On November 10, 2019, Evo Morales, the first Indigenous President of Bolivia and a champion of Palestinian liberation, was forcibly removed from office in a military coup. The coup, carried out by far-right forces backed by the United States, came on the heels of Morales’s re-election on October 20. In response to the election results, the opposition in Bolivia declared that the vote count had been rigged despite the fact that they provided no evidence. At the heart of the coup is an all-out assault by the ruling class in Bolivia and their patrons in the White House on the strides made by Evo’s Indigenous-Socialist government. These strides include lifting Indigenous and working class Bolivians out of poverty, nationalizing the oil and gas sector and protecting the country’s lithium reserves, the largest in the world. In short, Bolivia’s path towards Socialism under Evo represents a threat to the opposition’s profits and Indigenous self-determination represents a threat to their power. On the international stage, Evo’s steadfast commitment to standing up against US imperialism and israel has made him even more of a threat to empire over the years. It is for these reasons that Evo and his Indigenous-Socialist movement are now under attack.
In the political void left by the military coup, Jeanine Añez Chávez, a racist, anti-Indigenous member of the opposition who has publicly stated that she “dreams of a Bolivia free of satanic Indigenous rites,” declared herself interim President. While Añez Chávez has tried to sell the coup to the world as a legitimate defense of democracy, the reality of the situation is best captured by Evo’s first public statement following his overthrow:
“My sin was being Indigenous, leftist and anti-imperialist.”
— Evo Morales
As Palestinian and anti-zionist youth in the belly of the beast, we recognize that the struggle of Indigenous people in Bolivia is the struggle of Indigenous people everywhere, Palestinians included. It is in this spirit that Evo Morales, his political party Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) and the Indigenous people of Bolivia have stood firmly by the Palestinian struggle, and it is in this spirit that Within Our Lifetime stands in solidarity with Evo, the Aymara and Quechua Indigenous people, and all working class and progressive forces in Bolivia currently under attack by US imperialism and its proxies.
Here in the US, the corporate media has played a direct role in manufacturing consent for the military coup in Bolivia by publishing unfounded allegations of vote tampering by Evo’s MAS party as fact in the immediate aftermath of the October 20 election. In the words of Malcolm X, “If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.” The same could not be more true in the case of Bolivia. As the media campaign normalizing the coup unfolded in the US, the opposition in Bolivia set in motion a campaign of racist violence against Evo, his cabinet members and their families, social activists, union leaders and Indigenous supporters of MAS. This campaign has included far-right vigilantes breaking into and ransacking Evo’s home, and threats being made against his life and the children and family members of his allies. Since October 20, at least twenty three people have been killed throughout Bolivia, the majority of them Indigenous supporters of MAS, and hundreds more have been injured.
On November 7, a mob led by the far-right opposition set fire to the town hall in the city of Vinto as Socialist Mayor Patricia Arce, a member of the MAS party, was inside. After evacuating the building, Arce was kidnapped by the mob who violently cut her hair, doused her in red paint, beat her and forced her to march barefoot for miles as they shouted racist and sexist slurs at her. Just four days ago on November 15, as Within Our Lifetime rallied in Times Square alongside nearly 500 people in support of Gaza in the wake of the latest israeli massacre, another massacre was taking place in Bolivia. Nine Indigenous protesters were killed and over one hundred more injured in the Bolivian city of Sacaba when security forces opened fire on Evo’s supporters as they marched to demand his reinstatement and the removal of Jeanine Añez Chávez. The very next day on November 16, Añez Chávez issued a decree exempting members of the military and police from criminal responsibility when committing acts of repression against protesters who have taken to the streets to reject the coup, giving them license to kill with impunity. And still, the Indigenous people of Bolivia are marching by the thousands into the cities to protest the illegitimate coup regime. From Sacaba to Gaza, we see the power of Indigenous people fighting for their self-determination and national liberation.
Sacha Llorenti, Bolivia’s ambassador to the UN, addresses the Security Council in 2014 wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh.
Sacha Llorenti, Bolivia’s ambassador to the UN, addresses the Security Council in 2014 wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh.
During his tenure as President, Evo and his government have shown the world what it looks like to stand up against US imperialism and the settler colonial state of israel. In 2008 he expelled the US Drug Enforcement Administration from Bolivia in protest of the US government using the DEA to “control the country’s politics and loot our natural resources.” The next year in 2009, following israel’s 3-week offensive in Gaza that left over 1,400 Palestinians dead, Morales officially cut diplomatic ties between Bolivia and israel, and five years after that in July 2014, as over 2,000 Palestinians were being massacred in Gaza, Evo unapologetically declared that israel was a “terrorist state.” In 2018 When the Trump administration officially moved the US embassy in 1948 Palestine to occupied Jerusalem, Morales issued a statement asserting that “Bolivia rejects and strongly condemns the opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem” and accusing the US of violating international law and covering the crimes of the state of israel. And on May 14, 2018, during an emergency session of the UN Security Council, Sacha Llorenti, Bolivia’s Ambassador to the UN since 2012, began the session by reading out the names of the 61 Palestinians who were martyred while participating in the Great Return March in Gaza that same day.
Aymara Indigenous women march holding posters with a message that reads in Spanish; “Bolivia condemns genocide in Gaza. Palestine, resist” during a rally against Israel’s offensive in Gaza, in La Paz, Bolivia, Friday, Aug. 8, 2014. Picture by Juan K…
Aymara Indigenous women march holding posters with a message that reads in Spanish; “Bolivia condemns genocide in Gaza. Palestine, resist” during a rally against Israel’s offensive in Gaza, in La Paz, Bolivia, Friday, Aug. 8, 2014. Picture by Juan Karita AP/Press Association Images.
Beyond Evo and his government taking action in support of Palestine, grassroots Indigenous movements in Bolivia have also mobilized for Palestine. One powerful example took place during the summer of 2014, when Aymara Indigenous women marched in the capital La Paz in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, holding signs that read “Bolivia condemns the genocide in Gaza. Palestina Resiste.” Internationalism amongst Indigenous and oppressed nationality struggles requires linking arms across borders and oceans and strengthening each other’s movements for liberation. Just as the people of Bolivia have extended their solidarity to Palestinians time and time again, we are now called upon to extend our support to them as they struggle to defend Indigenous self-determination and democratic rule.
Speaking during an interview on November 19, Sacha Llorenti declared that Evo “is still the president constitutionally speaking.” While Evo is currently in exile in Mexico where he has received political asylum, Llorenti remains the UN Ambassador due to his official accreditation and continues to stand by Evo. Like the Bolivian Ambassador, the Bolivian masses stand by Evo, too, and his Indigenous supporters remain steadfast in resisting the coup. Despite the campaign of terror that the opposition has unleashed on Indigenous and working class people, Evo’s supporters have been marching on the capital La Paz and cities across the country by the thousands to defend Bolivian democracy and Indigenous self-determination. With this being said, the fight against this coup is far from over, and now more than ever we must stand with Evo, his supporters and the Indigenous people of Bolivia!
From Palestine to Bolivia – Long Live Indigenous Struggle!
Long Live International Solidarity!