent continue to organise in support of democracy and against US imperialism. Éirigí stands in solidarity with them in the belief that democracy, justice and freedom will ultimately prevail over US and capitalist tyranny.