The October 18th presidential election in Bolivia confirms that leftist candidate Luis Arce won the presidency with a solid majority, which puts yet another nail in the coffin of the OAS's efforts to meddle in Bolivia. CEPR's Jake Johnston, who analyzed the highly questionable OAS audit of last year's election, which justified the coup, discusses how this recent result presents a challenge to US foreign policy towards Bolivia.

The October 18th presidential election in Bolivia confirms that leftist candidate Luis Arce won the presidency with a solid majority, which puts yet another nail in the coffin of the OAS's efforts to meddle in Bolivia. CEPR's Jake Johnston, who analyzed the highly questionable OAS audit of last year's election, which justified the coup, discusses how this recent result presents a challenge to US foreign policy towards Bolivia.

Kathryn Ledebur, of the Andean Information Network in Cochabamba, talks about what the election result means for Bolivia and how it has dealt a serious blow to the country's fascistic far-right.

Kathryn Ledebur, of the Andean Information Network in Cochabamba, talks about what the election result means for Bolivia and how it has dealt a serious blow to the country's fascistic far-right.

 

Kathryn Ledebur, of the Andean Information Network in Cochabamba, talks about what the election result means for Bolivia and how it has dealt a serious blow to the country's fascistic far-right.

Transcript

Greg WilpertHi, I'm Greg Wilpert, guest host for theAnalysis.news podcast. Last Sunday, Bolivians returned to votingcenters to cast ballots for president and for the legislature, and exit polls suggest that the movementtoward socialism, the former governing party under Evo Morales, won this election resoundingly withjust over 50% of the result. The election took place almost exactly a year after the October 20th, 2019election, which had ended in controversy because the opposition and the Organization of AmericanStates claimed that widespread fraud had taken place. Eventually, on November 10th of last year,following anti-government protests and rebellions among the police, and an ultimatum from theBolivian military, President Evo Morales was forced to resign.Morales fled into exile, first to Mexico, and then Argentina. Meanwhile, a far-right government tookover under interim president Jeanine Áñez, who became president under highly questionablecircumstances. Waves of violence, including two massacres against supporters of Evo Morales, tookplace in the following months. Joining me now to discuss the outcome of Sunday's election in Bolivia isKatheryn Ledebur. She is director of the Andean Information Network, and a researcher, activist, andanalyst with over two decades of experience in Bolivia, who joins me from Cochabamba, Bolivia.Thanks for being on the program again, Katheryn.

Katheryn LedeburThanks so much for having me, Greg.

Greg WilpertSo let's start with what we know about the results of the Sunday election, that is, what do we know interms of what the outcome was, and when can we expect official results?

Katheryn LedeburWell, as usual, as is typical in Bolivian elections, the official results take two or three days.What we know from the exit polls, and they were exit polls that were delayed until past midnight lastnight, is that it seems clear that MAS (Movement for Socialism Party) has won the presidency in the firstround.The opposition candidate, the interim government, and even the US State Department has acceptedthat Luis Arce is president-elect, and so although we wait for official confirmation, it's quite clear thatMAS has won, that they've won by a sufficient margin to take the presidency, that they should beinaugurated in the next several weeks.It remains to be seen whether the Bolivian armed forces and the irregular para-state groups will acceptthis decision. The Organization of American States Inter-American Human Rights Commission wassupposed to begin its work on the investigation of the gross human rights violations that occurred

during the coup and the Áñez government, but Áñez officials continue to pressure to impede thosetransparent investigations. So we have an electoral win, we have a clear leader, we have an electoralprocess, and delays in the process that cast significant doubt upon the OAS allegations of fraud in theprevious election.And so I think it calls for a moment of reflection about Bolivian democracy, about what has happenedand the atrocities of the past year, and what is the best way to move forward to respect the rights of allBolivians, and to move out of this morass of repression, racism, and polarization that Bolivia has founditself in for the past year.

Greg WilpertI think that's a very good point. I mean, sometimes,

Kathryn Ledebur, of the Andean Information Network in Cochabamba, talks about what the election result means for Bolivia and how it has dealt a serious blow to the country's fascistic far-right.

