Skip to main content

Bolivia Has Fallen

If you thought of a South American country that has suffered from political division, the rise of the far-right, violent street encounters, and international interference, the first country that would pop into your head would be Venezuela. But while news stories from South America have been dominated by the attempted coup in Venezuela, and the Amazon fires, turmoil has pursued under the radar in Bolivia.

To be honest I was a little caught off guard by the resignation of President Evo Morales, Bolivia has thrived under his leadership, and I was unaware of the extent of foreign interference and political turmoil in the country. But honestly I'm not in the slightest bit surprised.

Bolivia is the country in which iconic communist Ché Guevara was executed, following collusion between the CIA, Bolivian forces and militias, and has a long history of colonialism and fascism. In fact in WW2 the USA had drafted plans to invade South America, as they feared that many countries on the continent, especially Brazil, would join the Axis forces. Check out 'Plan Rubber' online for more info.

Currently socialists on the continent are facing what could be described as a purge. Former members of the FARC are being murdered in the hundreds in Colombia, Brazil has imprisoned leftists, the international attempts to overthrow the left in Venezuela, and the history of fascism in Chile and Argentina, are all just some examples of where the continent lies on the political spectrum.

But this latest coup is far from over and is not about Evo Morales. The military has forced the president to resign, but also those who could take his place as President of Bolivia, leaving a power vacuum. Over the coming weeks, or even days, we could see Bolivia's version of Juan Guido installed as president, and welcomed by fascist governments all over the world.

What has happened in Bolivia, is almost identical to what happened in Venezuela, only this time there has been a success for the right. Foreign interference has destabilised the country, their democratic process has been discredited, anti-government propaganda has been rife, and the military have been turned against their leaders. With such consistency in how democratic governments have been overthrown on the continent, perhaps in twenty years time we'll read of 'Plan Rubber Part 2'.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

What's The Beef With Beef ?

The Irish Beef Industry has been going through turbulent times recently, most notably because of the proposed Mercosur deal and the prices farmers receive for their cattle. We haven't even reached Brexit yet, and are still weeks out from the latest withdrawal deadline, and beef farmers are at their wits end. But how has it got to this and can farmers cope if there is a no-deal Brexit? Farmers' incomes are under threat, not just because of the reasons outlined above, but also because of the threat to grants which keep small and medium farms in business. The recent EU elections have seen the status quo remain in the European Parliament, with parties of the right keeping their large dominance of the union. There has been some debate surrounding the EU's agricultural plan over the course of the previous five year parliament, particularly regarding the EU's farm subsidy. Now that the elections are over, the EU government could proceed with plans which could see a standard ...

Schrodinger’s Election: Can an election be both good and bad at the same time?

  Two elections took place in Ireland last Friday (Three in Limerick, which also had its first Mayoral Election), but you would be forgiven for thinking that there were in fact four or more. Depending on who you asked, a variety of parties had both a good and bad day at the polls. Unlike Schrodinger’s Cat, the parties remain very much alive, though some more alive than others, with none actually licking their wounds. We knew much of the results of the local elections by Sunday evening, apart from the epic count in Newbridge which saw four re-counts and neither candidate involved being elected. They key result, which we knew on Saturday night, was the national result. By the time the weekend came to an end, we knew that there was a correlation between the local and EU results, in terms of party polling at least. Sinn Féin’s Michelle Gildernew MP conceded a little early, but was quick to change her mind and put herself back in contention for a seat, which she was. Fine Gael leade...

Will McGregor Ever Return To MMA ?

This weekend will see Nate Diaz taking on Anthony Pettis, with rumours going around that the winner of this fight will take on former Champ-Champ, Conor McGregor. But don't get your hopes up just yet, if you pay enough attention to the promotion of fights in the UFC, it seems that almost every headline fight in the featherweight, lightweight, and welterweight divisions, is rumoured to offer a fight with The Notorious to the victor. The UFC, which is a company not a sport, is trying its best to hype up some unhypable fights, with no disrespect do those involved, but most people other than actual fans of combat sports couldn't care less about Diaz vs Pettis. McGregor is the only thing that will sell this fight, even though the prospect of him fighting the winner of the bout is slim to none, and the fabrication of this subsequent fight is nothing more than a marketing tool used by the UFC. Many will have to accept the fact that we probably won't see McGregor fight competit...