In light of all the terrible misinformation going around on Twitter about what's going in Bolivia, here is a summary of what has gone down in the past few weeks 1/x
Morales sought a fourth term, defying his own constitution and a referendum. He ran anyway, approved by his stacked Supreme Court. Election day was plagued with irregularities and he magically won by just enough to avoid a runoff. 2/x
Civil society organized everywhere and the country had massive protests and civil disobedience for nearly 20 days. Evo called on his version of "colectivos" to defend his government. 3/x
During that time, more evidence of fraud came to light, 3 people died at the hands of pro-government goons and at least 60 were injured. OAS finally issued a preliminary report confirming there had basically been massive fraud. 4/x
The night before, police had decided to retreat to their headquarters in every major city and basically join the protestors in their demands. Morales then proceeded to say he would re-do the election with brand new electoral authorities, but no mention of his resignation 5/x
or even saying he would not run. More government groups kept attacking protesters, this time with firearms. Many Ministers and MOP began quitting. The military came out and said they would not repress the police "mutiny" nor repress protestors, 6/x
but gave orders to defend those who were being attacked by what was basically pro-government paramilitaries. Shortly thereafter the military asked Morales to step down, and he did. 7/x
Now the National Assembly needs to convene on Monday to accept all the resignations, set up a transition government and call elections in 90 days. 8/x
So to clarify three very important points: 1) The government committed fraud 2) Morales' supporters are responsible for the vast majority of the violence (even now, they are burning down and looting parts of La Paz) 3) This is not a military coup. 9/x
The military was not even a part of the opposition and simply joined the calls for the resignation of Morales after serious violence was taking place. So no, don't expect a "far-right military government" to take over now. 10/x
Here is the preliminary OAS report on the election:
oas.org/documents/spa/…
This is also a very good read (in Spanish - published shortly after election day): rchumace.econ.uchile.cl/papers/cmh.pdf. So please stop reading that awful CEPR paper. 11/x
oas.org/documents/spa/…
This is also a very good read (in Spanish - published shortly after election day): rchumace.econ.uchile.cl/papers/cmh.pdf. So please stop reading that awful CEPR paper. 11/x
Government officials doing their thing:
opinion.com.bo/articulo/pais/…
la-razon.com/nacional/anima…
paginasiete.bo/nacional/2019/…
(sorry but all these are in Spanish, only some violence from protesters has made international headlines in English) 13/x
opinion.com.bo/articulo/pais/…
la-razon.com/nacional/anima…
paginasiete.bo/nacional/2019/…
(sorry but all these are in Spanish, only some violence from protesters has made international headlines in English) 13/x
Evo certainly gave a lot of hope to people when he became president. But his authoritarian tendencies have been clear for a while. It also didn't help he was surrounded by ideologues who had no concern for democracy, especially his VP, Garcia Linera. 14/x
This is far from over though, as they even hinted they'd be back in their resignation press conference. Their goons certainly haven't even left La Paz, as you can see. eldeber.com.bo/156152_minuto-… 15/15
Oh here are a few Bolivian accounts you should follow if you wanna cut through the bs (activists, politicians, media): @JhanisseVDaza @pagina_siete @TataQuispe @carlosdmesag @CFValverde @RaulPenaranda1 @LaRazon_Bolivia
And yes, this is CEPR as in "Bolivarian" CEPR, not @voxeu CEPR.
@JhanisseVDaza @pagina_siete @TataQuispe @carlosdmesag @CFValverde @RaulPenaranda1 @LaRazon_Bolivia Almost forgot about @AndrsGomezV
Update: La Paz and other cities are now in relative calm. Peaceful pro government protests have taken place in some cities. Nationwide strike remains in place. Congress will meet today at 16:00 to (likely) accept Morales' resignation and set up the new government transition govt.
