Today, 19th October, Evo Morales’ party Movement for Socialism (MAS) claimed victory in a presidential election. This is a huge win for Bolivian democratic forces and its indigenous population, who faced heavy suppression after the right-wing interim Government staged a US-backed coup last year.
There has not yet been an official declaration and that could take days, but the “rapid count” shows a clear winner in the Morales’ handpicked successor, Luis Arce. Even the interim president tweeted:
Aún no tenemos cómputo oficial, pero por los datos con los que contamos, el Sr. Arce y el Sr. Choquehuanca han ganado la elección. Felicito a los ganadores y les pido gobernar pensando en Bolivia y en la democracia.
— Jeanine Añez Chavez (@JeanineAnez) October 19, 2020
“We do not yet have an official count, but from the data we have, Mr. Arce and Mr. Choquehuanca have won the election. I congratulate the winners and ask them to govern with Bolivia and democracy in mind.”
The news of landslide victory came as a surprise: pre-election polls did show Arce ahead but predicted a second round against centrist former President Carlos Mesa. To win the first round, a candidate needs more than 50% of the vote, or 40% while leading against the second-place candidate by 10%. According to the rapid count, the MAS candidate received at least 52% votes, while Mesa got only around 31.5%. This victory and the similar result to the 2019 elections also legitimises Morales’ victory in 2019, which the US depicted as undemocratic.
4. 2019 Bolivian Election Crisis
In the 2019 elections, Morales had initially been declared president after MAS won 48% of the vote. However, this was highly disputed and the Organisation of American state alleged irregularities in the electoral process. For decades, US propaganda has depicted democratically leftist elected leaders as “dictators” and U.S.-supported coups as democratic. Morales attributed the coup to Western anger over his decision to sell some of the country’s lithium supply to China rather than Western companies.
After continued civil unrest of 21 days following these claims, trade unions, the military, and police of asked the Bolivian President to resign. Morales complied, along with other high-level politicians, and the Government of Mexico offered asylum after Morales cited fear for their families. Later, he shifted to Argentina. Morales had described the allegations of vote-rigging as part of a “coup.”
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