The military coup in Bolivia

The military coup is Bolivia is a terrible development for democracy and Latin America.

And it is a coup, not some maneuver to redo the recent election, which the Organization of American States (OAS) criticized on what so far appear to be entirely frivolous grounds. I will also refer to it as a civilian-military coup, since even straightforward military coups often include extensive civilian partisan elements, e.g., Argentina 1955, Chile 1973.

As Marco Teruggi reported for Página/12 (Se consumó el golpe en Bolivia: renunció Evo Morales 11.11.2019; my translation into English):

The [resignation] announcement made by [President Evo] Morales was therefore a matter of time. The coup offensive had already taken over the main spaces, and the resignations of officials were taking place, most under threat and persecution.

Morales and [Vice Presidente Álvaro García] Linera's resignation was followed by acts of persecution: the authorities of the Supreme Electoral Court, María Eugenia Choque and Antonio Costas, were arrested and handcuffed by the police, in a succession scenario of images and news mixed into the confusion, militarization, and coup euphoria with cries and evocations of democracy and God.

After the announcements from Chapare, the president of the Senate, Adriana Salvatierra, who was to assume the presidency, resigned. The same was the case with the person next in the succession, the first vice president, raising a series of questions about what will result as reordering takes shape led by the National Police, the Armed Forces, the coup leaders, the businessmen who financed it, and those who supported the invalidation of elections from the outset: the American government.

In this context, complaints regarding the security of Evo Morales, who denounced an "illegal apprehension order" against him, were reported, and that his home was raided by violent groups. Morales' situation is repeated in the case of several leaders and militants of the process of change [i.e., supporters of Morales] under threat of persecution.

Ryan Grim provides us with this glimpse into the post-coup situation:

Reporter gets pepper-sprayed in the middle of a live hit (by those forces of democracy) in Bolivia and plows right through it. This is impressive stuff, and helps reveal what’s going on there... https://t.co/9CXnkpmWEX

— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) November 16, 2019

Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), is an excellent English-language resource on the Bolivian coup.

Weisbrot also did an interview with the Majority Report's Sam Seder on the coup (Evo Morales’ Ouster in Bolivia w/ Mark Weisbrot - MR Live - 11/12/19; segment begins just after 25:40):

CEPR also provides this video of Weisbrot discussing the Bolivian election that immediately preceded the civilian-military coup, Mark Weisbrot on BBC News Discussing the Bolivian Elections 11/09/2019:

CEPR also provides this November report on the 2019 election, (English:) What Happened in Bolivia’s 2019 Vote Count? The Role of the OAS Electoral Observation Mission (Español:) ¿Qué sucedió en el recuento de votos de las elecciones de Bolivia de 2019? El papel de la Misión de Observación Electoral de la OEA.