The civic-military coup against Evo Morales in Bolivia on Sunday, Nov. 10, was one of the issues debated in the seminar “Peoples’ BRICS” on Monday, Nov. 11. The event is organized by people's movements from Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, and is being held in the capital of Brazil, Brasília.
In an interview with Brasil de Fato, Joao Pedro Stedile, of the national board of the Landless Workers' Movement (MST), highlighted the role of US imperialism in the escalation of violence in Bolivia, which brought the resignation of major political leaders of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS).
“What happened yesterday in Bolivia was the practical application of what we have read in this book Hybrid Wars [by Andrew Korybko], which is the strategy of US capital to overthrow governments. They already tried to apply this and applied this in Ukrania, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador,” the landless leader explained.
“These are terrorist actions that take public entities hostage and instill fear in the population, to the point where Evo [Morales] himself felt trapped, and in order to preserve the life of his family members, his sister, the people closest to him who already had their houses burned down, he took the political decision to resign,” he said.
In the opening panel of the seminar, Brazilian congressman Paulo Pimenta, of the Workers’ Party (PT), mentioned the possibility of the participation of authorities from Brazil and the United States in the Bolivian coup.
Stedile denounced the possibility of involvement of the Brazilian government in the acts of violence in the neighboring country, adding that he is hopeful that the population of Bolivia will be able to resist.
“I hope that the people of Bolivia rise up and put an end to these terrorist practices financed by the government of the US and with support from the other fascists that we have here in Latin America, as it was explicitly shown in the praise that [Jair] Bolsonaro expressed to the coup supporters,” he criticized.
For the leader of the MST, new elections should be held immediately in Bolivia. “We, as people's movements in Latin America and Brazil, must offer all of our solidarity and mobilize to make this happen.”
Stedile is one of the panelists of “Peoples’ BRICS” and will speak on Tuesday, Nov. 12.
Edited by: Cris Rodrigues | Translated by Zoe PC, with Peoples Dispatch
