Coup or Popular Uprising?
On November 10, 2019, Bolivian President Evo Morales resigned and fled to Mexico after military “suggestions” to leave amid mass protests over alleged electoral fraud—an event leftists worldwide condemned as a coup while right-wing opponents celebrated as democracy’s defense against Morales’s illegal fourth-term bid.
Morales, Bolivia’s first indigenous president (2006-2019), won the October 20 election with 47.1% to Carlos Mesa’s 36.5%—enough to avoid runoff by exceeding 40% and 10-point margin. However, vote count anomalies triggered Organization of American States (OAS) audit finding “clear manipulations” and “irregularities.”
Opposition protests demanding new elections erupted in Santa Cruz and spread nationwide. Police mutinied, joining protests. On November 10, OAS recommended new elections. Military commander Williams Kaliman “suggested” Morales resign “for the good of Bolivia.” Morales complied, calling it a coup, then fled to Mexico.
Senator Jeanine Áñez, an opposition legislator, declared herself interim president despite lacking quorum—justified as constitutional necessity. Her government postponed elections, granted military immunity for restoring order, and security forces killed 37 protesters (mostly Morales’s indigenous supporters) at Sacaba and Senkata.
In October 2020 elections, Morales’s MAS party won decisively with Luis Arce (54.5%), demonstrating continued indigenous-left majority support. Arce’s government prosecuted Añez for the coup—she was convicted and imprisoned. Meanwhile, OAS fraud claims were disputed by independent researchers questioning methodology.
Bolivia’s 2019 crisis remains contested: was it a military coup against democratically-elected leader, or justified popular uprising against authoritarian attempting illegal power extension? The answer depends largely on one’s view of Morales’s fourth-term constitutional interpretation.
Sources:
The Guardian, BBC Mundo, NY Times, Washington Post, CEPR, Al Jazeera