The Bolivian people speak as socialist candidate Luis Arce wins in a landslide. Outgoing president Añez and right wing candidate Mesa concede defeat.
Photo via twitter
In one of the biggest victories against imperialism in recent years the Bolivian people overwhelmingly repudiated the coup government of Jeanine Añez and its allies on the right.
After some initial delay the exit polls were released showing that Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) presidential candidate Luis Arce had taken 52.4 percent of the votes, well ahead of second place right wing Citizen Community (CC) candidate Carlos Mesa at 31.5 percent. This is easily enough for an outright first round election win.
The victory appears to be so large the outgoing coup president was forced to concede that Arce and MAS had won.
Late this morning Mesa conceded as well:
This win is an incredibly important victory for the Bolivian people.
Last November there was a coup that drove leftist leader Evo Morales from power based on OAS claims of "voting irregularities" that have since been widely discredited including even by mainstream publications like the New York Times.
Polls had shown that leftist MAS candidate Luis Arce should win the elections but there had been very worrying signs as to how free and fair the elections would be and whether the coup regime would accept a MAS victory. As the official results have not been released it is entirely possible that the coup regime and its allies may try some type of maneuver, but the margin of victory appears so large that nothing short or a second coup would seem likely to be able to stop MAS now.
By repudiating the coup regime despite months of violence and intimidation the Bolivian people have struck a blow against imperialism that will ring out around the world.
Reactions flooded social media:
And my personal favourite, from the Foreign Minister of Venezuela: