Luis Arce (MAS) Wins Bolivian Presidency ✫✫✫✫!


‘Socialist Presidential Candidate Arce Wins Bolivia’s Elections’,
Oct. 19, 2020, telesurenglish

“After midnight on Sunday, Bolivian authorities allowed the results of the exit polls to be known. The Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) presidential candidate Luis Arce obtained 52.4 percent of the votes, the Citizen Community (CC) candidate Carlos Mesa got 31.5 percent, and the “We Believe Alliance” candidate Luis Fernando Camacho reached 14.1 percent of the votes.

Bolivia’s president-elect Arce thanked the people for their support and for their peaceful participation in the electoral process.” […]

“The Bolivian Socialists’ message was categorical and clear: “we call on the community to avoid provocations… let’s end this nightmare we have been living for a year.”

A few minutes before the official information was issued, former President Evo Morales, who remains a political asylee in Argentina, recalled that millions of Bolivians cast their vote peacefully and demanded that the coup-born regime led by Jeanine Añez respect the results.

“Yesterday we denounced that the authorities suspended the presentation of the results of the exit poll companies. That was suspicious,” the Socialist leader said

Everything indicates that the MAS has won the elections and won a majority of seats in both chambers,” Evo added.”

The page contains a grisly  two-minute video: Repression Against Dead and Alive

From the Orinoco Tribune:

“CIESMORI, another exit poll firm posted a regional estimation of the electoral result placing Arce’s victory with a margin bigger than 30% in comparison with Mesa in La Paz and Cochabamba. In La Paz Luis Arce according to this firm won with 65.3% of the votes and Mesa only got 31.7%. In Cochabamba Arce got 63.1% of the votes and Mesa only 34.1%.

Former Bolivian president Evo Morales one hour before the release of the exit poll results held a press conference from Buenos Aires in a celebratory tone and requested the release of the preliminary results. After being force to resign in 2019 Morales travel to Mexico that granted him asylums and a few weeks later he set his operational headquarters in Argentina to be closer to his family and to Bolivia.

Luis Arce was Evo Morales’ minister of economy and many associate him with the flourishing of Bolivia’s economy while Morales was president. During Jeanine Anez de facto government, the economy of Bolivia have deteriorated to unimaginable levels and with the terrible handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, many Bolivians -event from urban areas- began to miss the government of Evo Morales.”

Yes, we hope that the coup government in Bolivia will accept the final results due on Wednesday, especially given the horrors inflicted on MAS supporters and journalists before Sunday’s voting: ‘MAS Supporters are Being Massacred by Golpistas in Bolivia’, Oct.15, 2010, wd, caucus99percent.com

And given that Evo’s removal from office was a US/OAS supported putsch, and the Bolivian military was trained by US via the Schools of the Americas, we hope that President Arce will dismiss any who had aided in the coups.

There’s no word yet, of course, as to Arce’s re-nationalizing Boliia’s extensive lithium deposits, nor what may become of the golpistas having contracted it to Elon Musk earlier.  Are there safer ways to mine it?  When will Evo be permitted to return from Argentina?

Meanwhile let’s hear from the MAS supporters and celebrants!

@camilateleSUR 3h
‘Luis Almagro is responsible for a coup, many coup attempts around our continent, extrajudicial killings in Bolivia and elsewhere and he leads the foremost anti-democratic body in the Americas. The fight to eradicate imperialist forces from our continent only begins now.’

@camilateleSUR
Jeanine Añez, ICYMI: "We do not yet have an official count, but from the data we have, Mr. Arce and Mr. Choquehuanca have won the election. I congratulate the winners and ask them to govern with Bolivia and democracy in mind."

Bless Arce's spiritual heart:

(cross-posted from Café Babylon)

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wendy davis's picture

6h
Evo Morales just announced that a post-coup Bolivia will relaunch UNASUR, one of the only forums for Latin American integration without the presence of the US. The right-wing govts in the region have tried to destroy it on orders from Washington.

