2019 Bolivian political crisis |
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Causes |
Effects |
Events |
Elections |
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![]() | This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: The reactions here are from the first few days of the Áñez government (11-15 Nov 2019). International opinion may have changed or been further commented on since this time..(January 2020) |
The following is a list of reactions to the 2019 Bolivian political crisis.
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2020) |
The Movement for Socialism (MAS), the governing party of Bolivia, called upon Morales' supporters to defend him. [1]
The Catholic Church in Bolivia said this was not a coup and Pope Francis asked for "peace and serenity". [2] On 18 Dec, Osvaldo Chirveches, Jesuit priest and president of the Conference of Religious of Bolivia observed that "Bolivia is beginning to move and show more positivism. Given the current situation with the recent change of government there are discordant voices and opinions found but we hope that the elections called will mark a new horizon". [3] On 7 January 2020, the Archbishop of El Alto, Eugenio Scarpellini, said that "Those that promote violence cannot become figures of authority". This was in response to statements made by Andrónico Rodríguez, a leading MAS figure and close associate of Morales, suggestion of a return to violence after the 22 January, the day which the new President would have been installed. [4]
In a poll commissioned by the Bolivian NGO group Red UNITAS conducted by Ipsos MORI released on 10 September 2020, 73% of the respondents believed there had been fraud in the 2019 elections, while on the question on whether they believed there had been a coup d'etat, 39% answered yes, while 58% answered no. 83% of the answered yes when asked if the crisis originated from the 2016 Bolivian constitutional referendum on whether to allow Morales further terms. [5] [6]
Several American governments and other countries and organizations responded to the resignation; some supported Morales and others were supportive of new elections without him.
In an interview published by Agence France-Presse on 24 December 2019, Morales said from Argentina, "I'm absolutely convinced it's a coup against lithium," backed by the United States. [62] Morales had earlier made similar declarations during an interview with Glenn Greenwald of The Intercept . [63] Several sources, however, including those from the mining industry itself, question this motive and the value of Bolivian's lithium. [64] [65] [66] [67] However other sources have indicated that there is substantial global interest in Bolivia's lithium industry with countries like Germany and China, expressing their desire to exploit jointly the huge lithium reserves in the country. [68] [69] [70] When confronted by a Twitter user alleging that the US government manufactured a coup in Bolivia to secure access to the country's lithium reserves, Elon Musk, CEO of electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla, responded in a since-deleted tweet, "We will coup whoever we want! Deal with it!"; [71] [72] lithium is a crucial ingredient of the lithium-ion batteries that power Tesla vehicles. [73]
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