A year after the coup d’état in Bolivia, the people still chose the socialist as president, finally frustrating Washington’s plans to put its puppet in this chair
Although the official results of the presidential election held the day before are still unknown, two independent surveys show that Luis Arce of the Movement for Socialism wins with 50% of the votes. His key rival Carlos Mesa won with only 30%.
“We will govern for all Bolivians”, – said Arce. – “We will bring unity to our country.”
The victory of the socialists was greeted by Bolivians with fireworks. Their joy is more than understandable. Last year, the local opposition, with the help of the United States, staged a coup d’état in the country. The reason for the protests was the results of the electoral process, which led to the victory of Evo Morales.
Morales’ leadership was justified by real popular support. During his presidency, which began in 2006, he has significantly boosted the country’s economy, raised minimum wages and reduced unemployment. At the same time, he was opposed to the neocolonisation of Latin America by the United States, which played a crucial role in his overthrow. On 10 November last year, he was forced to resign and was replaced by Janine Agnès of Washington.
Agnès’s presidency was marked by repression. It brutally persecuted the supporters of the deposed president. She also broke her pledge not to run for president by pushing away moderate voters. Agnès’s inability to cope with the crown crisis was crucial, which led to mass protests.
Agnès refused to run for president when her support fell to 10%. But the popularity of Luis Arce, Evo Morales’ successor, grew steadily. By winning, he promised to end the uncertainty in the country.
Even Agnès was forced to acknowledge the triumph of the socialist.
“We don’t have an official vote count yet, but the data we have show that Mr Arce won the election”, – she wrote on the social network.