OAS includes the US, of course, but ALBA does Not.

What is ALBA?

The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of our America (or ALBA for short) was founded on the 14th of December 2004 when presidents Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Fidel Castro of Cuba signed protocols bringing the agreement into existence. In its own terms the ALBA is defined as an “integration platform” whose fundamental purpose is to achieve “integral development” for Latin America and the Caribbean through a process of integration inspired by the likes of Simon Bolivar and Jose Marti. Beyond a narrow focus upon trade which has tended to mark other regional agreements, the ALBA professes to be a “political, economic, and social alliance in defence of independence, self-determination and the identity of peoples comprising it”

Note to readers: The summary below was authored in 2014. It does not reflect changes that have occurred since then, such as the exit of Ecuador from the ALBA in August 2018. The page will be updated in 2019 to better account for recent developments [posted 20/03/2019].

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and the most epic tweet of the day..

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wendy davis's picture

@gjohnsit

USians get it and are cheering on the Return of MAS to power. mark weisbrot at CEPR) i did know about. he also weighs in on VZ a hella lot. ; )

thanks, gjohnist. and i did see our posts crossed about 5 minutes apart, but as most of my sources were on the ground reporters, i reckoned i'd keep it up.

so far so good, so the news got 4 white stars....in caution.

you may know that evo was the original indigenous eco-socialist, having given Mother Nature the status of 'personhood'.

World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth; Building the People's World Movement for Mother Earth
, April 24, 2010

it opens:

"Today, our Mother Earth is wounded and the future of humanity is in danger.

If global warming increases by more than 2 degrees Celsius, a situation that the “Copenhagen Accord” could lead to, there is a 50% probability that the damages caused to our Mother Earth will be completely irreversible. Between 20% and 30% of species would be in danger of disappearing. Large extensions of forest would be affected, droughts and floods would affect different regions of the planet, deserts would expand, and the melting of the polar ice caps and the glaciers in the Andes and Himalayas would worsen. Many island states would disappear, and Africa would suffer an increase in temperature of more than 3 degrees Celsius. Likewise, the production of food would diminish in the world, causing catastrophic impact on the survival of inhabitants from vast regions in the planet, and the number of people in the world suffering from hunger would increase dramatically, a figure that already exceeds 1.02 billion people.The corporations and governments of the so-called “developed” countries, in complicity with a segment of the scientific community, have led us to discuss climate change as a problem limited to the rise in temperature without questioning the cause, which is the capitalist system.

We confront the terminal crisis of a civilizing model that is patriarchal and based on the submission and destruction of human beings and nature that accelerated since the industrial revolution.

The capitalist system has imposed on us a logic of competition, progress and limitless growth. This regime of production and consumption seeks profit without limits, separating human beings from nature and imposing a logic of domination upon nature, transforming everything into commodities: water, earth, the human genome, ancestral cultures, biodiversity, justice, ethics, the rights of peoples, and life itself.

Under capitalism, Mother Earth is converted into a source of raw materials, and human beings into consumers and a means of production, into people that are seen as valuable only for what they own, and not for what they are.

Capitalism requires a powerful military industry for its processes of accumulation and imposition of control over territories and natural resources, suppressing the resistance of the peoples. It is an imperialist system of colonization of the planet.

Humanity confronts a great dilemma: to continue on the path of capitalism, depredation, and death, or to choose the path of harmony with nature and respect for life.

It is imperative that we forge a new system that restores harmony with nature and among human beings. And in order for there to be balance with nature, there must first be equity among human beings. We propose to the peoples of the world the recovery, revalorization, and strengthening of the knowledge, wisdom, and ancestral practices of Indigenous Peoples, which are affirmed in the thought and practices of “Living Well,” recognizing Mother Earth as a living being with which we have an indivisible, interdependent, complementary and spiritual relationship.'

pretty heady stuff, no?

