When Democracy Dies...
Well, it happened. Democracy has died in Bolivia. Just a few days ago I wrote about The Twenty-second Amendment, trying to get you, my readers, thinking about the term limits, inspired by what's just happened in Bolivia.
source: Wikipedia
It's so frustrating to see people react to the military coupe, which it clearly was, with words that amount to saying that Morales should have respected the term limits and shouldn't have changed the constitution to make it possible for him to rule for 13 years. And it's always the same pattern in Latin America; as soon as a leftist leader does obvious good for his country and people, but does so by denying neoliberal elites and foreign interests the profits they used to make by exploiting the country and its people, he is labeled a dictator, a desperate authoritarian who just can't let go of that sweet power... I wonder how many will now think differently about term limits, as fascism has now taken over in Bolivia after its popular president has been chased away from his office and his country, and risks arrest and even execution if he ever decides to come back...
The irony is that many here in the west are of the opinion that it was Morales who killed democracy by "holding on to power" for too long. And I genuinely believe that this is a Pavlovian reflex induced by us being so accustomed to the idea of term limits in our western democracies, and not by a serious consideration of term limits in themselves; this is why I wrote that post a few days ago, and why I gave the examples of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Angela Merkel who both ruled for as long a period, but who strangely don't get labeled petty dictators who's hunger for power know no limits. Why don't we care about their elongated stays on the throne? I believe it is because we know they were elected in a regular and honest democratic process. That's it. When the election is not stolen, the elected person is obviously by the majority of the people, and it would be wrong to deny the will of the people. Term limits were instituted in America only AFTER its most popular president in history kept the opposing party out of power for so long. But when Hugo Chavez gets re-elected one time too many, the corporate press immediately begins a smear-campaign, the CIA goes as far as to plot an assassination, and now Venezuela's most popular leader is known all over the western hemisphere as a cruel dictator.
Police Given Immunity In Terrifying Bolivia Crackdown
In fact, almost all of Latin America's leaders who are part of the famous Pink tide suffer the same fate, and Morales was not only part of, but the brightest shining example of that movement, taking Latin America away from neoliberal policies that impoverish their Hispanic and indigenous populations, towards more socialist and leftist policies that lift up the poorest and create more egalitarian income distributions. I was born in Latin America, in a small country called Suriname right above Brazil, my father studied in Argentina, my mother's favorite song was "Don't Cry for me Argentina"... My interest in the region has rather deep roots, and right now I'm crying for Bolivia. I'm crying at so many reactions here in the all knowing west, saying that it's okay to depose a leader that's fairly elected, even if it's the 100th time. And now we idly stand by while Bolivia's democratically elected president is replaced with a fascist regime, with a leader who's party got 4 percent of the votes in that wrongly contested last election... Morales in the final count got 47 percent of the votes and his closest contestant only got 36 percent, which means he won. Convincingly. And now he's a fugitive from his own country...
The fact that this all got started with a bogus claim about irregularities in the vote-count by the OAS (Organization of American States), an international continental organization that was originally founded to oppose leftism, and inspects the democratic process in its member states, and is funded mainly by the U.S., should be enough explanation why Bolivia's new self-appointed, military backed, fascist leader isn't condemned in all headlines of all mainstream news outlets. I'll leave it here; my anger exceeds my will to write, honestly. Watch the first video to see what Bolivia has to deal with now, and in the below linked video you'll hear a full timeline and explanation of all that happened since the election started in October, as well as how Bolivian democracy is supposed to work.
Coup In Bolivia? Ecuador’s Fmr. Foreign Minister Explains ft. Guillaume Long
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