We Need to Talk About Bolivia

About 100 years ago, the United States emerged as a champion of a new, radical idea: “every people…has a right to choose the sovereignty under which they shall live.”[1]  A century earlier, the United States declared that “governments who have declared their independence and maintain it” shall be free from any oppression or control from any European power, lest that power risk their actions being viewed as “the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States.”[2]  Despite these bold statements, America cannot seem to keep its militarized hands to itself.  Since the end of World War II, the United States has repeatedly, through force or fraud, attempted to change a foreign sovereign government.[3]  During the Cold War, the United States attempted seventy-two such changes, succeeding about one-third of the time.[4]  Of course, the fall of the Berlin Wall did not mean the fall of American international electoral interference.[5]  Though Germany may be “now in one piece,”[6] America’s efforts to break the legitimate governments, especially in Latin and South America, have not subsided.[7]

            But the sins of the Cold War are not what I wanted to write about in this post; I wanted to write about how last year the United States supported a violent coup[8] with fascistic tendencies.[9]  In November of 2019, Bolivians went to the polls to vote for their next president.  The incumbent, President Evo Morales was favored to win, and in fact did win the election.[10]  His ten-point victory over his closest competitor, under the Bolivian constitution, meant that the election did not need to go to a runoff.[11] 

Nevertheless, the Organization of American States (OAS) – later backed with the full force of United States government – seized on so-called irregularities to find that they could not conclusively “confirm a first round victory,” even though only one day had passed since the election.[12]  These “irregularities” most notably included what the OAS concluded was a sharp change in the trend of results from the preliminary results to win the polls closed.[13]  Essentially, the OAS found the election lacked integrity because Morales gained a substantial lead after a brief stoppage in the quick, unofficial count of the votes.[14]  However, critics quickly noted that the OAS’s conclusions ignored two key factors: 1) the quick count vote relied on by the OAS was unofficial and not legally binding and 2) regional political discrepancies more than adequately account for the change in the trend of the results.[15]

            However, in the aftermath of the OAS’s preliminary but “conclusive” findings, several things happened in quick succession.  Anti-Morales protestors took to the streets, killing at least three people and maiming a pro-Morales mayor.[16]  A far-right, white, Bolivian senator seized power with the backing of the military.[17]  And the American government recognized this new interim government that had received zero votes.[18]  This support was bipartisan, with both Republicans[19] and Democrats – including former Obama administration officials[20] – praising the burgeoning coup.  Within days, new President Jeanine Áñez began to violently suppress dissidents. She exempted the police and military from any criminal liability by formal decree, even if they killed innocent civilians.[21]  Despite suggesting she would only serve as President for 90 days until the next election, her regime lasted for nearly a year.[22] She delayed elections twice.[23]

            The problem with all of this, of course, has already been mentioned.  Namely, the OAS was wrong.[24]  There is no evidence of widespread fraud during the 2019 election and the Bolivian people re-elected Morales.[25]  But still, why this blog post?  Even if the Bolivian people were subject to a racist and fascist regime that killed protestors, imprisoned dissidents, and blocked human rights investigators,[26] why implicate the United States if it was merely a regretful error of the OAS?

            The answer becomes clearer when the scope of analysis is widened beyond the immediate aftermath of the election.  Notwithstanding Bolivia, the OAS has seemingly adopted the American, Trumpian view of Latin and South America, siding against Maduro and with Trump in Venezuela, to the point of signaling support for military intervention.[27]  Even before Trump, the OAS has seemingly arbitrarily picked positions that benefitted American hegemony.[28]   The speed by which the American political establishment amplified the OAS’s preliminary findings[29] and recognized the military-backed interim government suggests that this election may have just been a pretext by which the American government could unseat a frequent adversary.[30]  Others can point to Morales’s continued resistance to privatizing Bolivia’s natural resources – namely lithium – angering global capital as a motivating factor.[31]  I am compelled to point out that a delay in vote counting,[32] results decisively changing over time,[33] and even the judicial system choosing the winner of an election based on political preference[34] have not traditionally inspired the OAS to make statements like they did in November of 2019.  Therefore, I suspect that the actions taken by the United States and the OAS (of which the United States “is a very influential member”[35]) have less to do any particular electoral issues and more with their distaste for Morales and his blend of multiracial, socialist politics.[36]  As a coda to these efforts to stop Morales, his party, helmed by a member of his administration, won the latest election far beyond the requirements to avoid a runoff and Áñez dropped out of the election a month before voting.[37]