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travelerxxx's picture

Fantastic news! Good thing I didn't make any bets on this election (not that I really would). Still, I didn't expect it.

And this:

... And given that Evo’s removal from office was a US/OAS supported putsch, and the Bolivian military was trained by US via the Schools of the Americas, we hope that President Arce will dismiss any who had aided in the coups.

Well, yes, at least dismiss them. I'd be keeping a close eye on them – they are vipers, every one. Trained murderers at the least. Tracking bracelets come to mind ...at least you'd know when they head to the local CIA office to get their marching orders and/or pickup their bribes.

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wendy davis's picture

@travelerxxx

made me laugh. janine añez called evo and friends 'snake worshipers' and other charming sobriquets. but yes, given what horrors MAS supporters had faced in the run-up to the elections, i wasn't so sure either. maybe it was ollie vargas who'd had a photo showing three (iirc) military shock troopers looking at their phones, and had said earlier ther had be 30 outside MAS HQ in la paz. when the first exit poll results came in...they blew outta there!

well, ollie v. agrees with you and me. likely luis has learned evo's harsh lesson and will too.

thanks, traveller xxx

p.s. do ya think AOC will give her golpista flag now? ; ) boy, howdy, did that vex some socialists on twitter.

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travelerxxx's picture

@wendy davis

I seriously considered posting that picture! Got busy around the house, so I didn't. Glad you did, though!

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wendy davis's picture

@travelerxxx

first reference, afaik: February 14, 2020, Ocasio-Cortez to Constituents on Bolivian Coup: Drop Dead', by Jacob Levich, counterpunch.org

and later they'd removed the image. ; )

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travelerxxx's picture

@wendy davis

and later they'd removed the image. ; )

Heh. Too late. We've all got it. Forever.

AOC_Bolivian_opposition.jpg

Sometimes I've wondered whether she was just ignorant. Quite possible, of course. Still...

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wendy davis's picture

@travelerxxx

no idea who the woman is; she may be a product of her self-advertising, or worse: other people's advertising on her behalf. she does scrub her Tweets madly, but her detractors find ways of restoring them. and yes, she's been touted as running for Prez in 2024 (even here). the main thing to me is that there's often a huge disconnect between what she Tweets...and how she votes.

but as with Greta, she's become a legend in her own time. ; )

Beware Heroes: They Most Often Have Feet of Clay.

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wendy davis's picture

@irishking

might be just the ticket, as he'd hate to get assassinated (as was tried with 'the tyrant' maduro several times in VZ) on his travels home.

thanks, irishking.

on edit: iirc, he'd had to leave boivia covertly to get to mexico, then again secretly to get to argentina. so keeping the timing nebulous is warranted.

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earthling1's picture

"It ain't over til it's over".
No one would be happier that me if the Bolivian people can now live in peace and prosperity.
But it's not how our evil regime works.
Cue the sanctions, the blockade of critical imports, the arming of rightist forces, the sabotaging of critical infrastructure, seizing of assets, and trumped up charges of terrorism and/ or drug running.
And continuing assasinations, lots more assasinations.
All that lithium belongs to American Oligarths. They will stop at nothing to get it.
God I hope I'm dead wrong.

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

wendy davis's picture

@earthling1

as i'd noted, i'd given the news 4 white stars on hope and speculation.

add to your longish Imperial list:

@AndeanInfoNet

They've only counted 16% of the vote by now. It's will be a long wait. Keep an eye out for the security forces potentially rejecting the results & what irregular groups could do. Today is the formal inauguration of the @ Expert Group. Their mission in Bolivia is crucial.

CIDH: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, washington d.c. i assume they certify the election results on wednesday? it's all in spanish, so i'm at a loss...

