Unlikely. He refused to bow down to US corporate interests and made sure most of his countries' economic gains went to working class and poor people. Which goes against everything the US stands for. So he could have called his movement, the Movement for the Advancement of Capitalism and they'd have found a way to get him ousted.
Bolivian President Evo Morales resigns after massive protests over election
- Thread starter Sir Matt
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Even WaPo found that the electoral fraud allegations were largely BS.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...t-our-research-found-no-reason-suspect-fraud/
And of course, the illegitimate administration currently in charge is busy undoing all MAS-IPSP's work.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...t-our-research-found-no-reason-suspect-fraud/
And of course, the illegitimate administration currently in charge is busy undoing all MAS-IPSP's work.
It’s an old trick in the US playbook to dismiss elections in countries that refuse to submit to the interests of American capital as fraudulent and illegitimate. Whereas those of its allies, even if some parties are banned and gunmen patrol the streets, are free and fair and represent the will of the people. It’s sad that it can still be effective in facilitating fascist coups.
I wrote my undergraduate dissertation on Morales' election, and the power struggle between rich white elites and indigenous majority in Bolivia. What's happened over there is a pretty blatant coup by a racist white minority to put themselves back on top and nothing more. It's disgusting that it's been allowed to happen.
That sounds like a very interesting dissertation. Any good sources you’d recommend in particular from your research?
The title of this thread should be changed to Morales overthrown by military coup. The aspect that you highlight is also very important and has been missing from alot of the reporting done on this. I would also say that it's not just been allowed to happen but actively supported by the current US administration and most of the mainstream media that fell in line with the false narrative. Even many supposed liberal/progressive outlets were repeating it. One can only hope that the indigenous people of Bolivia can overcome this.
Sorry I meant to reply to this when I got a second and forgot. A few English-language books I'd recommend (some drier than others).
- Now We Are Citizens: Indigenous Politics in Postmulticultural Bolivia - Nancy Grey Postero
- New Languages of the State: Indigenous Resurgence and the Politics of Knowledge in Bolivia - Bret Gustafson
- From Rebellion to Reform in Bolivia: Class Struggle, Indigenous Liberation and the Politics of Evo Morales - Jeffrey R. Webber
- Mobilising Bolivia's Displaced: Indigenous politics and the struggle over land - Nicole Fabricant
I haven't read any of them in a long time, and obviously they will be about 10 years out of date now, but the recent coup is part of the same struggle. Even when Morales was in power he struggled to 'decolonise' Bolivia both socially and economically, one school of thought would be that he 'sold out' and one would be that the vested interests of entrenched colonial elites proved too powerful to challenge even from elected office. I'd fall between those two viewpoints, but far closer to the second - I think he made the compromises he thought were necessary to prevent a coup which was always in the works. Ultimately I think his opponents were just waiting until they knew they could launch their coup without being internationally condemned.
Of course it's a coup and most of these coups are racist by nature in south America. The indigenous vs the descendents of the Europeans.
Can I also add that this is happening in the Philippines too.
All this halaballo against Duterte is exactly the same. He is the first one to be elected from outside of Luzon and is not from the white Spanish descendents. It's got nothing to do with human rights etc. It's simply a power struggle between indigenous Filipino people and the foreign descendents.
Can I also add that this is happening in the Philippines too.
All this halaballo against Duterte is exactly the same. He is the first one to be elected from outside of Luzon and is not from the white Spanish descendents. It's got nothing to do with human rights etc. It's simply a power struggle between indigenous Filipino people and the foreign descendents.
Thanks a lot, I’ll have a look into those suggestions. I’ve accumulated a mountain of books since lockdown began, a few more won’t do any harm.
Did previous "foreign descendant" governments abused human rights the way Duterte does?
Seems you don't have much knowledge of the Philippines. Marcos was the worst of the lot. For how many years did he have martial law? He suspended the Congress and the Senate and suspended the habeas corpus. People were disappearing left and right. With Duterte he has not declared martial law and the courts are free. As for the human rights violation the western press is talking about, ask the majority of the Filipinos about him. Are people getting killed? Of course they are but crime is down and drug gangs are not as rampant as before. Why people get killed is the gangs fight back. Philippines has an independent court system. Not even the president can over ride it as they cannot be sacked by the president. The president has one term only.
