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2019 Bolivian political crisis

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Evo Morales government resignation
Part of 2019 Bolivian protests
2019 Bolivian political crisis is located in Bolivia
La Paz
La Paz
2019 Bolivian political crisis (Bolivia)
Date10 November 2019
Location
Bolivia
Resulted in
Parties

Bolivian government

Lead figures
  • Carlos Mesa
  • Luis Fernando Camacho
  • Gen. Williams Kaliman[1](Army of Bolivia Commander in Chief
  • Cmdr. Yuri Calderón(National Police Commander)
  • Jeanine Áñez

On 10 November 2019, after 19 days of civil protests following the disputed election results of October 2019, the military and police of Bolivia demanded the resignation of president Evo Morales. After several high-level political resignations throughout the day, the opposition senator Jeanine Áñez assumed the office of president on 11 November 2019.[2] Morales has called for the people to reject her leadership.

Morales and close allies to Morales, such the governments of Cuba, Mexico, Nicaragua and Venezuela, and elected Argentinian President have called the demand a coup d'état,[3][4][5][6] while the Bolivian opposition rejects the term.[1]

Background

See also: 2019 Bolivian general election and 2019 Bolivian protests

On 20 October 2019, the first round of voting for all government positions was held. The Supreme Electoral Tribunal released two sets of counts shortly after the vote was closed. The two set counts both showed Morales leading by less than 10 percentage points by 7:40 pm local time, at which point the updates stopped. A less than 10 point lead results in another round of runoff voting.[7] At 9:25 pm, with no updates, President Morales declared himself the winner;[8][9] though uncounted votes in rural areas were expected to go his way, the Organization of American States (OAS), one body observing the election, noted that even if Morales did win outright, his lead beyond the 10 point threshold would be so negligible as to warrant a runoff anyway. All international bodies observing expressed concern about the day-long gap in results reporting: after 24 hours, the updates resumed, but with a large surge for Morales at the first update.[10]

On 21 October, the Plurinational Electoral Organ reported a still-incomplete count,[11] suggesting that with only 95.3% of verified votes, Morales had too large of a margin above 10 points to overcome, avoiding a second run-off round, and so Morales would remain in power for a fourth term.[12][13] Based on this result, along with several reported irregularities and the two-term presidential limit that the Bolivian Supreme Tribunal had nullified, the Bolivian opposition and protestors as well as some foreign governments and international observers called for an audit of the process and results.[14] The audit began on 31 October, being run by the OAS and observed by Spain, Mexico, and Paraguay.[15] A separate statistical analysis of the results by the Center for Economic and Policy Research revealed no irregularities.[16]

On 6 November, the Bolivian opposition published a 190-page long report containing fraud accusations, including irregularities such as mistaken electoral acts additions, data swiping and electoral acts where the ruling party obtained more votes than registered voters, expecting to send it to international organizations such as the OAS and the United Nations.[17]

During the protests, police forces joined anti-government protests and the military declared it would not "confront the people" over the issue.[18] The military also said it would conduct operations to "neutralise" any armed groups that attacked the protesters.[1]

Timeline

10 November

Audit results, military demand and resignation

On 10 November, the OAS published the report of the audit conducted during the elections. The report contained serious irregularities, adding that it was statistically unlikely that Morales had secured the 10-percentage-point margin of victory needed to win outright, saying that election should be annulled after it had found “clear manipulations” of the voting system that called into question Morales’ win and that “The manipulations to the computer systems are of such magnitude that they must be deeply investigated by the Bolivian State to get to the bottom of and assign responsibility in this serious case.”[1][19]

The same day, General Williams Kaliman asked Morales to resign to "help restore peace and stability" after weeks of protests over the vote, adding that the military was calling on the Bolivian people to refrain from violence and disorder.[19] After Kaliman's statement, Morales spoke on television announcing his immediate resignation from an undisclosed location, stating that he was resigning in order to "protect the families" of Movement for Socialism members, several attacks against which were reported by publications such as The Independent, New York Post, Al Jazeera and France 24.[20][21][22][23][24] The Washington Post further reported that Morales' own home had also been ransacked by protesters.[25] He concluded his resignation speech by stating that he believed Carlos Mesa had "achieved his objective" and asking protesters to "stop burning down the houses of [his] brothers and sisters".[26][27][28]