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@wendy davis @wendy davis
report, then, by mandate, they go quiet until vote counting is complete. Once the vote is total and finalized it is announced. The last votes to be counted are from the furthest hinterlands. These remote villages are very high % of indigenous citizens who will support MAS very strongly. So even if they go into the "quiet time" with only a 8-9% lead in the polls they will likely come out with the 10% lead needed to win outright.
It was during this "quiet time" that the U.S. state department and their lackeys at NYT and WaPo and OAS started their propaganda efforts to support the coup last year. They seeded the news with "reports of irregularities in vote counts" and undermined what was actually a well run democratic contest.

Also, again just by memory, to win outright you need to beat your closest opponent by 10% points and/or beat the 50% margin or there will be a run off election. If good ole Uhmerika had such robust democratic systems then Gore v Bush would have gone to a run off. As would have Trump v Clinton.

FInal tallies of this election may take over a week to be had.
Don't forget what it took for Bolivia to make this election happen. A national strike and highways closed for over 10 days. It is my understanding that they actually dynamited passes in mountainous regions (blocking highways) and dragged huge trees into the roadway in protest of the current government. The message was basically "give us democracy or we will burn this place down".

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travelerxxx's picture

@wouldsman

[My bold]

Don't forget what it took for Bolivia to make this election happen. A national strike and highways closed for over 10 days. It is my understanding that they actually dynamited passes in mountainous regions (blocking highways) and dragged huge trees into the roadway in protest of the current government. The message was basically "give us democracy or we will burn this place down".

Whoa! Those Bolivians really are tough! Hell, here in the Home of the Brave, the cops help ladies wearing their pink pussy hats across the street.

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wendy davis's picture

@wouldsman

you have! now i remember this:

"It was during this "quiet time" that the U.S. state department and their lackeys at NYT and WaPo and OAS started their propaganda efforts to support the coup last year. They seeded the news with "reports of irregularities in vote counts" and undermined what was actually a well run democratic contest."

much like voting 'irregularities' in VZ.

yes, MAS supporters have proven doughty and indomitable...likely because of what the coup government has done to them in the run-up to (thrice postponed elections).

new this a.m.:

old from yesterday, but Ollie sees DT as its author:

@OVargas52 14h
‘They knew they'd lost the vote, just like they knew they'd lost Evo in 2019. Violence is their only tactic.’

gotta love this one from camila, even though i hadn't known his name:

turns out he's Acting Assistant Secretary for U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.

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wendy davis's picture

newsletter:

CEPR's Bolivian Elections Live Blog

there are a few alarming things from some districts, such as this:

Observers on the ground are relaying anecdotal reports that MAS delegates are absent from a number of voting centers. In Santa Cruz, one observer notes “the fear of being identified with MAS in some neighborhoods is strong” after visiting a voting center without any MAS delegate present. Voting has now officially come to a close.

and i do wish i knew if the TSE has an agenda, as they have several quoted from him:

TSE head Salvador Romero announced that the counting of votes from precincts abroad will begin at 5:00 p.m. ET, with counting of votes from departmental precincts to start at 6:00 p.m. ET.

but at the bottom, they give some background, including:

The Organization of American States (OAS) is being tasked with again determining the legitimacy of the electoral process and results, despite its role in arbitrarily delegitimizing the results of last year’s elections and paving the way for the coup that followed. The OAS is joined by delegations of election monitors from the European Union, the Carter Center, the Grupo de Puebla, the Progressive International, Parlasur, COPPAL, Code Pink, academics with expertise on Bolivia and Latin America, and others.

Human rights leaders in Argentina, including Adolfo Pérez Esquivel and the Madres de Plaza de Mayo, have filed a complaint against Almagro and the OAS Electoral Observer Mission before the UN’s Office of the High Commission on Human Rights. This year’s OAS observation mission is led by the same individual that led last year’s.

This time, the OAS is calling on everyone to respect the results of the election as reported. This despite Almagro raising the possibility of another MAS “fraud” after meeting with de facto interior minister Arturo Murillo in Washington DC last month. The OAS — and other international entities — however, have said little about the worrying pre-election atmosphere.

