Bolsonaro on Morales' ouster:
“The word coup is used a lot when the left loses. When they win, it’s legitimate. When they lose it’s a coup.”
If there's any truth in this, it's because the Latin American right has historically had great difficulty winning democratic elections.
“The word coup is used a lot when the left loses. When they win, it’s legitimate. When they lose it’s a coup.”
If there's any truth in this, it's because the Latin American right has historically had great difficulty winning democratic elections.
As a result, the continent's wealthy elite has often had to resort to anti-democratic measures to force the left out of office and restore its control over the political system and protect its economic interests. Historically these have often included violent military coups.
In recent times, however, the Latin American right has learned to resort to somewhat subtler mechanisms that allow it to maintain a democratic fig leaf while forcing out leaders with an entrenched popular support base. Lula's wrongful imprisonment in Brazil is a prime example.
So when we use the term “coup” to refer to what's happening in Bolivia right now, we're simply highlighting a historical continuity between the outright military coups of the past and the reactionary anti-democratic project of Latin America's wealthy elites today.
