Tom Paine 1949
Diamond Member
- Mar 15, 2020
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The Bolivian right has been dealt a tremendous defeat with the outright victory of Evo Moralesâ MAS party in the just completed elections. The main Conservative candidates have already conceded, but the possibility of another military coup or even secession in Boliviaâs Eastern province remains. The election results show that Democracy â even under the guns of the the military, despite arrests and exile of MAS leaders, and in the middle of a pandemic â is still alive and deeply rooted in that very poor country.
The reasons are clear. Wikipedia documents how âBetween 2006 and 2019 (term of the presidency of the democratic socialist Evo Morales), GDP per capita quadrupled and the extreme poverty rate declined from 38% to 18%.... Moreover, the Gini coefficient declined from 0.60 to 0.446.â
It is well known that Morales and many of his supporters argued that he was ousted in part as a response to his attempts to nationalize the countryâs lithium â a mineral used in batteries that power various clean energy technologies, including electric cars. âMy crime, my sin ... is to have nationalized our natural resources, removed the transnational corporations from the hydrocarbon sector and mining.â Morales told American journalist Glenn Greenwald in an interview. He said he had hoped to do much the same with lithium and even to ârefine it into lithium hydroxide and other compoundsâ used in battery manufacturing.
The coup was popular among the Catholic middle class and carried a strong whiff of anti-Indian prejudice. Even if it was not directly rooted in lithium politics, the polling in Bolivia this week gave a new and enthusiastic mandate to developing lithium reserves in the public interest, not narrowly for corporate gain. Attempts to recreate the old oil industry dynamics with clean energy resources wonât go unchallenged, at least in Bolivia.
The news that the left-wing MAS candidate Luis Arce has declared victory and that the chief conservative candidate conceded led to a fall in the stock price of Elon Muskâs Tesla. Why?
âWe will coup whoever we want! Deal with it.â
âElon Musk caused a stir [back in July] on Twitter when he suggested that he supports coups which benefit his companies. Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, had first tweeted that a second government stimulus package would not be âin the best interests of the people.â A Twitter user replied, âYou know what wasnât in the best interest of people? the U.S. government organizing a coup against Evo Morales in Bolivia so you could obtain the lithium there.â In a since deleted tweet, Musk fired back, âWe will coup whoever we want! Deal with it.â The comment is a clear illustration of the capitalist motivations behind imperialist aggression. â
âWe Will Coup Whoever We Wantâ: Elon Musk Loves Imperialism
The MAS victory, if it holds, may re-inspire social democratic movements in Brazil and Chile, Ecuador and Argentina. Everywhere Covid-19 recessions and lack of capital credit is bringing terrible hardship to Latin America. Of course the situation in Bolivia, with its Indian majority and terrible reliance on extractive industry, is unique. In actuality, only threats of nationalization has been the norm. These have generally gone along with hard-headed effective negotiations with U.S., European and hopefully soon also Chinese firms to get better deals.
Here are two recent reports concerning this important election:
Bolivia election: Evo Morales's leftwing party celebrates stunning comeback
The reasons are clear. Wikipedia documents how âBetween 2006 and 2019 (term of the presidency of the democratic socialist Evo Morales), GDP per capita quadrupled and the extreme poverty rate declined from 38% to 18%.... Moreover, the Gini coefficient declined from 0.60 to 0.446.â
It is well known that Morales and many of his supporters argued that he was ousted in part as a response to his attempts to nationalize the countryâs lithium â a mineral used in batteries that power various clean energy technologies, including electric cars. âMy crime, my sin ... is to have nationalized our natural resources, removed the transnational corporations from the hydrocarbon sector and mining.â Morales told American journalist Glenn Greenwald in an interview. He said he had hoped to do much the same with lithium and even to ârefine it into lithium hydroxide and other compoundsâ used in battery manufacturing.
The coup was popular among the Catholic middle class and carried a strong whiff of anti-Indian prejudice. Even if it was not directly rooted in lithium politics, the polling in Bolivia this week gave a new and enthusiastic mandate to developing lithium reserves in the public interest, not narrowly for corporate gain. Attempts to recreate the old oil industry dynamics with clean energy resources wonât go unchallenged, at least in Bolivia.
The news that the left-wing MAS candidate Luis Arce has declared victory and that the chief conservative candidate conceded led to a fall in the stock price of Elon Muskâs Tesla. Why?
âWe will coup whoever we want! Deal with it.â
âElon Musk caused a stir [back in July] on Twitter when he suggested that he supports coups which benefit his companies. Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, had first tweeted that a second government stimulus package would not be âin the best interests of the people.â A Twitter user replied, âYou know what wasnât in the best interest of people? the U.S. government organizing a coup against Evo Morales in Bolivia so you could obtain the lithium there.â In a since deleted tweet, Musk fired back, âWe will coup whoever we want! Deal with it.â The comment is a clear illustration of the capitalist motivations behind imperialist aggression. â
âWe Will Coup Whoever We Wantâ: Elon Musk Loves Imperialism
The MAS victory, if it holds, may re-inspire social democratic movements in Brazil and Chile, Ecuador and Argentina. Everywhere Covid-19 recessions and lack of capital credit is bringing terrible hardship to Latin America. Of course the situation in Bolivia, with its Indian majority and terrible reliance on extractive industry, is unique. In actuality, only threats of nationalization has been the norm. These have generally gone along with hard-headed effective negotiations with U.S., European and hopefully soon also Chinese firms to get better deals.
Here are two recent reports concerning this important election:
Bolivia election: Evo Morales's leftwing party celebrates stunning comeback
âA Blow Against Neoliberalismâ: Socialist Wins Bolivian Election a Year After Coup Ousted Evo Morales
Former Bolivian President Evo Moralesâs political party MAS has claimed victory in the countryâs presidential election, with Moralesâs handpicked successor Luis Arce securing over 50% of the vote, according to exit polls. If confirmed, the result will put the socialist party back in power...
www.democracynow.org
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