World leaders and organisations expressed their solidarity on November 10 with former Bolivian President Evo Morales under the hashtag #ElMundoconEvo (the World with Evo) and strongly condemned the right-wing coup which forced Morales to resign.
“I just heard that there was a coup d'état in Bolivia and that comrade Evo was forced to resign. It is unfortunate that Latin America has an economic elite that does not know how to live with democracy and the social inclusion of the poorest,” former Brazilian President and Leader of the Workers’ Party (PT) Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said.
The historic Brazilian leader’s message was echoed by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro who “categorically condemned the consummated coup d'etat against the brother president Evo,” adding that “the social and political movements of the world declare mobilisation to demand the preservation of the life of the Bolivian Indigenous people victims of racism.”
Cuba’s government was also quick to reject the coup as President Miguel Diaz-Canel urged for “the world to mobilize for the life and freedom of Evo.”
This comes as Morales was forced to resign on November 10 after senior army and police chiefs called on him to do so following weeks of right-wing unrest and violence against his October 20 election victory, in what his government has called a coup by opposition forces in the country.
“I decided to resign from my position so that Carlos Mesa and Luis Camacho stop abusing and harming thousands of brothers ... I have the obligation to seek peace and it hurts a lot that we face Bolivians,” the former president of Bolivia said in a press statement.
Bolivian Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera also said that he was resigning from his position. The two leaders said that they would be handing their resignation letters to the country's National Assembly.
Soon after the president of the Senate also quit thus breaking the Constitutional line of succession. As the country plunges into further chaos, international solidarity continues to be shared for Morales and his government.
“To see Evo who, along with a powerful movement, has brought so much social progress forced from office by the military is appalling. I condemn this coup against the Bolivian people and stand with them for democracy, social justice, and independence,” British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn tweeted Sunday.
Social movements and organisations also shared their messages of support and condemnation to the internationally repudiated coup in Bolivia.
Brazil's Landless Workers Movement energetically demanded "dictatorship never again," as it called for the people to decide Bolivia's future. While the Argentinian human rights movement of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo sided with Morales’ and his former vice president.
“We stand in solidarity with the people of Bolivia in these hours of suffering and demand the continuity of the transparent and unrestricted electoral process,” the progressive Group of Puebla issued a statement adding that they “demand that the International Human Rights Bodies guarantee the clarification of the acts of violence committed, the trial and punishment of those responsible, and the restoration of order, peace, social life, and democracy in Bolivia.”