Bolivia

[secret squirrel]

Even the NYT notices the racist/Christian fascist overtones.

[Bird on a Fire]

Even the NYT notices the racist/Christian fascist overtones.

Racism and evangelical Christianity were big driving forces behind support for Bolsonaro too.

This is all very worrying, and having read more (thanks for the links, secret squirrel) I'm more convinced that the coup was a bad-faith power-grab by vested interests.

[discovolante]

Even if you can't understand Spanish, do you know where the audio can be heard? It's possible other people on here may understand. Along with evidence of its authenticity?

Here's one place, but you have to download a file. I heard it somewhere where I could just play the recordings without downloading, but I can't find it now and it's past my bedtime. I'll try to dig it out tomorrow.

I think this is the right audio (soundcloud link).

Edit: I think this page has all of them.

Edit 2: I'm trying to find some kind of confirmation of what's going on in the audio. The most convincing thing I can find is this from a major Mexican newspaper. Again it's in Spanish, but Google translate does a reasonable job.

Thanks for these. Of course, I don't understand them but fingers crossed...

I'm a bit surprised there is no transcript?

[discovolante]

Audio 8: I was sent this link this morning: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-boli ... SKBN1XP1K3

My Spanish is absolute crap and although in the audio 8 clips they are speaking pretty slowly, the sound quality is poor so I can't really understand it. But bits and pieces that I think I have picked up are: 'the consulate...the homes of the Cubans who are living there'...something about Maduro succeeding because of/getting support from Cuba...general stuff about Cuba being a problem I think? Sorry...bit embarrassing, I may have even got that little bit wrong.

[Bird on a Fire]

It's looking increasingly coup-like as time goes on and a clearer picture emerges.

At least 5 Morales supporters have been shot to death, with others injured.

The leader of the opposition, with considerably less public support than Morales, has been endorsed by the USA as the country's leader and has wasted no time in expelling 700 doctors from the country for the crime of being from Cuba. (Expelling Cuban doctors was also one of Bolsonaro's first acts in Brazil)

I'm still not fully decided on the original election, but the aftermath has all the hallmarks of global neoliberal forces taking advantage of the chaos, as they do. I'd be very unsurprised if there were shenanigans beforehand too.

Part of the problem for me is that corruption (which I abhor) is endemic in South America. The choice is between corrupt leaders who help the poor and corrupt leaders who f.ck them over, with additional dimensions of the subtlety, scale and sophistication of said corruption. By most of these measures Morales was a fairly decent leader for the region (albeit with a pretty crap track record on the environment).

Having looked into the OAS a bit more, I note (and present without comment) that they are US-based, largely US-funded and committed to free trade and the war on drugs.

[secret squirrel]

The OAS was also founded by the US to combat Soviet influence in South America. Of course, it's possible for organizations to evolve into something completely different from their original mission (e.g. the IMF was originally set up to bring economic stability and growth to struggling countries, and look how that turned out), but they did seem to come out with a false* statement, which they were in a position to know was false, at just the right time to further destabilize a leftist government.

*And look how the predictable media outlets still bring up the 'electoral fraud', and cite the OAS statement.

[secret squirrel]

Audio 8: I was sent this link this morning: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-boli ... SKBN1XP1K3

My Spanish is absolute crap and although in the audio 8 clips they are speaking pretty slowly, the sound quality is poor so I can't really understand it. But bits and pieces that I think I have picked up are: 'the consulate...the homes of the Cubans who are living there'...something about Maduro succeeding because of/getting support from Cuba...general stuff about Cuba being a problem I think? Sorry...bit embarrassing, I may have even got that little bit wrong.

Thanks for the link, and the attempt at a translation. Hopefully a transcript will come out soon.

[secret squirrel]

Uncharacteristically decent opinion piece is the WaPo.

[Bird on a Fire]

If the manner in which Áñez assumed the presidency is concerning, the way she has governed is terrifying. To the extent that Áñez, whose party received 4 percent of the Oct. 20 vote, has any mandate, it is only to schedule new elections. She has pledged to do so, but has taken no concrete steps. Meanwhile, she has replaced Bolivia’s top military brass, cabinet ministers and the heads of state-owned companies. Her ministers have threatened to arrest “seditious” journalists and lawmakers. She has also fundamentally reoriented Bolivia’s foreign policy, breaking relations with Venezuela and leaving the Union of South American Nations and Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas.

Áñez has also unleashed the police and military against protesters who have condemned the burning of the indigneous people’s wiphala flag and have called for Áñez’s resignation, new elections, the military’s return to the barracks and the release of detained protesters. Police and military forces have fired tear gas and live rounds at demonstrators. According to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Bolivia’s recent violence has left at least 23 dead and 715 injured. The worst violence was on Nov. 15, when police and military forces killed nine nonviolent protesters in Sacaba. This occurred just after Áñez issued a decree exempting armed forces personnel from prosecution for the use of force.

Even WaPo gets that this is bad.

[secret squirrel]

So it turns out the Leftists were correct again.

[Bird on a Fire]

First Brazil, then Bolivia - if the right can't beat a leftist candidate they imprison them and try again.

And people wonder why the only leftist regimes that survive in Latin America are authoritarian and often brutal (though no more so than right-wing ones like Pinochet's Chile or Brazil's military dictatorship).

[secret squirrel]

https://theintercept.com/2020/06/08/the ... d-the-nyt/

Bolivia is an interesting case study of how the 'liberal' media reliably shills for 'free market imperialist' interests whenever required, but preserves its self-image as 'serious news' by adding nuance once it becomes irrelevant. The NYT finally admits that what was obvious at the time to anyone vaguely informed about the issue is in fact the case, but neglects to acknowledge its own role in enthusiastically disseminating propaganda for far-right soon to be dictators.

[Bird on a Fire]

Looks like the coup is over. Polls suggesting an outright win for Luis Acre, representative of Morales' party and who served as Morales' finance minister, including overseeing the nationalisation of Bolivia's tasty tasty lithium mining that's so attractive to external interests.

Frustratingly milquetoast reporting from the BBC at https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-54591963

[EACLucifer]

A relief to see democracy prevail, and reminder that a nation vulnerable to authoritarianism can shut it off with an overwhelming vote against it.

[discovolante]

Yes, although at the risk of generalising about millions of people I know next to nothing about (well, not even at risk, definitely doing it), South American attitudes to citizens rights, equality and collective power broadly speaking seem to be a bit different to attitudes in erm, other countries.

Happy to be educated further on this.