USAID Arriving in Bolivia to 'Monitor Elections,' Raising Fears of US Meddling in May 3 Vote
Published on
Friday, January 10, 2020
by Common Dreams
"The Trump administration has clearly picked sides."
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Seven years after former President Evo Morales expelled the organization from his country, claiming it was undermining his government, USAID is returning to Bolivia at the invitation of Jeanine Añez's coup government to monitor elections in the Latin American nation set for May 3.
Officials from USAID and the U.S.-dominated Organization for American States (OAS) arrived in Bolivia Thursday to "give technical aid to the election process in Bolivia."
Students of history should approach these developments with a critical eye, said Latin American historian Thomas Field.
"With USAID and OAS assisting in the May 2020 election, we can be sure its goal will be similar to Bolivia's 1966 election (following 64 coup), which CIA steered to ensure country returned to constitutionality in way that meshed U.S. interests," Field tweeted.
The Morales government expelled USAID from Bolivia on May 1, 2013 due to the U.S. agency's repeated actions conspiring "against the people and especially against the country" of Bolivia.
The right-wing Añez government, which unilaterally declared its own legitimacy in November after toppling the democratically-elected Morales, has focused on privatizating Bolivian resources like the country's vast lithium deposits, the rolling back of Morales-era reforms, and closer ties to the U.S.
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https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/10/usaid-arriving-bolivia-monitor-elections-raising-fears-us-meddling-may-3-vote
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