Bulgarian journalist Vladamir Mitev, says ongoing protests in Bulgaria are against government corruption and crony capitalism. Bulgaria agreed to a billion-dollar deal for U.S. F-16 fighter aircraft at a time when schools and hospitals a grossly underfunded. A collaboration with "Other News."

Bulgarian journalist Vladamir Mitev, says ongoing protests in Bulgaria are against government corruption and crony capitalism. Bulgaria agreed to a billion-dollar deal for U.S. F-16 fighter aircraft at a time when schools and hospitals a grossly underfunded. A collaboration with "Other News."

Transcript

Paul JayWelcome to theAnalysis.news podcast. I'm Paul Jay. Don't forget there's a donate button at the top ofthe page, and without viewer support, we can't do this. This episode is produced in collaboration with Other News. Other News is an international press platform that disseminates analysis, insights, and information about global issues in English, Spanish, and Italian. You can find it at http://www.other-news.info.

When considering the US presidential elections, not many Americans think of Bulgaria, but Bulgariansare following the race, and some think the outcome of the US elections will have an important effect onthe country.But first, a little background. Since July 9th, tens of thousands of Bulgarians have protested in the streetsagainst rampant corruption, calling for the downfall and resignations of the prime minister and the chiefprosecutor. By some measurements, Bulgaria is considered the most corrupt country in Europe. OnBulgaria's southern borders are Greece and Turkey, and to the north, Romania, and Serbia to the west.It's a member of NATO and the EU, and most trade is with Europe. Russia, Turkey, and China are alsoimportant trading partners.After the fall of the Soviet bureaucratic socialism, Bulgaria carved up much of the economy and sold it toa class of oligarchs. Although the state still retains ownership of much of the arms manufacturingindustries, Bulgaria exports more than a billion dollars of arms each year, mostly to the Middle East,largely sold to Saudi Arabia, who's funneled them to proxy armies in Syria and other places. Arms salesand the Saudis are a recipe for corruption everywhere. Bulgaria is also moving ahead with acontroversial billion-dollar purchase of U.S. F-16 fighter aircraft, anywhere from 1.3 billion to 1.7 billion,depending on which report you read.This was in a deal made with President Donald Trump. Bulgaria is in a state of demographic crisis. It hashad negative population growth since the early 1990s when the economic collapse caused a long-lastingimmigration wave. Around a million people, mostly young adults left the country by 2005. A third of allhouseholds consist of only one person, and 75.5% of families do not have children under the age of 16.The resulting birthrates are amongst the lowest in the world, while death rates are among the highest.Bulgarian students were among the highest-scoring in the world in terms of reading in 2001, performingbetter than their Canadian and German counterparts.By 2006, scores in reading, math, and science had dropped. By 2018, the Program for InternationalStudent Assessment Studies found 47% of pupils in the 9th grade to be functionally illiterate in readingand natural sciences. So what's driving the anti-corruption protests? And are the problems in Bulgariareally about corruption?Vladamir Mitev, a Bulgarian journalist, writes about the process of the restoration of capitalism after1989, quote, "transition was dominated by the ideology of anti-communism. Under its banner, a systemof crony capitalism was created. Oligarchs emerged, while privatization and neoliberal reforms toreapart the social tissue, and hundreds of thousands went abroad for decent jobs and living conditions.Now joining us from Bulgaria is Vladimir Mitev.

Bulgarian journalist Vladamir Mitev, says ongoing protests in Bulgaria are against government corruption and crony capitalism. Bulgaria agreed to a billion-dollar deal for U.S. F-16 fighter aircraft at a time when schools and hospitals a grossly underfunded. A collaboration with "Other News."

Bulgarian journalist Vladamir Mitev, says ongoing protests in Bulgaria are against government corruption and crony capitalism. Bulgaria agreed to a billion-dollar deal for U.S. F-16 fighter aircraft at a time when schools and hospitals a grossly underfunded. A collaboration with "Other News."