While Bolivia is undergoing a coup orchestrated by the domestic extreme right-wing forces in collaboration with U.S. imperialists, Communist and Workers' Parties across the world issue statements in which they condemn the coup attempt and express solidarity with the people of Bolivia.
Read here the statement of the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Below you can read, in english and spanish, statements by Communist Parties.
(list to be updated):
Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV)
El Buró Político del Partido Comunista de Venezuela expresa su enérgica condena al golpe de estado perpetrado por las fuerzas de extrema derecha, y estimulado por el imperialismo estadounidense, en contra el gobierno del Presidente Evo Morales. El desconocimiento de los resultados de las recientes elecciones presidenciales, fue el pretexto del Gobierno de los EEUU, y las fuerzas políticas reaccionarias bolivianas para desatar un escalamiento de acciones violentas que justificara el golpe de estado contra el Gobierno legítimo de ese país.
El golpe de estado de la derecha y la cúpula militar boliviana, es un desconocimiento a la voluntad popular expresada en las pasadas elecciones presidenciales, y una abierta ruptura del orden Constitucional del país. Una experiencia que nos demuestra una vez más, que las fuerzas de la reacción no tiene problemas en irrumpir contra la legalidad del estado burgués, cuando esta representa un obstáculo para hacer prevalecer sus intereses.
La consumación del plan insurreccional de la extrema derecha en Bolivia, demuestra que la ofensiva multifacética del imperialismo estadounidense dirigido a la recomposición de su dominación en el continente avanza peligrosamente. Los imperialistas pretenden imponerle al pueblo boliviano un gobierno servil a los intereses de sus monopolios y útil a sus planes de dominación en la región.
Denunciamos la violencia y persecución desatada por la extrema derecha contra el movimiento popular boliviano. Condenamos el silencio cómplice de los gobiernos capitalistas y los organismos multilaterales frente al golpe de estado y los crímenes de las bandas fascistas contra dirigentes y organizaciones revolucionarias bolivianas.
Expresamos nuestra solidaridad con el pueblo trabajador de Bolivia, con el Presidente Evo Morales, con el Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) y con el Partido Comunista de Bolivia (PCB), frente a la arremetida de la extrema derecha. Convocamos a la mayor solidaridad internacional con los trabajadores y el movimiento popular boliviano, que sin duda se levantará contra este golpe de estado, el entreguismo de la derecha y en defensa de sus conquistas.
Finalmente, expresamos nuestro repudio a los ataques fascistas contra la sede de la embajada de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela en Bolivia y las agresiones contra el personal diplomático venezolano en el país andino.
Caracas, 10 de noviembre del 2019
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Communist Party of Mexico (PCM)
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Communist Party of Mexico (PCM)
Declaración del BP del CC del PCM
El Partido Comunista de México condena el golpe de Estado producido en Bolivia, bajo la conducción de fuerzas reaccionarias, policiales y militares, aprovechando los límites, las concesiones y contradicciones del gobierno boliviano, es decir del progresismo.
Hacemos notar que el factor externo, principalmente de la OEA en tanto instrumento de las políticas imperialistas, fue fundamental para las fuerzas reaccionarias interiores. La OEA es un instrumento del imperialismo contra todos los pueblos de América. Es necesario poner fin a su existencia como instancia supranacional que atenta contra la soberanía popular y la autodeterminación de pueblos y naciones. El PCM luchará por la salida de México de la OEA, denunciando su carácter de clase.
Condenamos la persecución desatada contra las organizaciones indígenas y populares, contra los sindicatos, a la clase obrera. Expresamos nuestra solidaridad al Partido y la Juventud Comunista de Bolivia.
Expresamos nuestra solidaridad con la resistencia popular que en las ciudades y campos de Bolivia se presenta, reiterando que la historia la escriben los trabajadores, los pueblos.
