Bolivia's deposed Evo Morales granted asylum in Mexico, vows to return - Trump hails 'democracy'

RT
Tue, 12 Nov 2019 01:48 UTC

© Twitter / Evo Morales

Former Bolivian President Evo Morales has announced his departure to Mexico, where he has been granted asylum, after opposition protests and military officials' pressure forced the socialist leader's resignation.

Following his abrupt resignation over the weekend, Morales said he would flee Bolivia to take up the Mexican government's offer for political asylum extended earlier on Monday, but promised to return with renewed energy. Mexico's Foreign Minister confirmed that Morales had boarded a Mexican government aircraft "sent to ensure his safe transfer to our country."

"Sisters and brothers, I leave for Mexico," Morales said in a tweet on Monday night, adding he was "grateful" to Mexico for providing asylum and "[taking] care of our lives."

"It hurts to leave the country for political reasons... Soon I will return with more strength and energy."

Morales was forced to resign from his post after weeks of opposition protests over a disputed election result, which culminated in military leaders 'advising' the embattled president to step down. While slamming the opposition forces as coup plotters and insisting he won October's election fair and square, Morales nonetheless agreed to resign in order to calm tensions across the country.

Hectic protests and clashes between rival activists have continued in cities around Bolivia even after Morales's resignation. In La Paz on Monday night, security forces and opposition protesters erected barricades in the streets in preparation for a large confrontation, as thousands of Morales supporters march toward the city.

Comment: RT reports:

One step closer to democratic, prosperous, free Western Hemisphere? Trump hails ouster of Bolivia's Evo Morales

US President Donald Trump praised the Bolivian military pushing President Evo Morales out of power as a "significant moment for democracy in the Western Hemisphere," openly endorsing what critics have called a coup in La Paz.

"After nearly 14 years and his recent attempt to override the Bolivian constitution and the will of the people, Morales's departure preserves democracy and paves the way for the Bolivian people to have their voices heard," Trump said in a statement on Monday,

He also praised Bolivia's military, which pressured Morales into resigning on Sunday, for "abiding by its oath to protect not just a single person, but Bolivia's constitution."

"We are now one step closer to a completely democratic, prosperous, and free Western Hemisphere."

While Trump framed the events in La Paz as a warning to the "illegitimate regimes in Venezuela and Nicaragua that democracy and the will of the people will always prevail," his may seem tone-deaf coming from someone who has accused his political opponents of an attempted coup - and been repeatedly denounced by them as illegitimate, tyrannical and a threat to democracy. Not to mention the infamous Washington's Monroe Doctrine and treating the countries of Latin America as its backyard.

Trump, of course, did not mention the US' hand in influencing Bolivian affairs. Right-wing causes in the country benefited from around one million dollars in grants from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) last year alone. Suspected by some to be an arm of the CIA, the NED was established by Ronald Reagan in 1983 to promote American-style neoliberalism abroad.

© Reuters / Agustin Marcarian

A protest in support of Evo Morales is Argentina

Whether through public statements or NED funding, support for the opposition in Bolivia fits perfectly into the US' 'Monroe Doctrine' - Washington's century-and-a-half old policy of forbidding any rival worldview from taking root in the Western Hemisphere. Though infrequently acknowledged, President Trump spoke openly about his support for President Monroe's vision of an American hemisphere before the UN last year.

While Trump denounced Morales, the US State Department stepped in to sanitize Washington's position, with a senior official telling Reuters that the US has "no preference" among opposition candidates. The spokesperson did say, however, that anyone who tried to "distort" last month's vote should not be allowed to participate.

Morales has indeed ruled Bolivia for 14 years, but his bid for re-election was ruled legal by the country's supreme court, and the quick results count that showed him over 10 points ahead of the opposition candidate in the first round was in line with previous Bolivian elections.

The incongruity of praising violent opposition activists and the military for overruling the results of a democratic election - and then calling that outcome democracy - was apparently lost on the US president.

See also: Resignation of Bolivia's Evo Morales was no victory for democracy, but a US-sponsored coup