For example, in an incident seen by many as political persecution, MAS legislative candidate Brenda Segovia was arrested in Santa Cruz on Monday, October 12, following a far-right group attack on a MAS office in her neighborhood. The de facto authorities have also slapped various MAS leaders, among them candidate Luis Arce, with charges that include “sedition,” “terrorism” and “corruption” that are seen by many as a form of political persecution and harassment. Human Rights Watch has examined other cases of charges against former Morales officials that “appear to be politically motivated.”

De facto government officials, in particular Interior Minister Arturo Murillo, have denounced the MAS party and stoked fear in deeply concerning ways that call into question the fairness of the electoral process under its control. On Friday, October 16, the Minister of Justice accused the MAS of planning to “kill people” if it loses the elections.

They have also singled out some independent international election observers, referring to them as “agitators,” and warning they could be jailed or “put on a plane.” Members of the Code Pink delegation were stalked en route to Bolivia, with photos of them posted online along with incendiary messages describing them as “terrorists.” On October 16, state security detained a member of an officially accredited observer delegation from the Argentine congress when they arrived in La Paz.

Partly in response to the threats, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said, “Everyone should be able to exercise the right to vote in peace, without intimidation or violence. These elections represent an opportunity to really move forward on social and economic fronts, and to defuse the extreme polarization that has been plaguing Bolivia over the past few years,” and added “It is essential that all sides avoid further acts of violence that could spark a confrontation.”

Once voting is finished, it will likely be days before the results are known. This is because in a surprise last-minute announcement, Bolivia’s electoral authorities, the Tribunal Supremo Electoral (TSE), said that there will not be a preliminary count on election night. This follows alarms raised by CEPR and others after the UNDP office in La Paz stated: “Disaggregation level of the results will be at Polling precinct level (recinto electoral) and most probably there will not be a excel [sic] sheet for public download.” As votes were processed in the 2019 election, analysts were able to download Excel sheets of disaggregated results data. Analysis of this data allowed them to show that there was no statistical basis for the Organization of American States’ claims questioning the validity of the results showing that President Evo Morales had won a first-round victory.'

in any event, there seem to be hundreds of 'observers' there. i'd forgotten to add:

Thomas Becker, Supervisor of the University Network for Human Rights, Tweeted from Senkata, site of an infamous post-coup massacre in November:

Almost a year after the military shot dozens of people in Senkata, vecinos went to the polls. After the government deployed thousands of soldiers last night, a fear of more violence pervades the streets. #Bolivia

ollie v has some of their photos, but for now i need to work on my cassoulet.

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wendy davis's picture

@KawsachunNews 41m

'Evo Morales won't be in government, but will play a leading role in the party, says Wilfredo Chávez the official Attorney for the MAS. Luis Arce said earlier today that Evo 'is welcome to help us' in government, but that Arce will be the one in charge.'

@KawsachunNews

'Bolivia's MAS have asked the courts to arrest former Interior Minister @ArturoMurilloS
so as to stop him fleeing the country and thereby avoid facing justice for ordering the massacres of indigenous protesters in Sacaba & Senkata.

@OVargas52 3h

'Bolivian indigenous leader El Mallku: "We fulfilled our duty to democracy, we showed these foreigners that we the savages, the ignorants, indian pieces of shit & human beasts, are the majority"

(wide grin)

@OVargas52 2h

'Bolivia's Patricia Arce was not only kidnapped & tortured by coup supporters, she was then persecuted by the regime. She had 17 charges brought against her, including for 'terrorism'.

She's now a Senator for the MAS. Her persecutors are leaving power. She can rest easy now.'