Consideramos que, a la luz de los últimos acontecimientos continentales, se ratifica que el llamado orden constitucional –al cual diversas fuerzas políticas y sobre todo aquellas alineadas en el progresismo y la socialdemocracia rinden candoroso culto fetichista– no es sino un abanico de opciones legales y extra-legales para dirimir las controversias entre diversos grupos de poder de la burguesía y los relevos de gestores de la dictadura de la clase dominante. Este denominado orden constitucional burgués se complementa con las alternativas del golpe de estado. La socialdemocracia en América Latina, también definida como progresismo, ha aceptado las leyes del juego burgués y ha convertido sus gestiones de la explotación y el saqueo en ilusiones de mejoría para la clase obrera y los sectores populares. En distintos casos, ha acentuado la militarización; ha decidido la participación de sus Fuerzas Armadas en coaliciones internacionales que le capaciten en la lucha de clases al interior de sus respectivos países y les haga parte de las agresiones imperialistas y el reparto del mundo; intensifica el peso del Ejército y las fuerzas represivas en la vida nacional. Las armas con que la burguesía lleva a cabo asonadas y golpes de Estado, como en Bolivia, han sido conservadas, desarrolladas y fortalecidas por el llamado progresismo. En Bolivia, ese mismo progresismo ha sido arrollado por los instrumentos de la burguesía con los que gobernaba, siendo los más afectados las fuerzas obreras y populares que hacen frente a la situación. De esta manera, la burguesía cambia de rumbo en función de la crisis económica que ya se advierte, y enlaza las décadas de progresismo en su propósito de sucederlo con otra gestión capitalista de claras orientaciones reaccionarias. Limitarse a la lucha antineoliberal o a la existencia de gobiernos “contrarios al neoliberalismo” es entrar en el terreno político favorable a la burguesía.
Ante los sucesos en Bolivia los pueblos latinoamericanos debemos extraer las lecciones pertinentes. La pretensión de realizar cambios profundos y radicales conservando el Estado burgués, enfrenta a la cruda realidad de que finalmente la burguesía imponga la última palabra por los medios que considere convenientes.
La vía de las reformas no propicia una acumulación de fuerzas en dirección de saltos cualitativos revolucionarios, aún más puede desmovilizar a las fuerzas populares, lo que facilita el camino a ofensivas conservadoras y reaccionarias de la gestión capitalista. Ir contra el neoliberalismo sin apuntar contra el capitalismo es conservar intacta la base de los problemas contemporáneos de los trabajadores y los pueblos.
¡Proletarios de todos los países, uníos!
El Buró Político del Comité Central del PCM
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Communist Party of Uruguay
El Partido Comunista de Uruguay repudia el golpe de estado que se está llevando a cabo en este momento en el Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia, contra su presidente constitucional Evo Morales por los sectores oligárquicos con el apoyo del imperialismo norteamericano.
El PCU denuncia las persecuciones, agresiones y muertes contra sectores indígenas y populares que apoyan al presidente Evo por parte de grupos fascistas que promueven desde hace tiempo el odio y la discriminación contra los indígenas, campesinos y personas humildes afines al partido de gobierno
Reafirmamos nuestro apoyo al pueblo de Bolivia, a su presidente Evo Morales y exigimos el respeto a la democracia y a las decisiones soberanas del pueblo boliviano.
Llamamos a la más amplia solidaridad con Evo, con el pueblo de Bolivia, que en el marco de su soberanía encuentre caminos para retomar el orden construccional y la PAZ
9 de Noviembre de 2019
Comité Ejecutivo Nacional
Partido Comunista del Uruguay
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Communist Party of Canada
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Communist Party of Canada
The Communist Party of Canada condemns the coup d’etat against Bolivian President Evo Morales and the MAS government, and demands that the attacks on Morales and other MAS leaders, by right-wing gangs must stop. These include an attack on Evo Morales’ home, the fire-bombing of the homes of other MAS Ministers, and holding their relatives hostage in order to force their resignations. This is terror.
We also demand an end to targeted attacks on the Communist Party of Bolivia which has consistently supported the MAS government and its progressive policies.
The Communist Party demands that the safety of President Morales and other MAS leaders is protected by Bolivian authorities, and that the Canadian government and the international community must add their voices to this demand.
President Morales’ decision to hold new elections was aimed to prevent bloodshed by the coup plotters, who have declared the October 20 re-election of Evo Morales ‘fraudulent’ after 13 years of their unsuccessful opposition to Morales’ popular government and policies benefiting the poor, the Indigenous Peoples, the working class and small farmers. Morales led the first Indigenous led government in the Americas since colonization.
The opposition did not accept new elections and the military then told Morales he had to resign. This is a coup backed by the military, the violent anti-democratic and racist opposition, the corporations and the wealthy, actively aided and abetted by the United States and Canada.
The coup against President Morales and the MAS government is a virtual carbon copy of the attempted coup against the Maduro government in Venezuela last January.
