OAS’ ELECTORAL OBSERVERS IN BOLIVIA, ENDORSING DICTATORSHIP OR DEFENDING DEMOCRACY?

Carlos Sánchez Berzaín
Published on January 22, 2019

(Interamerican Institute for Democracy) With Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua as confirmed dictatorships, the Castroist Chavist method of simulating democracy to disguise dictatorships, now defends its latest imitation in Bolivia.  Evo Morales applies this transnational strategy in a country where, since long ago, there aren’t any of the essential components of democracy.  Part of this fraud are the upcoming “primary elections” of 27 January, something for which -based on a signed agreement- the Organization of American States (OAS) sends observers, with whom Evo Morales will legitimize his “null and void candidacy”.  It remains to be seen whether the OAS observation will be an endorsement for the dictator, or will contribute to the return of democracy in Bolivia.

The Interamerican Democratic Charter (IDC) ordains as “essential components of democracy -amongst others- the respect for human rights and basic freedoms; access to power and its discharge subject to the rule of law; the celebration of periodic, free and fair elections based on universal and secret suffrage as an expression of the peoples’ sovereignty; a regime with a plurality of political parties and organizations; and the separation and independence of the branches of government”.

Evo Morales’ and his regime’s greatest effort of foreign affairs and propaganda – with great expense, public relations advisers, and town-hallers- is to continue simulating an image of democracy, a constant feature of 21^st Century Socialism’s or Castroist Chavist dictatorships, deftly applied by Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, and the Castro’s/Diaz-Canel in Cuba.

In simulating democracy, Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Bolivia use elections as deceptive appearance and at the same time as the means to manipulate the will and sovereignty of the people.  All of these dictatorships have institutionalized fraudulent electoral systems as a mechanism and institution of the regime to perpetuate itself in power.

A “dictatorship’s vote-catching system” established to commit fraud that proves the absence of all essential components of democracy.  The electoral fraud is concocted way in advance of elections’ day, a day in which the regime sells the voting ritual.  If the regime loses, it modifies the outcome or simply ignores the results using despicable legislation or judicial rulings.  This is what has happened in Venezuela and Nicaragua for years, in Bolivia in 2008, 2009, 2013-2014, and is now again happening when Evo Morales places himself as a candidate, violating his Constitution and the 21 February of 2016 referendum that he lost because Bolivia said NO more reelections.

With the paltry argument that “it is his human right” the regime’s Constitutional Tribunal perverted the cause of justice enabling Morales as a candidate for 2019.  The scheme to hold Primary Elections came out of the controlled Legislative Branch that made the subjugated Electoral Tribunal acknowledge the null and void candidate as viable.  The so-called opposition’s candidates who participate in the primaries are enabling Morales, acting as functional to the purpose of the dictator’s reelection.

Evo Morales and his Vice President -both disqualified- are in the primaries, but they are their party’s sole candidates, in other words there cannot be primaries with no one running.  The same thing happens with the candidates from the other parties, all are sole candidates, so nobody has any opponents, therefore, these ARE NOT ELECTIONS, they are nominations of parallel lone candidates.  A farce that is only useful so that Morales is enabled for the general election.

We suppose that OAS’ Secretary Almagro has been informed of this situation and that by signing the OAS’ Observers agreement for the primaries in Bolivia, he knows that he is sending observers to a NO-ELECTIONS ritual, because to elect is “to choose or prefer someone or something”.  To choose implies the existence of options and plurality, something that is lacking in Bolivia’s primaries.

There is no precedent of OAS’ Observers of primaries.  The OAS Observers’ Manual defines as “democratic elections” those that are “inclusive, clean and competitive and constitute the means of accessing high public-office positions”.  From the perspective of the Interamerican Democratic Charter (IDC) and the OAS Observers’ rules, Bolivia’s primary elections DO NOT meet none of the “basic conditions” because a NO candidate Evo Morales participates, the voters’ rights are not respected, there is no impartiality and no chance “to elect”.  No one competing with no one, only enables the dictator and his null and void candidacy.

The OAS and its observers have placed themselves in the situation to either endorse the dictatorship by favorably informing on the null and void candidacy of Morales, or help the return of democracy in Bolivia by acknowledging that “these are neither elections, nor democratic”.

*Attorney & Political Scientist.  Director of the Interamerican Institute for Democracy.

Published in Spanish by Infobae.com Sunday, January 20th. 2019

Translated from Spanish by; Edgar L. Terrazas, member of the American Translators’ Association, ATA # 234680.