La Via Campesina denounces the Coup d’État in Bolivia

Harare, 10 November 2019:

As an international peasant movement, La Via Campesina expresses our deepest solidarity with the people of Bolivia and condemn the racist, class-based and misogynist coup d’État orchestrated by US imperialism and local conservative oligarchs. Furthermore, we call for constant mobilisation and a democratic solution that guarantees the human rights of social leaders.

We denounce the role played by the Bolivian Armed Forces and media who choose to reproduce violence, disinformation and destabilisation, in a clear alliance with local and international elites.

For the past two weeks we have been following with great concern the increase in violence in Bolivia, as a result of the opposition´s failure to win the elections of 20 October. And despite multiple efforts to create dialogue, the coup plans went ahead to force President Evo Morales and and other officials to the point that were pressured to resign, in an attempt to safeguard peace and safety for the people and their organisations.

In this time of crisis, we call on institutions such as the United Nations (UN) and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to be vigilant and safeguard both democracy and justice in Bolivia, as these grave events are a threat not only to the exercise of democracy but also to peace and stability across the continent. In this context, it is imperative to preserve the physical and moral integrity of Evo Morales and all other social activists.

We call on our member and allied organisations to mobilise and carry out different actions in solidarity to demand an end to the violence, that these events do not go unpunished and to find a solution that is both just and democratic with the peasant, indigenous and popular majorities who continue resisting in defense of the rights they’ve recovered during the past decade.

Solidarity is the warmth of the peoples!
All our support to our comrades in Bolivia!


Also Read: La Via Campesina letter to Evo Morales Ayma , President of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, in October 2019, thanking his government for the support to Peasants’ Rights process