Given Canada’s support for the pretender Guaido and the coup plotters in Venezuela, we demand the Canadian government end – and make public- any Canadian involvement in the coup d’etat in Bolivia, and that the government and Parliament unconditionally condemn the coup against President Morales and the MAS government.
Global Affairs Canada issued a statement immediately following the October 20th election stating that they were “deeply concerned by additional reports of serious election irregularities.” This, and similar statements from the United States helped to fuel the violence from opposition forces. Yesterday, during the coup, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland issued a statement noting “the resignation of President Morales” and saying Canada would “support Bolivia during this transition and the new elections”. This recognizes and legitimizes a clearly unconstitutional coup in Bolivia.
The blood covered fingerprints of US imperialism, the Organization of American States, and the Lima Group are all over these attempts to roll back and defeat progressive governments in Latin America. How many more coups will there be against progressive governments elected in Latin America? How many more will Chrystia Freeland and Justin Trudeau support?
Canada must end its support for and involvement in US regime change and covert operations around the world. Working people in Canada want no part of this.
Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada
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Communist Party of India (Marxist)
The ouster of Evo Morales from the presidentship of Bolivia is actually a coup against the lawfully elected president.
The rightwing forces backed by the United States refused to accept the result of the election held on October 20 and unleashed largescale violence.
Sections of the armed police sided with the protesters and finally the army forced him to step down.
This rightwing coup in Bolivia comes in the wake of similar efforts which led to progressive regimes being targeted earlier in Brazil, followed by Ecuador and Venezuela.
Under the leadership of the first indigenous president, Evo Morales, Bolivia had made big strides towards eliminating poverty and ensuring national sovereignty over the natural resources of the country.
The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) condemns the coup attempt in Bolivia and expresses its solidarity with Evo Morales and the Movement for Socialism (MAS).
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Paraguyan Communist Party
Desde el Partido Comunista Paraguayo repudiamos el golpe de Estado consumado en Bolivia y organizado por la derecha boliviana, representada en el ex presidente Carlos Mesa y el "cívico" fascista Luis Fernando Camacho, con complicidad de las fuerzas armadas y policiales, perpetrada por el imperialismo yanqui tanto desde su embajada como a través de la OEA.
Estos grupos han provocado una situación de violencia terrorista con muertos, incendios a viviendas de militantes del MAS, además de situaciones de linchamiento, humillaciones y vejaciones públicas de bolivianos adherentes al proceso de Evo Morales, señal del revanchismo con que se movió la oposición golpista y la nula vocación democrática de estos grupos, que desconocieron las elecciones del pasado 20 de octubre.
Denunciamos desde ya la farsa democrática de los grupos golpistas cuyo único fin es saquear los recursos naturales bolivianos para beneficio de sus socios imperiales.
Desde el PCP llamamos a las organizaciones populares a resistir el golpe tanto en Bolivia como en el exterior, denunciando la avanzada cívico militar fascista e imperialista y llevar nuestra solidaridad a nuestros hermanos de la clase obrera, campesina y minera de la hermana nación boliviana, en cuyas manos está el sostenimiento del proceso abierto en 2005.
Comisión Política
Partido Comunista Paraguayo
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Communist Party of Turkey (TKP)
Morales and his movement, which has been in power for 14 years, has achieved increased independence and growth of Bolivian economy during this period, has provided humanely living conditions for the indigenous peoples of Bolivia and millions of poor. Last week’s electoral victory, turned out as a success that the imperialists could not stand. The attacks against Morales are based on allegations of corruption in the elections. However, the source of the claims is OAS (Organization of American States), an institution that in essence functions in compliance with US foreign policy; and under these circumstances, OAS’s election monitoring does raise question marks and cannot be fully trusted.
Following the allegations, within a week, the right-wing opposition brought the country to the brink of a civil war and Morales announced his resignation, in order to prevent further violence and attacks against the citizens.
What has happened in Bolivia is a coup, it is realized with the support of imperialism and it is illegitimate. Imperialism is resorting to the methods it had employed in the previous century again, and once again trying to suffocate the peoples of Latin America with a coup. The content expressed by the US puppet right-wing governments in Latin America after the resignation of Morales, and the attacks against the Bolivia embassies of Latin America’s progressive popular governments which are targeted by the US, prove this. What will follow this coup is obvious: The withdrawal of nationalizations, the seizure of the people’s properties, plunder, impoverishment ...