@OVargas52 Oct 18

'The next few days will be key for consolidating democracy in Bolivia. The MAS will need to embrace the patriotic elements within the police & military, to ensure the US/Murillo don't launch a second coup against the majority of Bolivians.'

tragic beyond all reason:

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wendy davis's picture

and what it means, or may not mean...but i'll add a few things even if this thread has reached its sell-by date.

first: ‘The Spin War: Media Responds With Apathy, Disappointment as US-Backed Coup Gov’t Concedes Defeat in Bolivia; Across the spectrum, corporate media has endorsed last year’s rightwing takeover of Bolivia, refusing to label it as a coup. Coverage of Sunday’s historical elections hasn’t been much better’, by Alan Macleod, Oct. 19, 2020, mintpressnews.com (CC) bits from a longish, but excellent piece:

“Media disappointment at return of democracy

Across the spectrum, corporate media endorsed the events of November, refusing to label them a coup. The New York Times editorial board claimed that the “increasingly autocratic” tyrant Morales had actually “resigned,” after “protests” over a “highly fishy vote.” The Washington Post did the same. “There can be little doubt who was responsible for the chaos: newly resigned president Evo Morales,” their editorial board wrote, as they expressed their relief that Bolivia was finally in the hands of “more responsible leaders” like Añez, (who, at the time, was giving security forces orders to shoot her opponents in the streets).

Despite this, The Wall Street Journal’s board decided the events of November constituted “a democratic outbreak in Bolivia.”

Today, therefore, the corporate press is in a very tough spot, as they have to explain to their readers why the Bolivian people have just handed an overwhelming, landslide victory to a party they have been presenting as an authoritarian dictatorship who were overthrown by popular protests last year.

A number of outlets solved this by simply fastidiously avoiding reporting on the events of November or using the word “coup” to describe them. NPR’s Philip Reeves, for example, claimed Morales “resigned” amid an annulled election after “allegations of fraud,” leading to an “interim government” (Añez’s own public relations-minded phrase for her administration). The word “coup” only appears in the mouth of Morales, someone whose credibility the outlet has spent months undermining. Other organizations like Deutsche Welt and Bloomberg failed to use the word at all in their reporting.

The Associated Press, meanwhile, referenced the coup, but did not use the word, instead describing it as when “police and military leaders suggested he [Morales] leave.” It takes great linguistic skill to refrain from using by far the most appropriate word to describe events in Bolivia for what they are: a coup. Indeed, the linguistic gymnastics necessary to avoid using the word would be genuinely impressive were not an exercise in deceit and manufacturing consent for regime change.

CNN at least included the phrase “claims of a coup,” but presents it beside apparently equally justified “allegations of fraud among contested national elections.” But these two things are nothing like the same. One is a statement of fact while another is a debunked, discredited talking point used to overthrow a legitimate government.

Meanwhile, the BBC’s article on the election had an entire section called “why is the country so divided” which did not mention the massacres, the firesale of the country’s economy, the repression of media or activists, the persecution of the MAS or the U.S. role in overthrowing the elected government. Instead, it presented Morales himself as the prime agent of polarization, a common tactic among media discussing enemy states.

The New York Times also published a long, in-depth article on the election, yet it appeared that the only MAS “supporters” it was willing to quote were ones who constantly badmouthed Morales, the article also suggesting that MAS’ figures might be inflated, despite the fact they have now been accepted by Añez and Mesa as essentially accurate.

As such the corporate press refused to cover the incredible story of nationwide nonviolent resistance to authoritarian rule, forcing a government into accepting its own defeat, reminiscent of Gandhi’s campaign against the British in India.”

Eventually macLeod asks ‘What’s Next?

Speaking of 'spin wars', i'll include another one (a true hit job in a separate comment.

