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John,
We have been closely monitoring recent developments in Bolivia as President-Elect Evo Morales was forced to resign yesterday at the hand of the Bolivian military. Despite the tepid response from major American media outlets, let us be clear that this is a coup.
Bolivia has been rocked by weeks of protests challenging the validity of the October 20th election results in which Morales, the popular first president from Bolivia’s indigenous population, was elected to a third term. Morales, who has served for 14 years, agreed to an audit of the results to be conducted by the Organization of American States (OAS). His right-wing challenger, Carlos Mesa, did not agree to any such audit.
It’s important to know that the OAS has a record of overturning elections in left-leaning countries while turning a blind eye to emerging right-wing regimes backed by U.S. foreign policy and American corporate interests.
The United States has backed 12 coups throughout Latin America. It is clear that these governments are targets because they are considered hostile to U.S. capital and strategic interests, not because they are undemocratic.
The OAS follows a specific script of contesting the legitimacy of the elections, vowing to restore democracy with the new hand-picked leader, and downplaying U.S. involvement which translates to funding and arming the opposition, waging an economic war, and of course, blaming the target for civil unrest, corruption, and authoritarianism.
But if the OAS were concerned with democratic elections, where were they when loyalists of Jair Bolsonaro, the new president of Brazil, conspired to lock up his rival, Lula da Silva, to clear Bolsonaro’s path to the presidency? And why, following a contentious election in Venezuela, did the OAS align with Tri,[ and rush to recognize Juan Guaidó as the rightful president over Maduro? To this day, the OAS continues their effort to legitimize Guaidó, a man who is known to be friendly to U.S. oil interests. If the OAS were concerned with recognizing the will of the people, why didn’t they demand a proper audit of those election results? Or call for a new election with independent international oversight?
Brand New Congress believes unequivocally in the right to self-determination in governance. It is a cornerstone of our 21st Century Bill of Rights.
Our founders believed that government must be of the people, by the people, and for the people. That is a human right, and these principles must be protected even when the will of the people runs counter to U.S. business interests.
No one -- not the OAS, not the United States government, not multinational corporations looking to exploit natural resources -- no one but the people of a nation has the right to dictate who will govern that nation.
We must stand in solidarity with the people of Bolivia and support a truly independent audit of the election results to ease political tensions in their deeply-divided country.
In solidarity,
Roza Calderon
Brand New Congress
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