Who portrays Morales government as a tyranny, is an enemy of the Bolivian people. The right-wing opposition, benefitting from the coup, has already intensified its racist attacks. They will be responsible for the slightest harm done against Morales and the militants of the MAS movement.
Communist Party of Turkey declares its solidarity with the working people of Bolivia to invalidate this imperialist-backed coup.
TKP Central Committee
11 November 2019.
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New Communist Party of Yugoslavia (NKJP)
Statement of the NKPJ: Down with the Coup in Bolivia! All Support and Solidarity to the Bolivian People!
The New Communist Party of Yugoslavia emphatically condemns the coup against Bolivian President Evo Morales.
The right-wing opposition refuses to recognize their defeat at the polls and resorts to violence against the constitutional order. We strongly denounce this coup attempt.
We call all people around the world to give their fullest and most resolute solidarity to the Bolivian workers, peasants and communists in this hour of crisis.
Down with the coup in Bolivia!
All support and solidarity to the Bolivian people!
Belgrade, November 11, 2019.
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AKEL (Cyprus)
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 11th November 2019, Nicosia.
AKEL condemns the new coup d’état underway in Latin America - this time in Bolivia - with the blessings of the US, as well as the direct intervention of the Organization of American States in the country's internal affairs. The conservative opposition and the far-right of he country, together with police and military divisions, are turning against the democratically-elected government of Evo Morales, who in the face of a wave of violence, kidnappings and looting that has been launched,has opted to resign in order to avoid further bloodshed.
Evo Morales is Bolivia's first indigenous President andrepresents a symbol of the struggle of the indigenous peoples across the American continent. Since 2006, his government has implemented a policy of nationalizations in the economy to tackle extreme poverty, redistributedthe land and implementednumerous demands from his country's people, one of the poorest on the continent. That is precisely the reason why the US - which is demanding that it gains full control over Bolivia's rich energy and natural resources - has from the very beginning sought to overthrow the government.
The coup d’étatin Bolivia is a product of Trump's aggression against the peoples of Latin America. Throughout the whole of Latin America, the confrontation between the governments and movements that express demands for social justice and national sovereignty on the one hand and the oligarchy and far-right forces that have the backing of the US on the other is intensifying. In Brazil and Chile, far-right governments have already shown to the whole world their brutal anti-social face.
AKEL expresses its solidarity with Evo Morales, the Communist Party of Bolivia (PCB), the Movement for Socialism–Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples (MAS) and the people of Bolivia, as well as all with the struggling peoples of Latin America.
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Communist Party of Chile (PCC)
En Bolivia se ha producido un golpe de Estado en contra de un gobierno y una constitución democrática, instigado y promovido por el imperialismo norteamericano; fuerzas armadas y grupos fascistas y paramilitares de ese país.
Rechazamos categóricamente esa acción antidemocrática y alertamos que en Bolivia se están produciendo violaciones a los derechos humanos de carácter racista, xenófobas y clasistas.
El Presidente legítimo de Bolivia, Evo Morales, ha conducido una gestión gubernamental que es reconocida por la ONU, por el Banco Mundial y otros organismos internacionales, como de las mejores del mundo, en relación a elevar cualitativamente los niveles sociales, económicos, culturales y políticos del pueblo de Bolivia.
La participación democrática y el estado democrático de Bolivia se fortalecieron mucho bajo los gobiernos del Presidente Evo Morales. Eso es incuestionable.
Ahora, Bolivia enfrenta una de las ofensivas norteamericanas más violentas que se han producido en el mundo en las últimas décadas y al interior de esa nación están operando grupos sectarios; paramilitares; vinculados al narcotráfico.
Llamamos a la solidaridad activa con el Pueblo de Bolivia. La democracia y la pervivencia de esa nación están en riesgo. Es urgente luchar por la vida de Evo Morales, puesta en peligro, y por centenares de militantes bolivianos de causas justas y nobles.
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Communist Revolutionary Party of France (PCRF)
Le Parti Communiste Révolutionnaire de France dénonce le coup d’État qui vient d’avoir lieu en Bolivie contre le Président Evo Morales légitimement élu. mIl dénonce la campagne orchestrée par l’oligarchie bolivienne et les États-Unis depuis la proclamation du résultat des élections, prétendant qu’il y aurait eu des fraudes, alors qu’aucune preuve, aucun fait ne corrobore ces affirmations.
