For a while, South America is in the news. The latest news story coming from the mainland is the coup in Bolivia. Though the Bolivian President Evo Morales has resigned from his office, but will the new person in President’s office succeed in bridging all the socio-economic gaps? The civil face of the coup is Luis Fernando Camacho who the media outlets hail as a “civic leader” and paint him positively once headed the Pro-Santa Cruz Civic Committee, a business group that has been at the forefront of the country’s right-wing political groups. He is part of the Bolivian oligarchy that was angered by the fourth election loss by their parties to the “Movement for Socialism”.
Many serious analysts also point out the involvement of the United States (US). Noam Chomsky argues that the Bolivian oligarchy receives full support from the US government, which has long been eager to remove Morales and his movement from power. Needless to say that when the oligarch failed to remove Morales from power through democratic means, they resorted to unconstitutional and undemocratic tactics. But will the coup ever concern the US? No, when it is the collaborator in the overthrow.
But will the coup finish Morales from public imagination? The answer to this question is a ‘No’. After 13 years of some of the most successful economic policies in the hemisphere, he remains popular. During his presidency, income per person in Bolivia has grown at twice the rate of the Latin American average. He reduced poverty by 42 per cent. As a result of Morales’ economic measures, extreme poverty has dropped by 60 per cent. Nevertheless, it is yet to be seen whether it is socialism or the soaring lithium demand and prices that Trump administration never hid its desire to oust Morales and installing the right-wing leaders who will ensure a suitable investment climate for the US investments in the country.