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wendy davis's picture

and although andrea lobo is known for such, her hit job on the election and evo in particular is epic, with too much to reasonably bring, so i'll just hit a few of the most scorched earth notes, even while some of them might be...close to so:

Coup regime in Bolivia concedes electoral victory to MAS. Oct. 19, 2020, wsws.org

'Mesa has already conceded defeat, while the de facto president Jeanine Áñez and the president of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, have congratulated Arce for the victory. The OAS played a crucial role in the overthrow of Morales last year by publishing a report with false allegations of voter fraud.'

not having heard that fact, i dug the english version of Almargo's tweet out, lookd at his Twit account, and it does seem to be so, shockingly:

"Bolivia's people spoke out at the polling stations. Congratulations to Luis Arce Catacora and David Choquehuanca [vice president candidate], wishing them every success in their future work. I am confident that thanks to democracy, they will know how to build a bright future for their country. This is the recognition of the Bolivian people," Almagro posted on Twitter.

back to Lobo's screed:

'This electoral outcome demonstrates the deep popular hatred for the fascistic Áñez regime, which twice postponed the elections, amid a catastrophic response to the pandemic, military repression and rampant corruption. With nearly 8,500 confirmed COVID-19 deaths, Bolivia has the highest per capita fatalities after Perú and Belgium.

The decision to accept the election results, handing power back to MAS, is being taken by US imperialism and its stooges in the Áñez regime and Bolivian military as a necessary tactical maneuver to politically disarm and paralyze the growing workers’ struggles, even as they prepare a shift to authoritarian forms of rule.

At the same time, an Arce administration is perceived as a better vehicle to re-start the economy, implement a “herd immunity” policy of generalized contagion, ram through brutal austerity measures in response to the economic downturn and further build up the repressive state apparatus.
..............................
None of this impeded ex-president Morales, who was arbitrarily banned from running as a candidate, and other MAS leaders from presenting the elections as a “celebration of democracy.”

At a press conference held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Evo Morales added: “Today, we have recovered democracy and the fatherland. We will recover stability and progress! We will recover peace!”

Meanwhile, in La Paz, as the police beefed up the cordon to protect the MAS campaign headquarters, president-elect Arce read a statement to the media indicating: “We will govern for all Bolivians, we’ll build a national unity government, we’ll build unity in our country.”

These statements amount to an olive branch to the coup plotters, who will simply bide their time until MAS is again deemed inadequate to suppress social opposition.
Most fundamentally, MAS’s entire response to the coup has been directed at preventing the independent mobilization of the working class against the capitalist state. This was accompanied by promises to the ruling class of an “economic reactivation” and benefits to the same military responsible for massacring those resisting the overthrow of Morales.

On Saturday, Morales tweeted: “The soldiers and Joint Task Force personnel did not receive bonuses or salaries in the last three months, a situation that we denounce as a flagrant violation of their rights and a dismissal of the work they perform.

This followed an interview with Jacobin where he introduced himself as “the only civilian president who has been in the barracks,” indicating that he was conscripted in 1978, specialized in the Military Police and provided security for the Chiefs of Staff. He then argued that MAS can provide stability to bourgeois rule as opposed to the decades of “one coup after the other” before his election in 2005.

He fraudulently presented as “anti-capitalist” his opposition to the coronavirus shutdowns, a position based on protecting the continued stream of profits at the expense of workers’ lives. “The productive apparatus was paralyzed by the quarantine, but also the government itself shut it down because it submitted to the policies of capitalism,” he said.

MAS and Morales are preparing another betrayal of the Bolivian workers and masses amid the ongoing deadly threats of the pandemic, military dictatorship and fascism. This can only be understood as the outcome of their bourgeois-nationalist politics, which are completely subordinated to Wall Street and imperialism.'
..........................
The coup was mounted in response to fears within Bolivia’ ruling circles that Morales was becoming incapable of suppressing the class struggle. It also was in line with the drive by US imperialism to regain its hegemony over the natural resources and markets of Bolivia—including strategic lithium reserves—and all of Latin America against Chinese and European competitors.'

i wasn't able to find Jacobin's interview with Evo, although i'd looked a 4 separate items there. but i will offer that several wsws authors are furious that DSA Jacobin is promoting 'herd immunity'.

on later edit: i'd forgotten to add: or is this all by way of a long con job, given i'd seen this on his account, as well as a similar one in spanish?:

Luis Almagro Retweeted:

Department of State @StateDept
US government account

.@OAS_official has expanded democracy throughout the Western Hemisphere. But there are still outliers. We will continue our work with OAS to restore democracy to Venezuela and Nicaragua, and to bring democracy to Cuba. #OASAssembly

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travelerxxx's picture

@wendy davis

Is this the interview you are looking for, Wendy?