Post-resignation

Jeanine Áñez, pictured here in 2016, is the next in the line of succession

Morales' Vice President, Álvaro García Linera, also resigned.[1] Shortly thereafter, it was reported that Morales was on a plane to Argentina;[29] however, the Argentine foreign minister, Jorge Faurie, has said that Argentina will not grant him asylum.[30] It was tweeted later in the day that the military was seeking to arrest Morales.[31] Commander Yuri Calderón assured that there was no warrant for Morales' arrest, though the latter’s whereabouts are unknown and armed individuals have entered his home.[32] Opposition politican Luis Fernando Camacho called for members of Morales' MAS (Movement for Socialism) to be arrested.[33]

Later in the day, Adriana Salvatierra, the President of the Senate, Victor Borda, the leader of the Chamber, and Rubén Medinaceli, First Vice President of the Senate, also all resigned, leaving the country with no leader or government.[34] Twenty Bolivian politicians are believed to be seeking asylum in Mexico and had relocated to the embassy by the end of the day.[35]

Later on 10 November, BBC Mundo published an article suggesting that five main reasons combined to force Morales to resign: the audit results, the opposition from the military and police, the ongoing protests, the growing radicalization of the political opposition, and the public distaste towards his continued re-elections.[36]

Arrests of electoral commission

At 8:20 pm, the Associated Press reported that Bolivian police led by Commander Calderón had arrested 38 members of the Plurinational Electoral Organ, including the former president, Maria Eugenia Choque, and vice president. Choque was reportedly apprehended whilst disguised as a man.[32] More members were arrested on Monday, with arrest warrants for all electoral officials.[33]

Assumption of presidency by Áñez

On the evening of 10 November, Jeanine Áñez, the second vice president of the Senate and the highest-ranking official remaining in the line of succession, announced she would be assuming the presidency on a temporary basis from 11 November onward, with the responsibility of calling new elections. She stated that she would assume the office once the Senate had formally recognized the previous day's resignations. Upon her swearing in, Áñez will officially become the 68th President of Bolivia and the first woman to hold the office in Bolivian history.[a][37][38]

The Bolivian Constitution does not make specific provisions for the process of a Senator assuming the presidency; article 169 says that "In case of impediment or definitive absence of the president of the State, he will be replaced in office by the Vice President and, in his absence, by the President of the Senate, and in the absence of this by the President of the Chamber of Deputies. In the latter case, new elections will be called within a maximum period of ninety days." It also establishes the line of succession.[39]

The following day, Áñez arrived at La Paz-El Alto airport and was taken in a military helicopter to a nearby Air Force base; from here she traveled in convoy to the Senate. An assembly was convened and formally accepted Morales' resignation before promoting Áñez.[2]

11 November

Public rioting and violence

After the resignation and overnight, many Bolivians, particularly the opposition protesters, took to the streets of La Paz to celebrate; buildings were also set on fire, with news suggesting these were retaliatory attacks. With the lack of firm governance and an apathetic police force, robberies also occurred in other parts of the country.[40] In Cochabamba, an area with strong Morales support, armed gangs attacked people who appeared to be celebrating the resignation.[41] Rioters in this region also burned police centers and properties owned by members of the opposition.[42]

The unrest has encouraged analysts to suggest it may scare both sides of the Venezuelan government.[33]

Capital shut down

For unknown reasons, the drinking water supplies to both La Paz and El Alto, the two largest cities in Bolivia, were cut off from Monday 11 November.[41] La Paz's legislature also closed down the capital's infrastructure, schools, and workplaces, for public safety.[33] Supporters of Morales also built barricades on roads, preventing access to the airport.[33]

Police resignations

National Police Commander Calderón resigned on Monday, after having encouraged Morales' resignation. This was said to contribute to more confusion among citizens.[33]

Reactions

Domestic

The Movement for Socialism, the governing party of Bolivia, called upon Morales' supporters to defend him.[43]

International

Several American governments and other countries and organizations have responded to the resignation; some have supported Morales and others have been supportive of new elections without him.

