ALMAGRO’S MURKY ENDORSEMENT OF EVO MORALES WIPES OUT OAS’ CREDIBILITY

Carlos Sánchez Berzaín
 May 21, 2019

(Interamerican Institute for Democracy) Luis Leonardo Almagro Lemes, the Organization of American States’ (OAS) General Secretary renown for having applied the Interamerican Democratic Charter, for his arduous fight against Castroist Chavist dictatorships in Venezuela’s case, and his harsh denouncements against Cuba, has just visited Bolivia this past 17^th of May to render his support to the criminal candidacy of Evo Morales.  An act full of contradictions, a murky endorsement of Evo Morales that annihilates the OAS’ credibility and urges an international clarification.

Morales ascended to power in January of 2006 for a five (5) year period with a constitutional restraint prohibiting his consecutive reelection and -thus far- he has been in that same position for over 13 years applying the Castroist Chavist model of government.  He cunningly established a Constituent Assembly based on a counterfeited Law of Reform, killed the Republic of Bolivia and created his Plurinational State.  Even with his own Plurinational Constitution, however, he could be consecutively reelected only once, which he did with his reelection in 2009, and again circumvented existing legislation by reelecting himself in 2014.

On 21 February of 2016, Morales conducted a referendum election proposing his indefinite reelection but lost, thus birthing the movement “BOLIVIA DIJO NO” (Bolivia Said NO).  Through the commission of other crimes, he used the same recourse that Chavez had used in Venezuela and Ortega had used in Nicaragua, manipulating the Supreme Justice Tribunal to render a legal ruling indicating that the constitutional prohibition for a repeated consecutive reelection is “a violation of his human rights”.  Afterwards, though the use of an Electoral Tribunal under his control, he was enabled to be a candidate, despite the rejection of over 70% of Bolivians.

By doing so, Morales committed the crimes of; material and ideological falsehood, use of counterfeited instruments, prevarication of judges and magistrates, abuse of power, organization and operation of a criminal group in order to indefinitely hold power for purposes of impunity, besides the judicialized political persecution and attempts against freedom of the press.

Faced with complaints and denouncements in the Interamerican system, on 22 September of 2017, Secretary Almagro wrote in his twitter account: “Evo Morales shall have to respect the popular decision that said NO to a reelection.  None of the judges is above the only sovereign mandate; that of the people”.  On 28 October of 2017 Almagro formally requested the “Venice Convention” their “Assessment on the reelection” and received a report indicating that “the reelection is not a human right”.  When Almagro presented the report, he insisted that “the report is not a political opinion, but a document with ample legal validity and standing”.        

Evo Morales manipulated the electoral law and created primary elections that were defined by the BBC as “the unusual voting in which no one competes with one another but everyone wins”.  An act of simulation and fraud that took place on 27 January of 2019 and one in which “OAS’ Electoral Observers” were sent and participated, although their assessment and report are not known to this date.

This past 17th of May, Secretary Almagro, in the company of Evo Morales, at the government’s offices in La Paz, has stated:  “to say that Evo Morales today cannot participate, that would be absolutely discriminatory with the other presidents who have participated in electoral processes, based on a judicial ruling acknowledging the guarantees of their human rights”.  Thus, on behalf and in representation of the OAS, Almagro has supported and enabled Evo Morales as a candidate, thus becoming an accomplice to the crimes committed.  

It is a “murky endorsement” because it contradicts that which was sustained and expressed by Almagro in this very same case, it has neither clarity, nor transparency, it falls in the area of that which is dishonest and of a questionable legality.  It is clearly proven by Almagro’s argument to support Morales candidacy alleging that it would be discriminatory not to do it when others already did this “on the basis of a judicial ruling acknowledging the guarantees of their human rights”.  Hugo Chavez and Daniel Ortega, known violators of essential components of democracy in Venezuela and Nicaragua with Cuba’s dictatorship, had already done this before.  Almagro now asks and endorses to allow another violation because others had already violated before!

Evo Morales is applying in Bolivia the same plan that Maduro applied in Venezuela.  This year’s elections in Bolivia are a replica of the elections in Venezuela in May of 2018.  With Almagro’s endorsement, Morales will fulfill his plan, but when he is sworn in on January of 2020, he will be a usurper, just as Maduro is since January of 2019.  This is the objective reality, as warned by analysts and even by the bipartisan resolution of the United States Senate.  This is why it is urgent to clarify if Almagro can fight against Venezuela’s, Nicaragua’s, and Cuba’s dictatorships while at the same time, he is consolidating a dictatorship of the same criminal group in Bolivia.

Published in Spanish by Infobae.com on Sunday May 19, 2019

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