A Matter of Morals, Not Morales: Respect Bolivia's Democracy!
By Olivia Burlingame Goumbri, AlterNet.

As an American and an expert on US-Venezuela relations, the events unfolding in Bolivia are simply too familiar to escape my notice. The tactics used by opponents of President Chavez during Venezuela's short-lived coup in 2002 are currently being replicated in a "civic coup" in neighboring Bolivia that is designed to undermine the democratic government of Evo Morales. That nation, though different from Venezuela in so many ways, seems to be travelling down a strikingly similar road, not least in terms of the role of the media in encouraging right-wing, anti-democratic opposition groups and the active support of that process by US officials.

Just over a month ago, on August 10th, Morales won a recall referendum with over 67% of the popular vote. This successful electoral process served as a check on his mandate, and was a powerful reaffirmation of the legitimacy of his democratic administration. Bolivians turned out at the polls in even higher numbers for that referendum than during the last presidential race in 2005, when Morales won 53% of votes.

Nine days after the peaceful referendum, opposition governors in the eastern states of Tarija, Bani, Pando, and Santa Cruz mobilized protests around their secessionist agenda and desire to exert total control over local natural gas reserves. With those disturbances barely in the past, a new bout of violence is again threatening national unity. Two days of mayhem and violence have wracked the city of Santa Cruz, spurred on by calls broadcast over the national media to join in "civil disobedience" against the government. Journalists considered sympathetic to the government were also harassed and injured.

Link to con.