[act-ma] 8/04 Turmoil in Bolivia: Ungovernability, Uncontrolled Pandemic, Economic Crisis, and Postponement of the Elections

[Charlie Welch]

The right-wing government of Bolivia that usurped power in a coup last 
November, announced the postponement of the general elections from 
September to October 2020. These announcements take place at a time when 
the candidate of the Towards Socialism Movement (MAS) Luis Arce 
indisputably leads the citizens' preference to occupy the Presidency of 
the republic. Former President Evo Morales warned that "a delay in the 
election date will only harm the people because of the ungovernability, 
the uncontrolled pandemic, and the economic crisis…The de facto 
government wants to gain more time to continue its persecution against 
social leaders and Socialist candidates. That is another form of 
proscription. That is why it does not want elections on Sept. 6."

On July 22, the Bolivia's Police reported that 420 bodies were collected 
from the streets, houses, or vehicles in five days. Those corpses were 
collected in two large cities, La Paz (141) and Santa Cruz (191). The 
authorities also recognized that at least four out of every five corpses 
correspond to people who probably died from COVID-19.
Adriana Guzman Arroyo is a leader of The Anti-Patriarchal Communitarian 
Feminism in Bolivia. she is recognized for her studies and political 
experience in Popular Education, Education Sciences and Feminism, 
organizations that strengthen the energy of Community Feminism. She was 
born in La Paz, Bolivia and studied Educational Sciences at the 
Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, Bolivia. She was part of the social 
movements that faced the gas massacre in 2003.
Moderator: Kevin Young. Professor Kevin Young teaches history at UMASS 
Amherst. His main research and teaching interests are in modern Latin 
America. He is the author of the book "Blood of the Earth: Resource 
Nationalism, Revolution, and Empire in Bolivia" (2017) and is the 
co-author of the recently published book “Levers of Power: How the 1% 
Rules and What the 99% Can Do About It”.
Sponsored by: The Latin America Solidarity Coalition of Western Mass, 
Massachusetts Peace Actiones.

Tues. Aug 4th 7 PM

Register
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYud-GtrDgoH9yZqNCDs3oJoWwg1EKQmkqt

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