As we reported extensively in the Trends Journal, Jeanine Áñez, a relatively unknown Vice President of the Bolivian Senate, took over as interim president of Bolivia last November after the forced resignation of President Evo Morales who had been accused of voter fraud in the October 2019 election.
Morales, a former coca farmer, took office in 2006 and was seen as a champion of the people for his building the economy and fighting poverty. Beyond being accused for rigging the election, Morales had lost support from key bases by running for a fourth term in defiance of the constitution.
Ms. Áñez declaring herself interim president was controversial at the time as she did not receive the legal amount of quorum for her appointment as president, due to a boycott by lawmakers loyal to Evo Morales who held a two-thirds majority.
The U.S. quickly supported Ms. Áñez the day after she assumed the role as interim president. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated, “The United States applauds Bolivian Senator Jeanine Áñez for stepping up as Interim President of State to lead her nation through this democratic transition, under the constitution of Bolivia and in accordance with the principles of the Inter-American Democratic Charter.”
Mr. Morales, in exile, called the situation a coup orchestrated with the help of the United States and the Organization of American States (OAS): “The OAS is not at the service of the people of Latin America. It is at the service of the USA,” he said. “We built a lot with so much sacrifice and now this coup is destroying Bolivia.”
As interim president, Ms. Áñez promised to be a new “caretaker” who would hold elections in May. This never happened. Bolivian citizens are angry because the election had been pushed back to 2 August, then to 6 September and now 18 October, allegedly because of the coronavirus.
Santiago Anria, Assistant Professor of Political Science and Latin American studies at Dickenson College, said of Ms. Áñez’s choice to run for president, “She is not recognized as a legitimate leader, which makes it extremely difficult to coordinate a complex response that the pandemic requires.”
Ms. Áñez has also had to deal with accusations of corruption, particularly after her health minister was arrested last May for his involvement in overcharging hospitals for ventilators needed for COVID-19 patients.
Militarized State
Anti-government protests over the cancellation of the promised new elections began to heat up in late July for the first time since the COVID-19 draconian lockdown restrictions were imposed in mid-March.
Over 100 blockades have been set up by protesters in major cities and rural areas across the country. The protesters are mostly farm workers, labors, and indigenous people who represent over 40 percent of the population. They have been joined by union workers who still support Evo Morales’ Movement Toward Socialism (MAS).
Demonstrators set off dynamite to impede mountain passes, moved large boulders across highways, and dug trenches along a number of roads in anger over repeated cancellation of a promised new election.
In response, Bolivia’s de-facto Government Minister, Arturo Murillo, stated last Wednesday, “We are trying to avoid a civil war… You’re not just going to shoot everybody although that would be politically correct.” He added if the protesters don’t desist, “There will be no other way than to strike with the strongest hand.”
In addition to threatened aggression by the government, over the weekend, fascist “shock groups” who had supported the ouster of Evo Morales last fall have been assaulting protesters in a number of locations around the country.
Ms. Áñez has defended her strict lockdown of the country claiming her actions have prevented further loss of life. As of Monday, 4,509 Bolivians have died from COVID-19 in a country of 11.3 million or 0.04 percent of the population.
TREND FORECAST: As we continue to note, one of our 2020 Top Trends was “New World Disorder.” We had forecast that the 2019 riots, protests, demonstrations, and civil uprisings raging across the globe would escalate in 2020.
When governments shut down nations to fight the COVID War this past March, they also locked down the protests, as evidenced with Hong Kong, which is now under Beijing’s full control.
And now, with nations falling deeper into the “Greatest Depression” and millions broke and busted, protests will reignite and governments will harshly clamp down on them, which will in turn sharply escalate into civil unrest, civil wars… regional wars and, if not addressed, world war.