            Even if my suspicions are correct, so what?  The American Empire is the most powerful – and deadly – political body on the planet,[38] and the power of any one individual to correct these injustices is limited at best.  But, crucially, “if you want to end war and stuff you gotta sing loud.”[39]  If we want to end America’s shameful interference with our neighboring countries, if we want to build a true international community, if we want to live in a country that really believes in self-determination, then we have to raise our voices and demand our government keep its hands to itself.

Aaron Gladstone is the Online Content Editor of Fordham International Law Journal Volume XLIV. This post underwent independent edits by another member of the Online Content Team.

This is a student blog post and in no way represents the views of the rest of Fordham International Law Journal.

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[1] Michla Pomerance, The United States and Self-Determination: Perspectives on the Wilsonian Conception, 70 Am. J. Int'l L. 1, 2 (1976).

[2] President James Monroe, The Monroe Doctrine (1823), available at https://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/monroe.asp.

[3] See Tim Gill, It Didn’t End With the Cold War, Jacobin (Jan. 25, 2017), https://jacobinmag.com/2017/01/us-intervention-russia-elections-imperialism-latin-america; jrctennis23, Yakko's World but every country the US overthrew since 1945 makes it louder, YouTube (Jul. 24, 2018), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zznhINfwV90&feature=youtu.be.

[4] See Lindsey O’Rourke, The U.S. tried to change other countries’ governments 72 times during the Cold War, Wash. Post (Dec. 23, 2016 5:00 AM), https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/12/23/the-cia-says-russia-hacked-the-u-s-election-here-are-6-things-to-learn-from-cold-war-attempts-to-change-regimes/.

[5] See Gill, supra note 3.

[6] jrctennis23, supra note 3, at 48.

[7] See Gill, supra note 3.

[8] See Press Statement, Sec. of State Michael Pompeo, Congratulations to Bolivian Senator Anez for Assuming the Role of Interim President (Nov. 13, 2019) https://www.state.gov/congratulations-to-bolivian-senator-anez-for-assuming-the-role-of-interim-president/.

[9] See Nick Estes, Is Bolivia turning into a rightwing military dictatorship?, Guardian (Nov. 26, 2019, 6:42 AM), https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/26/bolivia-rightwing-military-dictatorship.

[10] See Mark Weisbrot, The Trump Administration Is Undercutting Democracy in Bolivia, Nation (Nov. 8, 2019), https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/bolivia-election-oas/.  

[11] See id.

[12] The Organization of American States, Electoral integrity analysis General Elections in the Plurinational State of Bolivia 12 (2019) http://www.oas.org/documents/eng/press/Electoral-Integrity-Analysis-Bolivia2019.pdf.

[13] See Ha-Joon Chang et al., The OAS has to answer for its role in the Bolivian coup, Guardian (Dec. 2, 2019 12:57 AM), https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/02/the-oas-has-to-answer-for-its-role-in-the-bolivian-coup.

[14] See id.

[15] See generally, Guillaume Long et al., What Happened in Bolivia’s 2019 Vote Count?, The Center for Economic and Policy Research (Nov. 8, 2019), https://cepr.net/report/bolivia-elections-2019-11/.

[16] See Mónica Machicao & Kirk Semple, Bolivian Mayor Assaulted by Protesters in Postelection Mayhem, N.Y. Times (Nov. 7, 2019), https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/07/world/americas/bolivia-mayor-protest-paint.html.

