The Bolivian military coup and the proto-fascists of South America

            The arrival of 2019 coincided with the escalation of the Trump administration’s policy of advocating and supporting moves towards a coup in Venezuela and now we are entering into the last half dozen weeks of 2019 coinciding with the military coup in Bolivia.  Evo Morales, the first indigenous person elected President of Bolivia (Chomsky & Barsamian, 2017), which has a majority indigenous population, resigned along with Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera and the head of the Bolivian senate and the lower house following the Bolivian military appearing on air and calling for his resignation.  The military has also detained the top two officials on Bolivia’s Supreme Electoral Court.  The right-wing opposition senator Jeanine Anez who has consistently spread racist, anti-indigenous views and positions has declared herself President.  Anez has already issued a decree preventing prosecution of the military for violent acts as they continue to violently suppress pro-Morales protests condemning the military coup and anti-indigenous violence that have already resulted in at least 32 deaths.    

            The military massacres of Morales supporters have coincided with President Anez reversing President Morales plan to cancel an agreement with Germany, allowing access to Bolivia’s Potosi region’s lithium reservoir which contains half of the world’s lithium reserves, lithium being a principle raw material in the producing of cellphone and electric car batteries.  Anez allowing Germany access to Bolivia’s lithium reserves follows developments in neighbor state Brazil in which proto-fascist Brazilian President Bolsonaro is pushing for opening the Amazon to further deforestation and exploitation.  Bolsonaro has also used the devastating fires in the Amazon, set by land-grabbers, to achieve the militarization of the Amazon.  As in Bolivia, the Brazilian indigenous are suffering the violence and brutality of the Brazilian military and pro-Bolsonaro fascist militias.
 

            Bolsonaro was only able to secure electoral victory in Brazil’s 2018 elections after the framing and imprisoning of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva by Bolsonaro ally, conservative Judge Sergio Moro, now serving as Brazilian Minister of Justice for Bolsonaro, widely viewed as his reward for removing Bolsonaro’s political opponent and obstacle to the Presidency.  Since The Intercept received leaked materials detailing the corrupt process and reported on it, the Brazilian Supreme Court ruled to end the mandatory imprisonment of people who were convicted of crimes who are still appealing their cases, this allowed the release of Lula from prison as he hasn’t exhausted his appeals.  Lula has made it clear that he intends to challenge Bolsonaro in the 2022 elections. 

            While indigenous Brazilians struggle to secure the safety of the Amazon, their lives and prevent the ever-looming climate catastrophe, so too are the neighboring indigenous Bolivians protesting against the neoliberal opposition that is orchestrating the exploitation of their lands, lands with an indigenous majority in a country with constitutional requirements that protect the “rights of nature” (Chomsky, 2016).  While Evo Morales remains in Mexico for the safety of his life since he resigned following the military coup demand, he has called for an international truth commission to open an investigation into his being demanded to resign by the military and has pointed out that the United States and the Bolivian right-wing coup desperately do not want his return to Bolivia. 

            An international truth commission ought to be organized and open an investigation into the military coup in Bolivia.  Evo Morales must be allowed safe reentry into Bolivia and the political will of Bolivians must be respected.  The proto-fascist elements currently in power in Bolivia must immediately return their stolen positions, stop advocating for violent suppression of the population and the military and police must immediately cease wantonly shooting and murdering civilians, a majority of whom are indigenous Morales supporters. 

            The temporary Venezuelan coup of Chavez ultimately failed, the sabotaging economic sanctions on Maduro’s government, the attempted assassination of Maduro and the attempted coup waged by Juan Guido have all failed, the attempted framing and imprisoning of Lula has begun to be reversed, and all of these events are hopefully but preludes to what is to come for Bolivia: the ultimate failure of the proto-fascist military coup.  Bolivians and their allies will do well to maintain a Gramscian optimism of the will.   

References

Chomsky, Noam, Barsamian, David, (2017). Global Discontents: Conversations on the Rising Threats to Democracy. Metropolitan Books. 

Chomsky, Noam, (2016). Who Rules the World? Metropolitan Books. 

The History of the United States’ Imperial Aggression against Venezuela

            The Trump administration’s advocacy of and support for a coup in Venezuela is the most aggressive and recent iteration of Washington’s decades long policy of installing business friendly, reactionary right-wing dictatorships in South America after removing and destroying the democratically elected governments (Pinochet over Allende in Chile, etc.).  Venezuela’s foreign minister Jorge Arreaza exposed the irony and hypocrisy of Mike Pence's comments calling for more intervention in Venezuela while the Trump administration is simultaneously enforcing the racist policy of separating immigrant families, many of whom are fleeing states destroyed by the United States, and placing children in cages.  This is another instance which, as Noam Chomsky points out, illustrates that the United States has as much interest in democracy as the former Soviet Union had in socialism.  

            The recent aggressive assault on Venezuela’s democracy was precipitated by Washington’s support for Juan Gauido’s claim, after being elected president of the National Assembly, that he is actually the president of Venezuela.  Gauido’s claim is as ludicrous as if Nancy Pelosi, being elected Speaker of the House, claimed that she was actually the president of the United States at the behest and with the support of a foreign nation.  This is not how democracy functions, these are the machinations of an autocratic dictatorship.  

            As with all of the Trump administration’s policies, the policy towards Venezuela is not merely the most recent iteration of decades old policies but has, in fact, removed the pretense of interest in democracy by openly declaring the real motivation in Venezuela.  John Bolton went on Fox Business and openly declared that the United States would profit from privatizing Venezuela’s oil production.  Rather than confronting the existential crisis of the looming ecological catastrophe driven by reliance on fossil fuels, the Trump administration’s policies constitute racing towards the precipice by opposing transitioning towards renewable energy and working to steal through violence the oil reserves of foreign nations.   

            As testament to the United States’ murderous history of imperial hegemony in South America the Trump administration has appointed Elliot Abrams to manage the coup or, as they would prefer, the “transition to democracy.”  Abrams is a criminal convicted for lying to federal investigators about the Iran-Contra scandal and who advocated the death squads of central and South America that drowned the region in blood during Reagan’s terrorist wars in the region in the 80’s.  This is the second overt attempt to overthrow the democratic government of Venezuela with a coup, the first occurring in 2002 with the attempted military coup against Hugo Chavez which was captured on film by Irish documentarians who happened to be there making a documentary on the Bolivarian revolution. 

            Laying the groundwork for the ongoing attempt to overthrow the elected Nicolas Maduro government of Venezuela is the media propaganda campaign citing the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela and blaming the Maduro government for it when, in fact, it is the effect of both the drop in oil prices and the economic sabotage of Venezuela’s economy by the United States imposed sanctions which are significantly toxic causal factors.  Former U.N. independent expert Alfred de Zayas points out that the principle of international law known as ex injuria non oritur jus disqualifies the United States from demanding regime change as the United States is principally responsible for initiating and aggravating the crisis to begin with.  All of this also follows the first time in history in which an attempted assassination of a head of state by drone targeted Maduro.    

            The United States must immediately cease the ongoing policy of advocating a coup in Venezuela, remove the hostile imposed sanctions that have severely aggravated the humanitarian crisis it so decries, and recognize and respect the democracy of Venezuela.