In accordance with the law and without third party interference — that's how the crisis in Bolivia should be solved, the Kremlin believes, stated Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs added, the Bolivian government's readiness to search for constructive solutions, quote, "...was perturbated along the lines of an orchestrated coup". The streets are now filled with followers and opponents of the president, who resigned after the defense officials' ultimatum. His house was trashed, his followers were arrested, his whereabouts are unknown, but it's clear what everything is done for.
A report by Valentin Bogdanov.
After many days of rampant crowds, supporters of Evo Morales went out onto the streets of La Paz, responding to the call of their leader, to protect the country from a coup. The chaos in Bolivia's largest city lasted all last night. While ordinary protesters drag and burn a symbolic coffin with the name of Morales, their leaders crack down on members of his cabinet. Here, on the stage of an assembly hall, a quick paramilitary trial is being held. Pulling a mask, a man in body armor is showing out a frightened woman. The president and vice president of the Superior Electoral Court have already been detained, as well as some regional officials.
They tried to detain Morales himself. Oppositionists provided police officers with an arrest warrant, about which he wrote on Twitter. For the Bolivian president, this is now the only sustainable channel of communication with supporters. The day before, Morales landed at Chimore Airport, in the Cochabamba Department. The head of the country announced his resignation on national television.
Evo Morales, President of Bolivia 2006-2019: "I don't want violence and aggression to continue. Therefore, I announce that I've sent a letter of my resignation to the Legislative Assembly. Thank you very much".
As often happens in Latin America, the decisive word was said by the military. The generals forced Morales to declare his resignation.
Williams Kaliman, Commander-In-Chief of Bolivia's Armed Forces: "We suggest that the president give up his presidential mandate, which will restore peace and keep stability for the good of our Bolivia".
However, those who direct the crowd are far from peaceful plans. As if skimming through an overused textbook of the color revolutions, young people are heading to trash Morales's house. The fellows are obviously in for a disappointment. The one to whom the insults on the walls are addressed led a modest lifestyle. The camera wandering around the broken house, apparently, is looking for secret wealth, but it is not the presidential way of life that gets in frame. Inexpensive plumbing, tiles on the floor, most ordinary sneakers.
Evo Morales never really lived a double life. He ate simple food. He drank mate tea and chewed coca leaves. He never wore expensive suits or even ties.
- Everyone in Bolivia calls you "brother-president.
- Yes.
- And how may I call you?
- Brother.
- Brother?
- Well, of course. After all, we all from dust and will return to dust. We are the children of the earth.
Morales did come to power from the very bottom. The first native president in the whole of South America. The leader of the left-wing party, Movement Toward Socialism, won the 2005 election. Having rolled up his sleeves, he got down to reforms. The oil and gas industry was nationalized. Allotments were given to landless peasants. Social programs began to work. Venues for Morales' favorite soccer — he always plays number 10 like Maradona — appeared in every village. Bolivia's GDP has been growing at around 5% per year; that growth stopped only after a general drop in oil prices. The Americans, who always felt like masters there, had to pack their army backpacks.
Evo Morales: "An attempt on me was being prepared at this American military base. In our country, presidents used to come one after another due to coups. But we removed the base, and the coups stopped".
Back then, Evo Morales gave an interview to Vesti not only at the hut in which he had grown, but also on board the small airplane that had seen it all. The one to which the airspace in Europe was closed in 2013 at the direction of the US, where it was assumed that Morales was secretly taking Edward Snowden from Moscow to Bolivia. The leader of by no means the most powerful country, even by the standards of Latin America, has never behaved in a way that, in the opinion of the Americans, is proper to behave for the inhabitants of their backyard. He was annoying with his independence. At the Security Council, he told Trump what he thought right to his face.
"You are not interested in human rights and the law".
He was friends with Fidel Castro.
"I knew right away that he would win the election".
He supported Hugo Chavez.
"He is a steel tiger. An iron one".
Washington hated Morales.
Evo Morales: "It's time the United States realized that the time of their constant invasions has passed. We live in the 21st century. This is a century of people, not empires".
In Bolivia, the Americans have so far managed to do what did not work out for them in Venezuela. Utilizing a repeatedly used tactic, they held local elections, which Morales himself, to be honest, botched. First, he raised the matter of a new term for a referendum, but, not receiving approval, he decided to run for a fourth term anyway. When he failed to get the victory in the first round, the situation was further aggravated by his appeal to the Organization of American States. That is, where quite recently the impostor Guaido was so easily supported. Just like during the events in Caracas, it was Bolivia's right-wing opposition that acted as the master key. The opposition and its curators have lots of plans.
Luis Camacho, leader of the opposition: "Cuba and Nicaragua still remain. Bolivia must become a hope for all Latin America that communism can be eliminated".
The US, Canada, and Brazil agree with the fact that counter-revolution has a beginning, but doesn't have an end. The State Department already demands that a mission to observe the new election process in Bolivia be equipped. The fact that Evo Morales should be excluded from it is treated in the US as something that will happen by default. After all, the current president of Bolivia got almost 600,000 more than his opponent, who, of course, also demands that Morales be prevented from running in the new elections.
Valentin Bogdanov, Ivan Utkin, and Stanislav Natanzon — Vesti, American Bureau.
