Social movements, trade unions, Indigenous and peasant organizations and other groups have mobilized en masse across Bolivia to protest the postponement of elections that were to be held Sept. 6.
Photo via ANTICONQUISTA on twitter.
Last November Bolivian President Evo Morales was forced out of office by a US backed military coup after the Organization of American States (OAS) made since debunked accusations of "election irregularities" during the October presidential election. Even the New York Times has now admitted that the OAS accusations were "flawed" and that there was "no statistical evidence of fraud."
After the coup far right politician Jeanine Áñez assumed power and the coup regime has moved to try to reverse many of the social and economic reforms of Morales. They have done so with considerable repression and violence as well as arrests and threats of arrests against Indigenous and social leaders, trade unionists and politicians of Morales' MAS (Movement for Socialism) party.
Polls show that the coup regime lacks the popular support to win free and fair elections. The MAS candidate for president (Morales has been blocked from running) looks poised to win a major victory.
The coup regime has repeatedly hedged on promised elections and most recently has attempted to use the coronavirus as a pretext pushing back the vote scheduled for September 6.
This has led to mass resistance.
On August 3, social movements, trade unions, Indigenous and peasant organizations and groups, demonstrated across Bolivia against the postponement of the general elections in the country. Several organizations that mobilized are associated with former president Evo Morales’ party, the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) which has been facing a campaign of persecution in order to impede their full participation in the electoral process.
Massive mobilizations were carried out in different parts of the country demanding restoration of democracy and compliance with the decision to hold elections on the originally agreed date, September 6. The protesters also blockaded major highways and roads throughout the country to exert pressure on Bolivia’s coup-installed government to overturn its decision to further delay the democratic elections in the country.
Kawsachun News and Bolivian reporter Ollie Vargas have been two of the few sources of information on the ongoing mobilizations as they are being almost entirely ignored by the North American mainstream media.
You can follow their updates on twitter: Ollie Vargas / Kawsachun News
Ollie Vargas is also joining Guillaume Long, former Foreign Minister of Ecuador and Matthew Green, MP for Hamilton Centre (NDP) for an online forum August 12 Bolivia's Fight to Restore Democracy - Canada's Role. The forum is being organized by the Canadian Latin American Alliance and the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute and will discuss "how and why Bolivia's first Indigenous president was overthrown, what is taking place in the country right now and the role Canada has played."
Learn more and register via the Facebook event page.
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