[17] See Dan Collyns, Bolivia president’s initial indigenous-free cabinet heightens polarization, Guardian (Nov. 14, 2019, 3:38 PM), https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/14/bolivia-president-jeanine-anez-cabinet-indigenous.

[18] See Pompeo, supra note 8.

[19] See id.

[20] See Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton), Twitter (Nov. 11, 2019, 2:01 AM), https://twitter.com/BenjaminNorton/status/1193785734160953344?s=20 (noting a now-deleted tweet from President Obama’s Ambassador to Russia).

[21] See Estes, supra note 9.

[22] See John Otis & Kejal Vyas, In Bolivia Election, Voters Embrace Another Socialist After Ouster of Evo Morales The Wall St. J. (Oct. 20, 2020, 12:14 PM) https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-bolivia-election-voters-embrace-another-socialist-after-ouster-of-evo-morales-11603210468.

[23] See Anthony Faiola & Ana Herrero, Protesters paralyze Bolivia over election delays, threaten escalation, Wash. Post (Aug. 12, 2020, 6:00 AM), https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/bolivia-protest-blockade-anez-evo-coronavirus/2020/08/11/7ffceb50-db48-11ea-809e-b8be57ba616e_story.html.

[24] See Anatoly Kurmanaev & María Trigo, A Bitter Election. Accusations of Fraud. And Now Second Thoughts., N.Y. Times (June 7, 2020; updated Nov. 9, 2020), https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/07/world/americas/bolivia-election-evo-morales.html#click=https://t.co/HGrEx2Yd1h; Gabriel Hetland, The OAS helped undermine, not restore, democracy in Bolivia, Wash. Post (Mar. 7, 2020, 6:30 AM), https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/07/oas-helped-undermine-not-restore-democracy-bolivia/.

[25] See Hetland, supra note 24.

[26] See id.

[27] See id.

[28] See Weisbrot, supra note 10 (noting the OAS changing posture regarding the 2000 Haitian elections).

[29] See Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo), Twitter (Nov 10, 2019 1:44 PM), https://twitter.com/SecPompeo/status/1193600452849475584.  This was tweeted the same day the OAS released its preliminary report.

[30] See, e.g., Bolivia and US 'to restore diplomatic relations', BBC (Nov. 8, 2011),

 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-15632484 (detailing the strained history between President Morales and the American government).

[31] See Parker (@panoparker), Twitter (Oct. 19, 2020 7:50 AM), https://twitter.com/panoparker/status/1318157559266762752 (highlighting one CEO’s displeasure with Morales in a now-deleted tweet).

[32] See Daniel Arkin & Maura Barrett, Results for Iowa caucuses delayed as state Democratic Party finds 'inconsistencies', NBC News (Feb. 3, 2020, 10:10 PM), https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/iowa-caucus-results-much-slower-expected-state-democratic-party-quality-n1129431.

[33] See David Graham, The ‘Blue Shift’ Will Decide the Election, Atlantic (Aug. 10, 2020), https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/08/brace-blue-shift/615097/.

[34] See generally, Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. 98 (2000).

[35] Robert Naiman, OAS Plan to Alter Haiti Vote Fails Bush v. Gore Standard of Equal Protection, HuffPost (Jan. 11, 2011, 4:18 PM), https://www.huffpost.com/entry/oas-plan-to-alter-haiti-v_b_807449.

[36] See Nancy Postero, Morales's MAS Government: Building Indigenous Popular Hegemony in Bolivia, 37 Latin Am. Persp. 18, 25 (2010).

[37] See Jihan Abdalla, Luis Acre presumed winner of Bolivia presidential election, Al Jazeera (Oct. 19, 2020) https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/10/19/luis-arce-presumed-winner-of-bolivia-presidential-election.

[38] See Max Fisher, How America became the most powerful country on Earth, in 11 maps, Vox (May 20, 2015, 8:10 AM), https://www.vox.com/2015/5/20/8615345/america-global-power-maps.

[39] Arlo Gurthrie, Alice's Restaurant Massacree, on Alice’s Restaurant (Reprise 1967) at 16:49, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaKIX6oaSLs.