|
from MROnline Website
Workers of all industries and sectors continue protests against Áñez and to protect social rights created under Morales’s government (photo credit: MAS-IPSP).
Elon Musk and the
Overthrow of Democracy in Bolivia
Someone responded to Musk soon after,
Musk then wrote:
Musk refers here to the coup against President Evo Morales Ayma, who was removed illegally from his office in November 2019.
Morales had just won an election for a term that was to have begun in January 2020. Even if there was a challenge against that election, Morales' term should rightfully have continued through November and December of 2019.
Instead, the Bolivian military, at the behest of Bolivia's far right and the United States government, threatened Morales; Morales went into exile in Mexico and is now in Argentina.
At that time, the "evidence" of fraud was offered by the far right and by a "preliminary report" by the Organization of American States; only after Morales was removed from office was there grudging acknowledgement by the liberal media that there was in fact no evidence of fraud.
It was too late for Bolivia, which has been condemned to a dangerous government that has suspended democracy in the country.
Lithium Coup
Over his 14 years in office, Morales fought to use the wealth of Bolivia for the Bolivian people, who saw - after centuries of oppression - remarkable advances in their basic needs.
The use of Bolivia's wealth to advance the interests of the people rather than North American multinational corporations was an abomination to the U.S. embassy in La Paz, which had egged on the worst elements of the military and the far right to overthrow the government.
This is just what happened in November 2019.
Musk's admission, however intemperate, is at least honest. His company Tesla has long wanted access at a low price to the large lithium deposits in Bolivia:
Earlier this year, Musk and his company revealed that they wanted to build a Tesla factory in Brazil, which would be supplied by lithium from Bolivia.
When we wrote about that, we called our report "Elon Musk Is Acting Like a Neo-Conquistador for South America's Lithium."
Everything we wrote there is condensed in his new tweet:
Musk went on to delete his tweet.
He then said,
This will not settle the issue, since eyebrows are being raised in Australia regarding the environmental damage from lithium mining.
Suspension of Democracy
After Morales was removed, an insignificant far-right politician named Jeanine Áñez set aside the constitutional process and seized power.
She showed the character of her politics when she signed a presidential decree on November 15, 2019, that gave the military the right to do whatever it wanted; even her allies found this to be too far and repealed it on November 28.
Arrests and intimidation of activists from the Movement for Socialism (MAS) - the party of Morales - began in November 2019 and still continue.
On July 7, 2020, seven U.S. senators published a statement that said,
There's no need to worry about that, since the government of Áñez seems unwilling to hold an election.
A recent poll by El Centro Estratégico Latinoamericano de Geopolítica (CELAG) says that Áñez will get a mere 13.3 per cent, far behind the Movement for Socialism's Luis Arce (41.9 per cent) and the center right's Carlos Mesa (26.8 per cent).
The election was supposed to have taken place in May, but it was rescheduled for September 6; it has now been postponed once more, this time to October 18. Bolivia would not have had an elected government for an entire year.
Luis Arce of MAS recently told Oliver Vargas,
But, he said,
If elections are permitted.
The CELAG study shows that 9 out of 10 Bolivians have seen their incomes decline due to the coronavirus recession. Because of this - and of the attack by this government on the MAS - 65.2 per cent of Bolivians have a negative appraisal of Áñez.
It is important to note that due to the positive policies of Morales' MAS, there is widespread support for a socialist orientation; 64.1 per cent of Bolivians support taxes against the rich, and Bolivians in general support the resource socialism of the MAS and Morales.
CoronaShock and Bolivia
The government of Áñez has been utterly incompetent regarding the coronavirus.
The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in this country of 11 million people is 66,456; since testing is low, the number is likely much higher.
Musk returns to our story. Earlier this year, on March 31, Bolivia's Foreign Minister Karen Longaric wrote an obsequious letter to Musk asking him about the,
Longaric said,
No such ventilators came.
Instead, the government bought ventilators from a Spanish supplier for $27,000 for each of the 170 devices; Bolivian producers had said they could supply ventilators for $1,000 per unit.
The health minister in the Áñez government - Marcelo Navajas - was arrested for this scandal.
Morales
Evo Morales read Musk's tweet about the coup in Bolivia and responded:
The reference to the massacres is important.
In November, from Mexico City, Morales watched as the government of Áñez let loose the dogs of war against the people of Bolivia from Cochabamba to El Alto.
It is the toxic character of the government of Áñez, backed fully by the U.S. government and Elon Musk.
Protests across Bolivia began on July 27 for the restoration of democracy...
|