Not positive of the date, and haven't had time to read it. I will later this evening.

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wendy davis's picture

@travelerxxx

although lobo had said that immediately after the vote (0n the 18th), evo had tweeted. etc. then: following this...jacobin, and this is dated oct. 7. but thank you, 2 L to read 2night. i was just about to close down for the night.

Sleep well, all; your national guard is protecting your dreams.

can't imagine what a closing song might be. ah! yes i can; we just heard this on a dvd we're watching. works 4 me.... ; )

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAr66PWB8VQ]

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wendy davis's picture

@travelerxxx

a pre-election interview, it seems not to have been the one lobo had smeared Evo about. nothing about 'herd immunity being capitalist' and so on. he seems quite intelligent, well-educated in history, social movements, and capitalism's hegemonic dark centers.

from the related Twitter accounts:

@camilateleSUR 11h

Vote abroad: Luis Arce of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) receives 88.14% in Argentina with 100% of votes counted.

@camilateleSUR 13h

The Ombudsman's Office in Cochabamba reports this gathering is made up of Cochala youth resistance and citizen platforms who are seeking to "generate violence to prevent the completion of the count" by the Plenary Chamber of the TED.

WTF?

@camilateleSUR 19h

Breaking: Jeanine Añez reappoints Arturo Murillo as Interior Minister one day after dismissing him. Víctor Hugo Cárdenas also reappointed as Minister of Education.

@KawsachunNews 16h

Bolivia will restore diplomatic relations with Cuba, Venezuela and Iran, said President-elect Luis Arce in an interview with EFE. He will also re-establish good relations with China & Russia.

Arce condems the coup govt for its ideological & pro-US approach to foreign policy.

remember as well that andrea lobo had claimed that the large police presence outside MAA HQ in la paz were there to protect MAS candidates supporters.

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travelerxxx's picture

@wendy davis

Best thing I can say right now is that "I don't know." Seeing too many things not making sense. Naturally, the various propaganda mills are in overdrive. I hope MAS has the time to see this settle out a bit. They may not have that.

As for Lobo: "...remember as well that andrea lobo had claimed that the large police presence outside MAA HQ in la paz were there to protect MAS candidates supporters."

Yeah, I wouldn't be betting the farm on that.

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wendy davis's picture

@travelerxxx

i keep trying and failing to construct metaphors for Killing socialist nations' leaders (reversing the pink tide): too bougie capitalist, too dictatorial driving peasants into poverty, too corrupt elections...but all i imagine don't really make the grade.

thank you sooooo much for hanging in so long with this this discussion, my friend.

i just put 2 loaves of fake sourdough dill bread into the oven, and can't wait for the scent to fill the house. my second favorite is Masa, as in tamales. maybe for christmas as they are works of love.

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travelerxxx's picture

@wendy davis

Ah, Christmas tamales! So glad to be living in a Latinx majority area. We don't cook them ourselves as the real pros are everywhere here ...almost next door! The only problem is too many choices!

Yeah, right now I don't think the average Ecuadorian is contemplating "...metaphors for Killing socialist nations )revering the pink tide): too bougie capitalist, too dictatorial driving peasants into poverty, too corrupt elections," if you know what I mean. If you brought any of that up to one of them now, they'd probably look at you like you're crazy.

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wendy davis's picture

@travelerxxx

tamale availability! a mexican neighbor taught me how to make them...what? 40 yrs ago?

i did have mr. wd pick up some masa harina last weekend. guess i might need to ask him to buy some (fresher) dried corn husks for steaming.

good night my friend; mine eyes can scarcely see the remaining letters on my keyboard. we get up before five to milk the chickens and all.

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