De fait, le scénario du coup d’État bolivien ressemble étrangement à ceux mis en échec au Venezuela et au Nicaragua contre les Présidents légitimement élus de ces pays, à chaque fois avec le soutien de l’OEA, dont l’allégeance à l’impérialisme états-unien est légendaire, des États-Unis et de l’Union Européenne. Pour cette dernière, il n’est pas sans ironie que, ne condamnant pas le coup d’État en Bolivie, elle renouvelle le même jour les sanctions contre le Venezuela pour avoir mis en échec celui qui y a été tenté l’an passé !
Le PCRF dénonce l’attitude des médias français, et en particulier celle du journal Le Monde et des télévisions de service public, qui participent de la campagne internationale contre le Président Morales, comme ils ont participé à celles contre les Présidents élus Nicolas Maduro et Daniel Ortega.
Le PCRF appelle les travailleurs, la jeunesse, les démocrates à la vigilance et à la solidarité avec le peuple de Bolivie sous la menace d’un bain de sang par les forces réactionnaires déchainées.
Le coup d’État à La Paz souligne tragiquement l’impasse des politiques réformistes et de leurs tentatives de se concilier le soutien de la bourgeoisie au lieu de la combattre frontalement en s’appuyant sur la classe ouvrière en alliance avec la paysannerie laborieuse et les peuples indigènes.
Paris, le 11 novembre 2019.
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Communist Party, Italy
The Communist Party (Italy) firmly condemns the coup in Bolivia, carried out by the right-wing forces and the army with the US support, and expresses solidarity with the Bolivian working people and President Morales, forced to resign under the threats of the bourgeois opposition to unleash a civil war.
The measures implemented during the presidency of Morales, which lasted 14 years and was reconfirmed in the last elections, had begun to relieve the Bolivian people of poverty and backwardness, giving it dignity and acceptable living conditions, thanks to the nationalization of strategic sectors of the economy and to a policy aimed at satisfying the needs of the popular masses, entering into open contrast with the interests of the transnational monopolies and the Bolivian bourgeoisie, supported by the US imperialists.
These developments in Bolivia are part of a renewed US imperialist strategy to bring the countries of Latin America back under their control, from the tightening of the blockade against Cuba, to the destabilization of Venezuela, Salvador and Nicaragua, to the violent anti-people repressions in Ecuador and Chile.
Imperialism and the Bolivian bourgeoisie trample the will of the people, expressed through the democratic vote that, in the last elections, reconfirmed President Morales as the head of state. The lesson we must once again draw from these events is that elections count nothing in the frame of the bourgeois order, since the bourgeoisie is ready to deny any democratic principle in the name of safeguarding the profit of capital, as history has already largely demonstrated.
As Lenin taught us and the Great Socialist Revolution of October confirmed, only by destroying the bourgeois state and replacing it with the proletarian state it is possible to guarantee development in favor of the working masses. The failure to apply this principle is the main limit of the revolutionary processes started in Latin America over the last decades.
We express our solidarity and our support to the comrades of the Communist Party of Bolivia, the revolutionaries, the Bolivian workers and President Morales, for them to intensify the struggle against the bourgeoisie and imperialism, in the belief that the Bolivian people will have the strength to repel the imperialist attack and start the march towards socialism.
Rome, 11/11/2019.
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Workers Party of Ireland
The Workers Party of Ireland unreservedly condemns the military coup in Bolivia
and the ouster of the democratically elected President, Evo Morales, with the
connivance and support of US imperialism and its proxies in the region. These
actions are part of a strategy by imperialism across Latin America to reverse the
gains and achievements of the poor, the working class and indigenous peoples and
to restore the power of the capitalist class and to use the wealth created by workers
for their own benefit.
This coup, which is a violation of Bolivian sovereignty and democracy, represents
capitalism’s response to progressive measures secured on behalf of the people,
similar to the unsuccessful US backed coup attempt in Venezuela.
Under President Morales, Bolivia nationalised the country’s oil and gas wealth
which was then used for the benefit of the people and to promote economic
development. Evo Morales’ Movement for Socialism (MAS) drew strong support
from the working class of Bolivia and the indigenous peoples.
Across Latin America the struggle continues between the workers and the poor on
the one hand and the capitalist class which wishes to restore the power and wealth
of the local elites. The widespread violence directed against MAS and its supporters,
including the burning of their homes, by the right-wing forces which refused to accept
the result of the election is evidence of the vicious nature of this coup.
