THE “COUP D′éTAT” IN BOLIVIA

Fernando Alcoforado*

Evo Morales took power in Bolivia for the first time in 2006. In the 2005 elections, Morales was victorious with 53.74% of the vote, compared with 28.59% of his main opponent, Jorge Quiroga. For the first time in Bolivia's political history, an indigenous was coming to the presidency of the country. Morales was supported by indigenous peasants, while his opponents are the politicians of the lowland provinces, which border Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina with a strong white presence that historically concentrates the country's economic power.

In his first speeches Evo Morales stated the need for the nationalization of hydrocarbons, the exploitation of which was owned by transnational oil companies, mainly Brazilian Petrobras, through concessions that he considered null and void. One of Evo Morales's first acts as president was to reduce his salary by 57 percent to US$ 1,875 a month. Morales also announced his intention to bring his predecessor, interim former President Eduardo Rodriguez, and then Defense Minister Gonzalo Méndez Gutiérres to court, accusing them of treason to the Fatherland for transferring 28 MHN-5 surface-to-air missiles of chinese manufacture that were in the Bolivian arsenals, to the United States, to be "deactivated".

In December 2007, in the midst of a tense political situation related to the constituent process, Morales launched the proposal to submit, together with all the governors, to the revoking referendum, a referendum under the Bolivian Constitution that submits the occupants of the positions. to a new vote. Thus, on August 10, 2008, the Bolivian people voted to decide whether they wanted President Evo Morales, his vice-president, álvaro García Linera, and eight of the country's nine governors to continue in office. On August 16, 2008, the Bolivian National Electoral Court confirmed the results, which gave President Evo Morales a landslide victory, which had just fulfilled half of his five-year term. He was ratified in office with 67.41 percent of the valid votes. Morales would lose office if he had at least 53.74% of the "no" votes.

In January 2009, the new Constitution of the country was approved by popular referendum. From its entry into force, the country was renamed the Plurinational State of Bolivia. In December 2009, as provided in the text, new general elections were held. President Evo Morales was the most voted candidate, getting 64.2% of the votes. In 2013, a year before the end of the new five-year presidential term, there was intense discussion about the possibility of the President running for office again. In April of that year, the Plurinational Constitutional Court, the supreme body of the Bolivian judiciary, approved Evo Morales' third candidacy on the grounds that, following the publication of the 2009 Magna Carta, the country was "refunded" as a Plurinational State and Therefore, Morales would be fulfilling only his first mandate of this new phase of Bolivia. The 2014 general election named Evo Morales as the most voted candidate with 61% of the vote.

In 2016, a new popular referendum was held. The proposal under evaluation would remove from the constitutional text restrictions on the number of presidential terms. The "no", by maintaining the text, therefore, reached 51.29% of the votes. Still, in November 2017, the Plurinational Constitutional Court hosted an appeal by ruling parliamentarians to declare that the constitutional restriction on the number of mandates was not compatible with the San Jose Pact. The unanimous understanding was that the international treaty It lays down human rights standards that are more favorable to Bolivian citizens and should therefore take precedence over the constitution and electoral legislation. That way, Evo Morales could run for another presidential term.

It should be noted that during his tenures, Evo Morales instituted a particular way of governing the country. Renouncing his traditional suit and tie, Evo Morales adopted typical Bolivian clothing. Evo Morales stood out for constantly resisting US imperialist policy that has a constant interest in eradicating coca cultivation. The main focus of the Morales government has always been characterized by land reform in the country. In addition, he defended the nationalization of industry sectors, which was also fundamental in Evo Morales vision. Against US interests and large corporations, the measure was considered controversial. The nationalization of key sectors led to a decline in private enterprise in the Bolivian economy after his election.

It is noteworthy that during Evo Morales's government, Bolivian GDP showed high growth rates, doubled the number of highways built, increased purchasing power of the population, increased the country's revenue from natural gas production and promoted high investments in the construction of popular housing in the country. Thanks to the commodity boom and its economic policy with an emphasis on social, poverty has fallen sharply in Bolivia. He created a more inclusive society with greater income distribution to the population. Because of all this, Morales has long been receiving widespread popular support.

Evo Morales has strengthened relations with President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, Rafael Correa of Ecuador, Nestor Kirchner of Argentina, Fidel Castro of Cuba and Lula of Brazil. Evo Morales imposed a new Constitution that limited presidents to two terms. However, he also commanded the courts and electoral authority and was often ruthless with his opponents. In 2016, he narrowly lost a referendum to abolish presidential term limits. He got the constitutional court to say that he could run for a third term anyway. He claimed victory in a dubious election in October this year. An external audit has, however, confirmed the opposition's allegations of fraud in the recent elections. This situation triggered the attempt by opposition sectors to remove him from power. Following a troubled vote in October 2019 with allegations of fraud and popular demonstrations, Evo Morales resigned as President of Bolivia on November 10, 2019.

