From the Network of Intellectuals, Artists and Social Movements in Defense of Humanity (REDH).
Dear Comrades
The general elections of October 18, 2020, in Bolivia are going through an extremely difficult and sensitive time. The systematic statements of threats and hatred made by officials of the de facto government of Jeanine Áñez, force us to be vigilant.
There is not a day that the government spokesmen are not participating in calls, open and covert, for the deployment of State and paramilitary violence against social movements, the leadership and militancy of the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) and its candidates for the presidency and vice-presidency, Luis Arce and David Choquehuanca.
Currently, there are few countries in the region where the proximity of the general elections is marked, as in Bolivia, by the threat of the use of force and by undisguised pressure on the public ministry to detain union and political leaders. Even in countries with old internal armed conflicts, truces have been declared for moments like these.
This does not take place in Bolivia, where the minister of government, who really wields the power, after his return from a meeting at the State department and with the OAS secretary-general, has suspiciously engaged in intimidating and threatening the social movements, and the MAS, by revealing that he went to buy arms from the United States to “defend democracy at any price,” or saying that the victorious party in the general elections will be any entity “but the MAS”, which constitutes in effect a savage banning and a pre-announcement of a new coup d’état, before the imminent victory of the MAS at the polls.
Also worrying is the news from newspapers and agencies recognized for their seriousness in the dissemination of information, of plans to unleash violence before, during, and after the elections, for which the MAS will be blamed, with the sole purpose of annulling the elections and unleashing relentless persecution of the popular masses.
The return of democracy is seriously threatened and we are in a position to ensure that any serious act committed by the police, military or paramilitary forces, will be the full responsibility of the de facto government, the OAS, the EU, and the hegemonic media, that manipulate and conceal the serious abuses that are committed.
From the Network of Intellectuals, Artists and Social Movements in Defense of Humanity (REDH) we call on the democratic forces of the world and in particular of Latin America and the Caribbean, to engage in daily monitoring of the events in Bolivia, to denounce the dictatorial intentions of the de facto government, and to make calls for nothing to interrupt the return of democracy in Bolivia, which is the aspiration of the vast majority of Bolivians.
Pronunciamiento de la REDH
https://indefenseofhumanity.org/
