Don't forget that Human Rights Watch, not only OAS Chief Luis Almagro, helped a US-backed military c
Don’t forget that Human Rights Watch, not only OAS Chief Luis Almagro, helped a US-backed military coup in Bolivia
By Joe Emersberger
June 22, 2020
On November 10 of 2019, Bolivian President Evo Morales was overthrown and barely escaped the country alive. The military publicly ”suggested” that he resign. The military and police also made it clear that they would not protect him from vigilantes who wanted to lynch him. His house was ransacked by opposition supporters the night he fled.[1] He received political asylum in Mexico and, later, Argentina. Over the following 11 days, the security forces that refused to protect Morales (the democratically elected president) proceeded to kill over thirty people opposed to the coup.[2] Thirty Morales government officials took refuge in the Mexican embassy after he was overthrown.[3] On November 13, military men “swore in” opposition congresswoman Jeanie Áñez as the de facto president. She quickly issued a decree giving the military immunity for killing protesters.[4]
The coup was sparked by false claims by Organization of American States (OAS) election monitors that there had been a “drastic,” “inexplicable” and “hard to explain” increase in Evo Morales’ lead over his opponents in the last 16% of the vote count during the first round of the presidential election. The election was held on October 20. Morales’ lead increased from just under eight percentage points to just over ten. He received 47% of the popular vote which was in line with what polls predicted.[5] Because he received over 40% of the vote, and also beat his closest rival by over ten points, he won the presidency in the first round.[6]
The OAS rushed out its false claims about the election the day after it took place, and doubled down on them repeatedly over the following month. The Washington DC-based Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) immediately published very thorough rebuttals. The Mexican government agreed to let Jake Johnston of CEPR present its response at the OAS permanent council meeting on December 12, but OAS refused to allow it.
OAS lies exposed, General Secretary Luis Almagro goes visibly off the deep end
In February, the OAS suffered a big blow when the Washington Post reported on the work of independent researchers who politely confirmed what CEPR has been saying all along: OAS statistical claims about Bolivia’s election were rubbish. Then, on June 7, the New York Times reported that another set of researchers had come to the same conclusion.
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