Drug gangs used to have lots of fire power and there are vested interest and powerful people behind these gangs including military and police. Some high ranking people have been jailed. The NPA, ( the Communists) were having a field day before Duterte took over and was terrorising the public. Same with isis affiliated groups.
Most of it is propaganda because he doesn't like the Americans. For a good reason too. They treated the Philippines like they own the place.
Same thing that was done with Allende in Chile. Never mind that Pinochet was a dictator... That was a minor inconvenience to fighting Communism.
No, is not the same. He sure did good things and bad things for the philippines, but his particular war on drugs, recognizing that the had thrown people from a helicopter when he was a cop, or claims that he was homosexual but had been cured don't depict him like a good person. Back to the war on drugs, is funny how he said that people could kill anyone that had been involved with drugs without having the police (forget about a trial) but his son had a nice trial when he was linked to a hundreds of millions of a drug operation.
Comparing him with Marcos doesn't make him a decent PM, is like comparing anyone to Trump or Hitler, etc... when the bar is low, like historically in the philippines, is not that difficult, but definitely Duterte can't be compared how Evo Morales
And if you think that americans treat the philippines as if they own the place (is true), I wonder how you would qualify his new best new friends, China, that the facto took ownership of the philippines sea and took some small islands considered filipino to built naval bases. Changing US for China it make sense geographically but I don't see any difference
Still having in mind your takes on Afghanistan and Syria (and by extension: USSR/Russia), this sounds a lot like the same kind of apologism.
When I speak of some countries you and I are the same. We read on newspapers. But in Asia it's not second hand news. It's first hand and I don't need a newspaper to find out what's going on.
China and Philippines have problems too. Some Chinese business have been stopped. Lots of Chinese have been deported too. In fact Duterte has stopped giving open Chinese visas that has been there from before.
The Philippines Chief of Staff visited an island they are building in disputed area.
Just because Duterte talked about dropping someone from a helicopter doesn't mean he did it. 85 % of the Filipinos have trust in him. That showed in the elections last year. Every candidate from his party won.
What's wrong with that? I am not American and I have no love for them as they keep invading and bombing countries they have no business to be in. Also supporting the most barberous regimes in this world like Saudi Arabia and other gulf countries.
The Russians who are no longer communists have not attacked or bombed half the countries the US has been involved.
I don't know why you assume anything on where I get my information about philippines. You are wrong
So yes, I shouldn't believe him when he said something about throwing someone from and helicopter, but I should believe him when he says positive things
Approval rates? Bush reached 90%, Hitler had 90% also. Hugo Chavez had approval rates over the roof at some poing. Is what strong hand man have sometimes in precise moments.
The only problem China and Philippines is Philippines losing sovereignty in his own sea and small northern islands (chief of staff will do jack when the islands have already a naval base) and the debt that is contracting with China.
And with all that, I am not saying that Duterte didn't do anything ok. All governments do good things, but definitely Duterete has a dictatorial flair backed by some actions that can't compare with Morales, that it was my initial point. Duterte opposition have way more points to go against him than being from spanish/american decent and him being "native"
Another (narco)dictator who tried to perpetuate himself using tricks, in this case because apparently in his first term the name of the country was different. Then he tries to modify the constitution, loses and can go to the elections for his human rights?
Officials and corrupt judicial system, surely as much as those who replace him.
I am curious to see if one day his real fortune is discovered
Officials and corrupt judicial system, surely as much as those who replace him.
I am curious to see if one day his real fortune is discovered
What I find fundamentally wrong is that judging every actor according to a pro-/anti-Western dualism always ends up with apologism of the inexcusable. That's something I've previously sensed & criticized in other posts of yours as well.
It's practically the "axis of evil" nonsense reversed. One major consequence is that the victims of anti-Western regimes & forces are usually told to get lost.
It seems like a good illustration of our differences that you judge this matter on quantity. Because for me even one such case would be too much. And it wasn't just one. That's the difference between anti-Americanism and actual criticism of organized violence and the logic of geopolitics (which prominently includes the US, of course).
