The former president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, accused the Organization of American States (OAS) and its secretary general, Luis Almagro, of having stained themselves with the “blood of the Bolivians” for their active participation in the coup d’état.

“I could not understand that the OAS is a coup plotter, (now) I know, I have lived it, the OAS is a coup plotter,” said the president in a press conference in Mexico, where he has asylum.

In his statements, he said that it had been agreed to conduct the audit of the October 20 elections, which unleashed the violent demonstrations of the opposition, which refused to accept his triumph for a new term.

The OAS had said that it planned to issue its report on November 12 or 13, following an agreement with the Bolivian Ministry of Foreign Affairs; however, in the early morning of November 10, they told it that they had a “preliminary” document.

Morales contacted the OAS representation and told them that “if they publish this report, it will burn Bolivia and there will be deaths”.

He commented that to date, the OAS has not issued a final report on the audit of the elections and dozens of deaths have already been recorded by the de facto authorities in the South American country.

For all these reasons, he recommended that progressive governments in the region “beware of the OAS. He pointed out: “the OAS is a coup plotter, it does not respect the sovereignty of the States, let it be very clear, and I don’t know how Luis Almagro’s conscience is not affected”.

Political accusation

Morales also referred to the persecution and repression that the de facto government of Jeanine Áñez has undertaken against its detractors in Bolivia.

Since October 20, 33 deaths have been recorded, 30 of which occurred after Morales was forced out of the presidency on November 10, according to the Ombudsman’s Office.

In addition, the last few days have seen attacks against Morales’ party leaders. The most recent were the apprehension of the formerly elected deputy of the Movement towards Socialism (MAS) Deisy Judith Choque and the detention of Gerardo García, vice-president of MAS.

“Within the capitalist system, the social movements are terrorists,” Morales said, indicating that this practice is common “in the right”. He recalled: “from 1989 to 2005 I was continuously prosecuted for sedition (…) but they never proved it”.

Similarly, they now seek to prosecute him for sedition, which he described as a “political accusation”. He was not being “prosecuted for corruption”.

What about the elections?

He said that the de facto government “proposes free, clean and transparent elections, although they cannot be held if there are political persecutors, those accused of terrorism, sisters and brothers isolated in Embassies and other countries”.

He reiterated that he will not present himself as a “candidate for the Presidency”; however, he said that as part of the movement he has “the right to participate in elections”.

However, he is prevented from returning to the country, “on instructions from the USA” he said.

“We changed Bolivia”

However, the former president remarked that what hurts him about what is currently happening in Bolivia, in addition to the assassinations of his compatriots, is “what was built in a short time, is now being destroyed”.

“They will never forgive us for choosing to nationalize natural resources and change Bolivia,” he said.

He pointed out that during his government, “as Indians,” they proved that “Bolivia is viable” and there can be “economic growth”. He referred to the fact that during his 13 years in office, six of them were first as the country with the highest economic growth in South America, something that had not happened before.

“Another world is possible”

Morales said that, based on his experience as president and union leader, he understood that “only peace in the world will be guaranteed when there is social justice”.

He said that his government’s experience in Bolivia has shown that “another world is possible, without international interference, without expecting crumbs from the U.S., without indebtedness with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), without privatizations”.

RT

Translation by Internationalist 360º