Supranational bodies

 United Nations – The UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed concern at the situation and urged the parties to "refrain from violence" and exercise "maximum restraint".[44]

 European Union – EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini urged restraint and asked the parties to "lead the country peacefully and quietly" to new elections.[44]

American governments

 Argentina – The outgoing incumbent government of Argentina called for "all sides to talk in order to restore peace".[32]

  • Members of Juntos por el Cambio, the political coalition that currently rules the country, are deeply divided in their responses, which range from denunciation of a coup to justification of the security forces' intervention.[47][48]

 Brazil – President Jair Bolsonaro called the situation a "lesson for everyone" and a "win for democracy".[49]

  • Former President and opposition leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva condemned the Brazilian President's statement, dubbing the situation as a 'coup' and stating that it was "regrettable that Latin America has an economic elite who do not know how to live with democracy and the social inclusion of the poorest".[50]

 Chile – Chile's government expressed concern at the "interrupted electoral process" and called for a "prompt peaceful and democratic solution within the framework of the constitution".[44]

 Colombia – Colombia's foreign ministry issued a statement in which it called for the "mobilisation of the international community for a process of peaceful transition".[44]

 Cuba – Both Cuba's foreign minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla and President Miguel Díaz-Canel condemned what they termed a coup d'état in Bolivia.[51][1]

 Mexico – Mexico's foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard rejected the situation, which he dubbed a coup, and offered political asylum to Morales. He further compared the situation in Bolivia to Operation Condor – a violent US-backed campaign against left-wing personalities in Latin America.[52][53][52]

 Nicaragua – The Nicaraguan government strongly condemned the situation and described it as a coup against Morales, stating that Nicaragua rejected "fascist practices that ignore the constitution, laws and institutionalism that govern the democratic life of nations".[54]

 Peru – The Government of Peru called for a "transition to peace" and new elections in Bolivia.[55]

 United States – The State Department official said the country is monitoring the political situation in Bolivia and calling on civilian leadership to maintain control.[56]

  • On the other hand, US President Donald Trump welcomed Morales resignation as “a significant moment for democracy in the Western Hemisphere” and he said in written statement that Morales’s departure preserves democracy and paves the way for the Bolivian people to have their voices heard.[57]

 Venezuela – The two disputed Venezuelan leaders gave opposing views.

  • Nicolás Maduro condemned what he called a coup against Morales. Maduro further urged "all social and political groups across the globe to protest the Bolivian military's action".[58][46]
  • Juan Guaidó took the opposite side, stating that Latin America was feeling a "democratic hurricane."[59]

Other governments

 Russia – Russia's Foreign Ministry urged all political forces to "show common sense" and accused Bolivia's opposition of "unleashing a new wave of violence" in the country.[44]

Notes

  1. ^ At least three other women have briefly held the office of acting president.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Bolivian President Evo Morales resigns". BBC News.
  2. ^ a b "Evo oficializa su renuncia mientras una opositora se alista para asumir la Presidencia de Bolivia". Primicias (in European Spanish). Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  3. ^ "Bolivian president Evo Morales resigns after election result dispute". The Guardian. 10 November 2019. Retrieved 10 November 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ "Bolivia's beleaguered President Morales announces resignation". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 10 November 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ Teruggi, Marco. "Bolivia: la derecha apura el golpe contra Evo Morales | Insisten con la renuncia del Presidente, a pesar del llamado a nuevas elecciones". PAGINA12. Retrieved 11 November 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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  45. ^ Página12. "Cristina Kirchner: "Lo de Bolivia se llama golpe de Estado" | La vicepresidenta electa condenó la ruptura institucional". PAGINA12. Retrieved 11 November 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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  59. ^ "Evo Morales steps down: Reaction from Latin America and beyond". Al Jazeera. 11 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
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