To Western Media, Prosecuting Bolivian Coup Leaders Is Worse Than Leading a Coup
MARCH 23, 2021
JOE EMERSBERGER
One can imagine an editor of the London-based Guardian (3/17/21) shaking her head sadly as she typed the headline: Cycle of Retribution Takes Bolivias Ex-President From Palace to Prison Cell. The subhead told readers, Jeanine Áñezs government once sought to jail the countrys former leader Evo Morales for terrorism and seditionnow she faces the same charges.
The Guardian article by Tom Phillips wants us to lament an alleged incapacity of Bolivian governments to stop persecuting opponents once they take office. We are told that Áñezs government did it, and that now the government of President Luis Arce (elected in a landslide win on October 18, 2020) is also doing it.
The articles premise is a lie, and the liberal Guardian has hardly been the only outlet spreading it, with help from Jose Miguel Vivanco, Americas director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), whom Philips quoted. A team effort between Western media and NGOs like HRW often reinforces the views of the US government (FAIR.org, 8/23/18, 8/31/18, 5/31/2o, 11/3/18).
Áñez was a US-backed dictator installed after a military coup sent democratically elected President Evo Morales fleeing Bolivia for his life on November 10, 2019. Once in power, Áñez immediately promised security forces legal immunity as they massacred dozens of protesters. She is now charged with terrorism (in addition to sedition and criminal conspiracy) over her attempt to keep power by terrorizing the public. Her arrest is good news to people who support democracy and human rights.
More:
https://fair.org/home/to-western-media-prosecuting-bolivian-coup-leaders-is-worse-than-leading-a-coup/