The Workers Party of Ireland extends its solidarity to the working people of Bolivia
who are struggling to defend the improvements in the living conditions of the people
attained under the leadership of President Evo Morales and to defeat this
imperialist sponsored coup. We must defend Evo Morales, Bolivarian Venezuela and
the Cuban Revolution and take all steps in our power to reverse this coup.
Gerry Grainger, International Secretary
Workers Party of Ireland,
November 2019.
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German Communist Party (DKP)
In Bolivia, the South American country with the historically longest list of coups d’état, the first indigenous president, Evo Morales, has been coldly removed from office as a result of the disobedience of police units and the military leadership. Right-wing and extreme right-wing hordes are terrorizing people and threatening them with further violence. The embassies of Cuba and Venezuela are attacked by thugs, as in the 2002 coup d’état in Venezuela; the Bolivian embassy in Berlin is also besieged by right-wing groups.
Evo Morales’ resignation represents an attempt to prevent a massive wave of violence against his government team, against his party, against the indigenous movement that brought him into office several times during elections, and against the democratic forces of the peoples of Bolivia. The continent’s right is seeing their chance, increasing pressure on Nicaragua, Cuba, and Venezuela.
Following the example of Juan Guaidó in Venezuela, the arch-conservative Jeanine Añez declared herself "transitional president" in La Paz, too. The USA and Brazil immediately recognized her, and thus also the breach of the constitution.
Since Heiko Maas took office, the German foreign ministry has reliably supported right-wing extremist putschists in Venezuela and antidemocrats such as in Brazil, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, and Colombia. As a result, Maas and his ministry are consistently acting against democracy, and are therefore unable to identify any noteworthy problems in Bolivia. It supports every government there that provides Germany with access to Bolivia’s lithium resources, which are indispensable for electric mobility – and this was precisely what indigenous peoples had recently questioned, exercising a lot of pressure. The dismissal of Germany’s foreign minister Maas is overdue.
DKP chairman Patrik Köbele will participate in an anti-imperialist manifestation in Caracas on Saturday. Here and there, the German Communist Party promotes the union of all those forces which oppose the interests of the majorities to imperialism, which reveal more and more their old colonialist behavior. The progressive forces in Bolivia are among them.
They have our solidarity. They will not let their electoral victory be stolen.
Essen, November 14, 2019.
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Philippine Communist Party (PKP-1930)
The Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas (PKP-1930) strongly condemns the coup d'etat which ousted the Evo Morales government in Bolivia. On November 10, a grave tragedy befell Bolivia as a coup d'état forced President Evo Morales Ayma and other top officials belonging to the Movimiento Al Socialismo (MAS, or Movement Towards Socialism) political party to resign. It was a coup d'etat orchestrated by the USA through its puppet Organization of American States (OAS) and an ultra-rightist Bolivian opposition led by Carlos Mesa, the presidential candidate that Evo Morales defeated in the election conducted on October 20, and Luis Camacho, the current regional leader of the “civic groups” in Sta. Cruz which attempted a coup in 2008.
First, it was a military coup “by omission”, with “security forces” withdrawing from the scene of violent anti-government demonstrations in La Paz and other areas controlled by the oligarchy. The military and police thereby allowed the fascist gangs recruited and financed by the oligarchy to attack Pres. Evo Morales' home, to burn the houses of government ministers and leading elected officials, to assault progressive local officials and journalists, and impose a reign of terror against the Evo Morales leadership.
With the defenselessness of the government, then came the most vile and condemnable ultimatum of Armed Forces Commander Williams Kaliman for Pres. Morales to leave the government. That infamous ultimatum was a betrayal of the Bolivian people's will and mandate to re-elect President Morales and other leaders of the MAS electoral party. The October 20 presidential poll results are clear --- Morales had 46.86% of the vote, with Mesa (Trump's choice) getting 36.73% for second place. Morales won the presidency without going to a runoff, because the rules allow for a first-round win for a candidate that gets at least 40 percent of the vote and a 10-point margin over the closest competitor.
But agents of the OAS, who earlier claimed to play the role of impartial election observers, immediately interfered in Bolivia's internal affairs and issued a coup-promoting report questioning the elections' legitimacy. Bolivia was thus rocked by violence for 3 weeks since the elections, as opposition protests raged under the pretext of alleged election irregularities claimed by the OAS. On November 10, in the face of the mob rule given free reign by “security forces”, and Gen. Williams Kaliman's ultimatum, Pres. Morales was forced to resign.
