Sanders Has Denounced Coup, But Biden, Warren, and Buttigieg So Far Silent on Overthrow

[Uncle Joe]

31. What happened in Bolivia was a military coup.

On Sunday the head of Bolivia’s military called on Evo Morales to resign from the presidency. Minutes later Morales was on a plane to Cochabamba where he did just that. These facts leave little doubt that what happened in Bolivia this weekend was a military coup, the first such event in Latin America since the 2009 military coup against Honduran president, Manuel Zelaya. (The 2012 and 2016 impeachments of Paraguay’s Fernando Lugo and Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff are widely viewed as “parliamentary coups.”)

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For Zibechi, Gutiérrez, and other leftists, popular movements’ calls for Morales to resign prove his fall was not a coup. This view, however, ignores the critical timeline by which Morales resigned only after he was pressured to do so by the military. Unlike all other actors in Bolivia, when the military “suggested” Morales leave office he had no choice but to say yes, or risk tremendous violence. Unfortunately, events of the last several days suggest that the coup will not end the violence and chaos gripping Bolivia.

Since Morales resigned many MAS elected officials have also resigned their posts, claiming that they are doing so for fear of their own and their families’ safety. Video shows Morales’ house being ransacked on Sunday and chilling instances of police abuse of power in the last several days. On Tuesday night, the far right vice president of Bolivia’s Senate swore herself in as president, to a nearly empty legislative chamber. MAS senators boycotted the proceedings, with at least some saying they did so for fear of their safety.

Whatever the broad array of forces that contributed to Morales’ downfall, the fact that the military pushed him out has emboldened the worst elements of Bolivian society. It may also embolden popular movements to strike back, as has occurred so often in Bolivia’s history. Indeed, predominantly Indigenous protesters in El Alto, La Paz, and elsewhere are in the streets denouncing the burning of the Indigenous wiphala flag and growing military repression of the populace. Some protesters are now calling for civil war.

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https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/13/morales-bolivia-military-coup