In response to a campaign of destabilisation against the democratically elected government in Bolivia, being organised from the opposition stronghold of Santa Cruz, solidarity activists in Sydney produced a video in support of the Bolivian people and denounced the violence and threats.
The context of the violence is the opposition’s scaremongering over the country’s national census.
Mentioned in the video is Luis Fernando Camacho, a figure well-known to Bolivians as he was one of the leaders of the coup that overthrew the democratically elected Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) government, led by President Evo Morales, in November 2019. The Bolivian people resisted the coup government for months, before elections were eventually held again in October 2020, which the MAS won in a landslide victory.
The following is a transcript of the video, which has been translated by Ana Zorita.
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"The Human Rights Association of Bolivia based in Sydney, Australia, hereby denounces the acts of violence and vandalism that the Pro Santa Cruz Civic Committee are provoking, led by Luis Fernando Camacho and collaborators, in order to destabilise the plurinational government of President Luis Arce, who was popularly and democratically elected by the majority of the Bolivian people.
"They are carrying out these violent actions in order to stop the beginning of a dialogue with the Inter-institutional Committee that represents the majority of citizens who reject violence. These actions are also an attempt to conspire a new coup against Luis Arce.
"It is still true that the process of executing the national census is an administrative act, this has nothing to do with partisanship and ideology, as interpreted by Camacho and his coup lobby.
"In view of the human rights violations against inhabitants, workers, small businesses etc, from Australia, the Human Rights Association of Bolivia makes Luis Fernando Camacho and his collaborators responsible for the current political, economic and social crisis in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.
"At the same time, we make him responsible for the people who may die or are injured by physical attacks carried out by his followers."
For more information, visit the Association for Human Rights in Bolivia on facebook.