Bolivia, electoral coup? The empire’s prostitute

The empire knows there are vile men who sold their souls and then are paid; as they need to know their jobs are safe and need to live in luxury; or they are afraid and bow, as prostitutes, in order to cover their crimes.

In one of the many examples taking place in Bolivia, an electoral coup is being brewed next October 18^th, which would only be avoided or undermined, with the overwhelming power of the people.

We would be amazed to witness how millions of citizens who were lured and dazzled by the poison of a racist oligarchy serving the US empire could finally rise up and get free once and for all from those who were involved in the coup d’état that overthrew a man like Evo Morales, who tried hard to avoid a bloodshed that people in power managed to unleash in one way or other.

It is kind of surprising that all polls show Evo’s party (MAS, Movement towards Socialism, led by the presidential candidate Luis Arce) as the clear winner in the upcoming election, way ahead his right opponents who would try, at best, to get to the second round.

The empire will be assisted by the discredited Organization of American States (OAS), which promoted the coup against Evo; while Bolivian military — the coup executers — will be responsible for the police stations custody; and an ambiguous vote-counting proceeding that may lead to a doubtful result.

The power of the opposition is so big that the puppet-president, unpopular and racist Janine Aiñez, gave up her bid to favor opposition leader Carlos Mesa, runner up in the polls, so that MAS cannot get to power in a year where — despite the COVID-19 pandemic — the current government led Bolivia to erase the achievements developed in ten years and allowed the private sector to own state entities.

The negative results of Janine Aiñez’s administration are widely known, especially in a nation that had grown economically like no other in the region. Health and education reached every Bolivian, especially the largely rural and indigenous population.

It is now expected that poverty will double in Bolivia. In just one year, the number of poor people grew in one million, while the effects of the pandemic will double that figure for sure.

REMINDER

In Bolivia, the seizure of power at the ballot box was achieved after one of the most consistent bets to dismantle the State, never before seen in the continent, which started with the tin mines closures and ended in the privatization — capitalization in the Bolivian’s neoliberal language — of major public companies, the termination of the state control over natural resources and the hindrance of the government’s power to enforce any sort of regulation.

This is what Evo’s government inherited. He, without hesitation, began implementing his strategic program: nationalization of natural resources, starting with gas; the summoning of a constituent assembly; and the first steps towards the agrarian reform.

The nationalization program could not dispense with the collaboration of foreign companies since the State could not afford to lose its most important and top specialists before a strong investment. The best the government could do was to raise gas export taxes from 18% up to 84%, thereby creating a crucial fund to cover the bulk of the public spending on social programs targeting, essentially, children and the elderly, giving priority to the rights of the forgotten indigenous population.

Despite Evo’s undertaking, the economic power remained in private hands, concentrated in the eastern provinces — stronghold of Bolivia’s oligarchy allied with the empire — which penetrated the MAS party and triggered the coup d'état a year ago.

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSí Translation Staff