This statement was sent by Socialist Alternative Canada to Prime Minister Trudeau and Foreign Minister Champagne.
Under threats of violence from sections of the military and right-wing paramilitary thugs, President Evo Morales, Vice President Álvaro García-Linera, the leaders of the Bolivia Senate and Chamber of Deputies, as well as a number of government ministers were all pressurized to resign.
President Morales was elected in January 2006 as the first Indigenous president of Bolivia, and one that brought an era of social and economic development in the country. Morales’s government slashed poverty and inequality and raised the living standards of millions of people. This was achieved by massive public investment and redistribution of wealth.
Soon after the coup, Chrystia Freeland (then Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister) issued a statement saying that “Canada stands with Bolivia and the democratic will of its people.” This appears that the Canadian government supports the coup. Canada rarely supports coups and it is odd to describe a coup as the will of the people. We demand that the Canadian government condemn the coup and calls for the re-instatement of Bolivia’s democratically elected representatives.
The new, self-declared leader of Bolivia, Jeanine Anez, is noted for her racist, anti-Indigenous views. Canada supports this new regime and, at the same time, claims to support the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
There have been attacks against leaders and supporters of Morales’ political party, Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), including burnings of leaders’ homes, the physical assault of leaders such as Vinto mayor Patricia Arce by right-wing groups, the public burning of Wiphala (Indigenous) flags, and a host of other racially motivated threats and attacks against Indigenous and Campesino leaders.
There is growing popular resistance and anger against the coup. Unless the Canadian government opposes the coup, it is co-responsible for the widespread murders and injuries of peaceful civilians by the army and paramilitary thugs.
We call for the immediate reinstatement of Bolivia’s constitutional order, and cessation of all violence and threats of violence against Morales, MAS leaders, and other victims of right-wing violence in Bolivia. We also demand protection for journalists covering the unrest. We call on the Canadian government and all other international actors to respect the sovereignty of the Bolivian people and desist any and all further efforts to undermine Bolivia’s democracy.
Socialist Alternative Canada stands with the people of Bolivia! No to the coup in Bolivia!