There is no doubt that what happened to Evo Morales in Bolivia was a coup d'état. The Armed Forces' suggestion that Evo Morales give up power can only be considered an imposition that would have no other denomination than a coup d'état. It should be noted that a coup d'état means the interruption outside the constitutional rules of the mandate of a head of government. In Bolivia's recent case, two elements characterizing a coup d'état are present: the president's term was interrupted and the procedure for his removal from power was unconstitutional because there was no removal by parliament but a forced resignation by a "suggestion" of the Armed forces. A series of 16 audio recordings of opposition leaders who organized political destabilization plans before and after the October 20 elections to prevent President Evo Morales from remaining in power showed that these plans were coordinated by the coup plotters and the United States Embassy in Bolivia.

Evo Morales was shot down. It was a "coup d’état". It was neither judicial nor constitutional, but the result of a social mobilization and a conspiratorial opposition action that undermined the Government. Subsequently, the Armed Forces, which have no power to deliberate by constitutional rule, “recommended” Evo Morales to resign. Following the defection of state authorities in charge of order and security came a plan to provoke the resignation of government-related ministers and parliamentarians with attacks on their homes, hostage taking and death threats. That is why Evo Morales said he resigned to protect the lives and safety of his followers. This political crisis had been under way since Evo Morales decided to participate in a fourth reelection, in contradiction with the Bolivian Constitution, disobeying the results of the 2016 plebiscite, when the people sovereignly refused to modify the Constitution. The Electoral Court's decision to allow him to participate as a candidate made the situation worse. The poll suspended for hours on election night and reports from international bodies finding multiple irregularities projected the image of electoral fraud. On Sunday, November 10, the Organization of American States (OAS), convened by the Government to audit the elections, issued its report pointing out election irregularities.

Evo Morales can be held responsible for Bolivia's political destabilization because ambition-driven decided to participate illegally as a candidate for president for the fourth time and for attempting to defraud the outcome of the elections to win it in the first round by offering the conditions for opposition forces made the decision to overthrow him as he actually did. What figures led the coup d'état in Bolivia? Jeanine á?ez (racist and drug trafficker) who declared herself Bolivia's President, Carlos Mesa (with a background linked to the Gas War massacres) and Luis Fernando Camacho (religious fundamentalist) are the kind of people behind the coup d'état. It took place in Bolivia last Sunday (10/11) which showed evident characteristics of racism and political intolerance, such as the invasion of the presidential residence of Evo Morales that was vandalized..

Regrettably, the existing democratic process in Bolivia has been put in check with the coup d'état that ousted President Evo Morales. There is no guarantee that, in the future, Bolivia will once again walk the democratic path in the face of the possibility of establishing a civil and military dictatorship.

* Fernando Alcoforado, 79, awarded the medal of Engineering Merit of the CONFEA / CREA System, member of the Bahia Academy of Education, engineer and doctor in Territorial Planning and Regional Development by the University of Barcelona, university professor and consultant in the areas of strategic planning, business planning, regional planning and planning of energy systems, is author of the books Globaliza??o (Editora Nobel, S?o Paulo, 1997), De Collor a FHC- O Brasil e a Nova (Des)ordem Mundial (Editora Nobel, S?o Paulo, 1998), Um Projeto para o Brasil (Editora Nobel, S?o Paulo, 2000), Os condicionantes do desenvolvimento do Estado da Bahia (Tese de doutorado. Universidade de Barcelona,https://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/1944, 2003), Globaliza??o e Desenvolvimento (Editora Nobel, S?o Paulo, 2006), Bahia- Desenvolvimento do Século XVI ao Século XX e Objetivos Estratégicos na Era Contemporanea (EGBA, Salvador, 2008), The Necessary Conditions of the Economic and Social Development- The Case of the State of Bahia (VDM Verlag Dr. Müller Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG, Saarbrücken, Germany, 2010), Aquecimento Global e Catástrofe Planetária (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, S?o Paulo, 2010), Amaz?nia Sustentável- Para o progresso do Brasil e combate ao aquecimento global (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, S?o Paulo, 2011), Os Fatores Condicionantes do Desenvolvimento Econ?mico e Social (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2012), Energia no Mundo e no Brasil- Energia e Mudan?a Climática Catastrófica no Século XXI (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2015), As Grandes Revolu??es Científicas, Econ?micas e Sociais que Mudaram o Mundo (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2016), A Inven??o de um novo Brasil (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2017), Esquerda x Direita e a sua convergência (Associa??o Baiana de Imprensa, Salvador, 2018, em co-autoria) and Como inventar o futuro para mudar o mundo (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2019).