Along with Pres. Morales, Vice-President Alvaro Garcia Linera and Senate President Adriana Salvatierra also resigned under duress, in a bid to stop the anti-government violence. Even the brother of Victor Borda, the president of the lower house of parliament, was taken hostage, to force Borda's resignation, and to pave the way for a coup-plotter in the lower house to later snatch the “interim presidency”.
But the violence against MAS and its supporters in La Paz and other areas controlled by the elite did not stop. The oligarchy revealed its true face –- its racist and violent nature –- and used terror and threats especially against the indigenous peoples represented by Morales. While Defense Minister Javier Salaveta, in his resignation, stressed that commanders under Pres. Evo Morales were never ordered to use military force against civilians, Williams Kaliman and the new military and police chiefs immediately used violence against demonstrators supporting the deposed Pres. Evo Morales. Political oligarchs have demanded that the military and police should control the masses, and repress the people's mobilizations against the coup that forced out Pres. Morales' democratically elected government.
Thanks to the Mexican government, Pres. Morales and other leading officials from MAS were saved from harm, and were granted political asylum in Mexico. Aside from Mexico, other countries, including Argentina, Venezuela, Cuba, Russia, China and Uruguay, condemned the coup and expressed support for Evo Morales. However, inside Bolivia, leaders and activists of the socialist movement continue to be threatened, harassed and persecuted. The safety of the 700 members of the Cuban medical brigade in Bolivia, who are mostly serving the poor and indigenous communities, should be guaranteed. Measures should also be taken to ensure that the mob assault on the Venezuelan embassy in La Paz would never happen again.
The coup has led to severe violence across the country, which continue to cost lives, add to the hundreds of wounded, and renew expressions of racism toward the indigenous peoples. Bolivia has the largest proportion of indigenous people in Latin America, and as the only indigenous president ever in Latin America, Evo Morales symbolizes the demands for justice of the original peoples of the Americas. The US government has been actively opposing Morales since 2001, even before he was elected president, preferring to support the tiny elite of European descent who have led Bolivia for centuries. Since Evo Morales was elected president in 2005, a hostile US government had been financing groups opposed to him and the MAS, and Bolivia has not had ambassadorial relations with the USA since 2009.
The Evo Morales leadership in the past 14 years oversaw the most successful socio-economic policies in Latin America, with the government really representing the indigenous and working peoples who constitute the majority of its population. Great strides were made to end illiteracy and extreme inequality. With the nationalization of strategic energy resources and the strengthening of public companies, poverty has been reduced by 42 percent. It was an era of economic growth and shrinking inequality, winning support from Bolivians who saw Evo Morales as their first true representative in the capital.
But economic relief for the poor does not serve imperialist interests. Thus the constant character assassination and defamation poured against Evo Morales by self-proclaimed “independent journalists” in the western media, accompanied by threats and bile directed against native peoples and the poor in general. By sowing terror, the reactionary forces in Bolivia, the OAS and the USA have temporarily seized power in Bolivia. But the brave militants of MAS and the trade unions, and the activists of the movement of indigenous peoples, continue to resist the persecution of the reactionary forces behind the coup.
The PKP-1930 expresses its solidarity with the continuing anti-imperialist and anti-oligarchic struggles of the Bolivian people, for the restoration of democracy, the defense of national sovereignty, and the advancement of social justice. The PKP-1930 stands on the side of the Bolivian people as they continue to struggle for their inalienable right to decide democratically their own future, free from foreign intervention and coup plotters.
CC SECRETARIAT, PKP-1930.
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Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF)
The Communist Party of the Russian Federation in the strongest possible terms denounces the US-backed right-wing military coup against the democratically elected President of Bolivia, Evo Morales.
Under pretext of fighting for democracy and human rights the USA is trying to restore its dominance in the country. So called struggle has nothing in common with human rights and democracy as being only focused on looting country’s natural resources as well as on quite evident attempt to remove undesirable politician and bring the country back under control of the US capital. Such actions are absolutely illegal and unacceptable.
We condemn them as well as the acts of vandalism towards the Embassy of Venezuela and anti-Cuban statements.
The CPRF calls on all progressive forces of the world to condemn US subversion in Bolivia and expresses its solidarity with the President Evo Morales and all national forces opposing the coup as well as the Communist Party of Bolivia who are now victims of arrests and persecution.
CPRF Central Committee
November 15, 2019.
