The US targeted Evo Morales for overthrow ever since he became president. And the Organization of American States helped set the stage for Bolivia’s coup.

By Leonardo Flores / CODEPINK

The United States and the Organization of American States can add another coup to their scorecards, even if U.S. media refuses to recognize it as such.

This time it was in Bolivia, where President Evo Morales was forced to step down on November 10, following weeks of pressure and extremist violence.

Morales resigned under duress in order to avoid bloodshed, and emphasized that his “responsibility as an indigenous president of all Bolivians is to prevent the coup-mongers from persecuting my trade unionist brothers and sisters, abusing and kidnapping their families, burning the homes of governors, of legislators, of city councilors… to prevent them from continuing to harass and persecute my indigenous brothers and sisters and the leaders and authorities” of the MAS (Movement towards Socialism, Morales’ political party).

His resignation has yet to take effect, as it must be approved by the legislature. This did not stop opposition party member Jeanine Añez, the senate’s second vice president, from declaring herself interim president, further proving that what’s happened is a coup.

MAS legislators, who have a majority in both chambers, have been unable to attend parliamentary sessions as security forces have not guaranteed their safety.

ALERT: Legitimate President of the Senate (MAS) Adriana Salvatierra @Adriana1989sa is assaulted by coup police while trying to enter the Congress moments ago. Images in next tweet. @teleSURenglish pic.twitter.com/0zqAy5FApb — Camila (@camilateleSUR) November 13, 2019

Currently, indigenous and labor movements are on the streets in several Bolivian cities, demanding that President Morales be reinstated.

Supporters of exiled Pres Evo Morales out in full force today near the capital's airport With fascist paramilitiaries working hand in glove with cops & military to violently repress them, their slogans have gotten steadily more militant: "Guns! Bombs! El Alto won't stay quiet!" pic.twitter.com/1lMTuMUdM4 — Wyatt Reed (@wyattreed13) November 14, 2019

Meanwhile, police forces are ripping the Wiphala flag, a symbol that represents the indigenous peoples of the Andes, from their uniforms and from government buildings.

Bolivia's right-wing opposition is burning the Wiphala flag, a symbol of Indigenous communities that was recognized as the 2nd official flag of the Plurinational State, which was founded by elected Indigenous President Evo Morales, now overthrown in a couppic.twitter.com/tJ92UxXgRu — Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) November 11, 2019

Coup leader Luis Camacho entered the government palace with a Bolivian flag and a bible; upon leaving, one of his supporters, a Christian pastor, declared that “Pachamama will never return to the palace… Bolivia belongs to Christ.” (Pachamama is an Andean goddess representing Mother Earth.)

The coup and its aftermath are not just a rejection of President Morales, but of Bolivia’s indigenous majority and the social gains of the last 13 years.

US government fingerprints all over Bolivia coup

Morales’ resignation came hours after the head of the armed forces and the chief of Bolivia’s police “suggested” that he resign.

The head of the army, General Williams Kalimán Romero, was Bolivia’s military attaché in Washington from 2013 to 2016. The chief of police, General Vladimir Calderón, was Bolivia’s police attaché in Washington until December 2018.

As attachés they would have been in constant communication with the Pentagon and other agencies; it is no stretch of the imagination to wonder if they were still in contact with their U.S. counterparts as the overthrow of the Morales government unfolded.

The coup was carried out over three weeks after the October 20 elections, but it was months, if not years in the making.

The United States first began targeting Evo Morales in 2001 — five years before being elected president — when the US embassy in La Paz warned that his political base needed to be weakened.

Afterwards, USAID began funding right-wing political parties and “civil society” organizations that would feature heavily in attempts to overthrow President Morales.

The first such attempt came in 2008, two years after Morales was first elected president and days after he survived a recall referendum with 67.4% of the vote. On that occasion, coup plotters in eastern Bolivia, a region rich in minerals where the white minority population is concentrated, attempted to secede from the country.

According to the International Federation for Human Rights, the opposition in eastern Bolivia “promoted separatism and ethnically and socially based hatred through the Civic Committees (Comités Civicos), in particular the Pro-Santa Cruz Civic Committee.”

Luis Fernando Camacho, the millionaire coup leader with ties to paramilitaries, is the current president of this committee, which has received U.S. funding in the past.

The desire to overthrow Morales has existed for years, but more immediate plans were finalized in the weeks before the election.

Bolivian media outlet Erbol published leaked audio of conversations held from October 8 and 10 between civic leaders, former military officials and opposition politicians who discussed “a plan for social unrest, before and after the general elections, with the aim of preventing President Evo Morales from remaining” in office.

One opposition politician mentioned being in close contact with Senators Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and Bob Menendez.

The OAS role in the coup

The OAS also played an important role in stoking protests and ensuring that the coup was successful.

On October 21, a day after the election, it issued a statement casting doubt on the process due to an “inexplicable” change in the trend of the vote count.

This statement was thoroughly debunked by the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), which found that trend did not change and that Morales widened the gap over his rivals due to late reporting rural precincts, where he enjoys a tremendous advantage.

A later statistical analysis by CEPR found that there was “no evidence that the election results were affected by irregularities or fraud.”

However, the damage was done: protesters took to the streets decrying electoral fraud. These claims were echoed by the State Department and Senator Rubio on Twitter.

The U.S. rejects the Electoral Tribunal's attempts to subvert #Bolivia's democracy by delaying the vote count & taking actions that undermine the credibility of Bolivia's elections. We call on the TSE to immediately act to restore credibility in the vote counting process. — Michael G. Kozak (@WHAAsstSecty) October 22, 2019

After being invited by President Morales to conduct an audit, the results of which he promised to respect, the OAS instead opted to destabilize the country.

The full electoral audit was initially due by November 12, but on November 10, a day after Morales announced that a coup was taking place and amid political violence throughout the country, the OAS decided to issue a preliminary audit.

This report, which did not include data that could be independently verified, repeated the false claims of the October 21 statement and called for new elections.

In response, Morales agreed to new elections and to replacing the board of the electoral body, yet this offer was rebuffed by coup leaders.

Rather than denounce the coup and insist that Morales be allowed to finish out his term (which ends in January), the OAS held a vote that refused to call it a coup, although several countries dissented.

Mexico criticized the OAS for being “surprisingly quiet” given the violation of constitutional order, while Uruguay condemned the body’s “double standard depending on antipathy or sympathy” for the government in question.

Earlier in the day, Argentinian president-elect Alberto Fernández said “what happened in Bolivia is a shame, the behavior of the OAS is shameful because the audit the OAS held is significant in its flimsiness and has conclusions that are absolutely manipulated.”

It should be noted that the 2008 coup was neutralized in part because of the role played by UNASUR, the Union of South American Nations. This regional bloc has been severely debilitated in recent years as a direct result of State Department pressure and the willingness of right-wing Southern American presidents to give up on long-term regional integration plans for short-term political benefits.

The decline of UNASUR and CELAC (the Community of Latin America and Caribbean States — another target of the State Department), coupled with the OAS’s bias, leaves the region with no credible multilateral organization.