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If I came across as attacking your point, it wasn't my intention, I know close to nothing about the Philippines. Why do you think european media didn't report abuses from the previous government compared to the current one?
Do you like Duterte and approve his MO?
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That's worrying but not surprising. Biden's team signalling that his administration will simply be a different version of neoliberal capitalist warmongering.
Yeah, we are pretty fecked. Watching all of this play out in real-time just makes it even more scary.
Trump’s opponents need to make their mind up about if Trump is a warmonger or a coward willing to cosy up to fellow authoritarians. Bolton’s book criticises Trump for recoiling at the fact a retaliation on Iran could have killed 150 people. Now Trump has as little regard for life as any other US political figure, but he does seem reluctant to have his legacy defined by being a President who dragged the US into another costly war on a flimsy basis.
Trump meeting Kim Jong-un is good. Recoiling from action against Iran is good. If he wants to speak to Maduro now, even if he is just following Putin’s advice, then that is good too. Anyone of principle should be encouraging it - but of course Biden is not principled. I hope Trump gets removed from office but as for foreign policy the same blood-thirsty ideology will continue to set the agenda.
His trade war with China was bad and the killing of Soleimani was as bad as an airstrike on 150 people in terms of rising hostility. The problem isn't that Trump is anti-war and Biden is pro-war, but that each is pro-war in different ways. The American system is rotten to the core. It was the Democrats in the senate who enabled the Iraq War to take place and Biden/Clinton/Kerry all voted in favour.
Also meeting Kim Jong-un was a publicity stunt. The US will never go to war in Korea. They only use it periodically as bluster. As for opening lines of engagement with Maduro, that would be too little too late when the US has been supporting coup attempts in Venezuela throughout his entire presidency and before that.
I generally agree with most of what you say. I have no doubt Trump would be willing to go to war, I just disagree that he’s any worse than the typical Democrat/Rep in that regard and nothing compared to the real “hawks” like Bolton. I’d maybe be a bit kinder on the Venezuela/NK take than you but I concur with the gist of it.
I wonder if it will make any difference in the long run tbh. Biden can say whatever he wants about Trump and it will make little to no difference in our foreign policy. What Bolton's book has supposedly exposed is something every president has done. We support authoritarian regimes all the time, our middle east policy is literally that. If anything, Biden will use Trump's name as an excuse to return to the old "restoring democracy and ordering airstrikes"
Trump's hesitation in terms of going to war is a nice temporary reprieve though. I feel yucky even saying that.
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So painfully predictable, as is the utter silence in the media.
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Good!
To put into perspective how big this is, the COB represents about 15-20% of the population of Bolivia and about 30-40% of the workforce.
"The Bolivian justice ministry has filed a criminal complaint against former President Evo Morales for statutory rape and human trafficking.
It comes after photographs were published in national media of the 60-year-old ex-leader with a young woman who was reportedly a minor at the time"
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-53858091
It comes after photographs were published in national media of the 60-year-old ex-leader with a young woman who was reportedly a minor at the time"
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-53858091
There are many photos of him with the girl, on airplanes, in what appears to be Morales's apartment, I even think I remember seeing a huge number of missed calls.
Photos that the girl uploaded to Facebook. It´s a bit suspicious that a girl has access to the president, with the approval of her parents of course and going with him to Argentina.
In addition there is also another case, a pregnant girl, daughter of a minister
Photos that the girl uploaded to Facebook. It´s a bit suspicious that a girl has access to the president, with the approval of her parents of course and going with him to Argentina.
In addition there is also another case, a pregnant girl, daughter of a minister
Sure, Morales might be absolute scum, but that doesn't change the fact that he won a fair election and was ousted in a coup instigated by fascists.
Technically He shouldn´t be candidate already from 2014, when used a trick saying that the country had a different name after the constitution (which would be his third term, with two being allowed).
In 2019 he proposed a referendum, to decide if he could participate, lost it but suddenly the electoral court, which has more controversial episodes, decides that he can participate again for human rights
The judiciary at the service of power.
Besides he still has to respond on an audio calling to block the cities and leave them without food, which according to him is another setup.