We reject the coup d’état and the violence in Bolivia

Friends of the Earth International categorically condemns and rejects the coup against president Evo Morales’ administration in Bolivia. The wave of violence incited by the fundamentalist, misogynist and racist right-wing with the support of the Bolivian armed forces and police, has led to the current democratic crisis and forced the resignation of President Evo Morales in what can only be described as a coup d’état.

This coup has ripped apart democracy in the plurinational State of Bolivia. In the defense of democracy, popular sovereignty, peace and human rights as the principles that unite us the world over, we denounce these ongoing events.

We join Friends of the Earth Latin America and the Caribbean (ATALC) and all the Latin American movements coming together to reject this coup and stand in solidarity with the peoples of Bolivia. As part of this movement of solidarity, La Via Campesina have honoured the leading role played by Bolivia in the adoption of a UN Declaration for the Rights of Peasants. The Trade Union Confederation of the Americas (TUCA) stressed how Morales and the Vice President García Linera “made the decision to resign… to avoid further bloodshed.”

We are deeply concerned by the ongoing human rights violations, despite the resignation of Evo Morales, which have created a vacuum of power, preparing the way for the appropriation of the Bolivian state by the self-elected racist and fundamentalist Jeanine Áñez.

We denounce the national and foreign actors, led by the business civic committees and the national oligarchy who set in motion this violent plan to destabilize Bolivian democracy with abhorrent racism, threats and harassment.

We therefore demand respect for the human rights of all Bolivians. We remain on alert for the anticipated continuation of violence unleashed on civilians, members of social organizations, journalists and representatives of the Morales government, their families, and leaders and militants of social movements. The suppression of the rule of law produced by a coup of this nature disables fundamental rights including the right to life.

We urge social and political movements all over the world to openly stand with us against the coup d’état and condemn this fresh atrocity against the self-determination rights of the Bolivian peoples.

In the struggle for the emancipation of the peoples based on environmental, social, economic and gender justice, we continue to stand against imperialism in every shape and form, and we will not rest until democracy is reestablished in Bolivia and the fascist right-wing threat to our comrades in Latin America is banished.

The defense of democracy, peace, sovereignty and self-determination in Bolivia, based on the rights of its peoples free from external interference is paramount. We repudiate the coup in Bolivia and call on the international community to do the same and ensure the immediate reestablishment of the rule of law.

We stand in solidarity with the Bolivian peoples.

Image: http://www.granma.cu