[rad-green] Evo Morales Calls for 'Truth Commission' to Expose Deceitful Role of US-Backed OAS in Bolivia Coup

*https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/20/evo-morales-calls-truth-commission-expose-deceitful-role-us-backed-oas-bolivia-coup
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/20/evo-morales-calls-truth-commission-expose-deceitful-role-us-backed-oas-bolivia-coup>Common
Dreams          November 20, 2019Evo Morales Calls for 'Truth Commission'
to Expose Deceitful Role of US-Backed OAS in Bolivia Coup"We invite
international organizations, Pope Francis, to form a truth commission about
the October 20 elections."by Jake Johnson, staff writer*

*Evo Morales speaks at a press conference in Mexico City on November 20,
2019. (Photo: Pedro Pardo/AFP via Getty Images)*

Former Bolivian President Evo Morales on Wednesday called for an
international truth commission to examine the role of the U.S.-dominated
<https://www.thenation.com/article/bolivia-election-oas/> Organization of
American States in the military coup on November 10 that brought a right-wing
anti-indigenous regime
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/13/military-coup-bolivia-has-been-consummated-says-evo-morales-right-wing-senator>
to
power.

"We invite international organizations, Pope Francis, to form a truth
commission about the October 20 [presidential] elections," Morales said
during a press conference in Mexico, where he was granted asylum after the
Bolivian military forced him to resign
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/11/global-condemnation-appalling-coup-bolivia-military-forces-socialist-president-evo>
earlier
this month.

"Luis Almagro and the OAS joined the coup d'etat in Bolivia," Morales said
<https://twitter.com/telesurenglish/status/1197180586416316417>, referring
to the OAS secretary general. "The Truth Commission will show the role of
the OAS in the coup."

The day after Bolivia's October 20 presidential election, the OAS—which
receives 60 percent of its funding
<https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-oas-lied-to-the-public-about-the-bolivian-election-and-coup-2019-11-19>
from
the U.S.—issued a statement
<https://www.oas.org/en/media_center/press_release.asp?sCodigo=E-085/19>
casting
doubt on preliminary election results showing that Morales prevailed
outright over right-wing former President Carlos Mesa.

"The OAS Mission expresses its deep concern and surprise at the drastic and
hard-to-explain change in the trend of the preliminary results revealed
after the closing of the polls," the organization said.

But a statistical analysis
<http://cepr.net/press-center/press-releases/no-evidence-that-bolivian-election-results-were-affected-by-irregularities-or-fraud-statistical-analysis-shows>
of
the election results by the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR)
published on November 8 found no evidence of irregularities or fraud.

"The OAS isn't all that independent at the moment, with the Trump
administration actively promoting this military coup, and Washington having
more right-wing allies in the OAS than they did just a few years ago."
—Mark Weisbrot, Center for Economic and Policy Research

"There is simply no statistical or evidentiary basis to dispute the vote
count results showing that Evo Morales won in the first round," CEPR senior
policy analyst Guillaume Long said in a statement
<http://cepr.net/press-center/press-releases/no-evidence-that-bolivian-election-results-were-affected-by-irregularities-or-fraud-statistical-analysis-shows>
at
the time. "In the end, the official count, which is legally binding and
completely transparent, with the tally sheets available online, closely
matched the rapid count results."

OAS did not back away from its claim of election fraud by Morales. On
November 10, just hours before Morales was forced to resign, OAS issued a
report
<http://www.oas.org/documents/eng/press/Electoral-Integrity-Analysis-Bolivia2019.pdf>
(pdf)
claiming there were "irregularities" in the election and questioning the
"integrity" of Morales' win.

In an op-ed
<https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/11/19/oas-lied-public-about-bolivian-election-and-coup>
 for *MarketWatch* on Tuesday, CEPR co-director Mark Weisbrot accused OAS
of misleading the Bolivian public about the results of the presidential
election and helping to spark the coup that ousted Morales.

"The consequences are quite serious; this misrepresentation (or lie) has
already played a major role in a military coup in Bolivia," Weisbrot wrote.
"I would regard with great skepticism the allegations presented in their
preliminary audit, and further publications—unless these can be verified by
independent investigators from publicly available data."

"And the OAS isn't all that independent at the moment," Weisbrot added,
"with the Trump administration actively promoting this military coup, and
Washington having more right-wing allies in the OAS than they did just a
few years ago."

In a scathing open letter
<https://elcaminantehn.com/2019/11/17/escritor-exige-la-renuncia-de-luis-almagro-de-la-oea-y-recibe-el-apoyo-de-millones-de-personas/>
last
week, renowned Uruguayan-American writer Jorge Majfud
<https://www.commondreams.org/author/jorge-majfud> called on OAS Secretary
General Almagro—a Uruguayan lawyer—to resign from his post.

"In light of your repeated failures and continued abuse of the functions of
'secretary' of the States, we request that you, for the sake of the little
honor that remains to you, resign your position and thereby allow someone
more fitting to continue, at least in a more disguised fashion, with the
OAS's well-known and fundamental mission of pursuing the interests of
Washington (not to say the interests of the U.S. public, which tends to
shine in its radical ignorance of what is happening in the world)," Majfud
wrote.

"We kindly ask for your resignation," Majfud added, "because we know that
you will not be brought down by any coup d'etat, since the OAS does not
have an army of its own."

Read the full letter:

Mr. Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the Organization of American States
(OAS):

In light of your repeated failures and continued abuse of the functions of
"secretary" of the States, we request that you, for the sake of the little
honor that remains to you, resign your position and thereby allow someone
more fitting to continue, at least in a more disguised fashion, with the
OAS's well-known and fundamental mission of pursuing the interests of
Washington (not to say the interests of the U.S. public, which tends to
shine in its radical ignorance of what is happening in the world).

Surely it will be no great effort for you to cease your history of making a
fool of yourself, and even less so from the perspective of those at the
bottom of the social order who have to suffer your criminal indifference
and disdain. You have honored the old rule that the cowl makes the monk in
every public charge you have occupied, from the left-wing administration of
Uruguay to the right-wing administration of the OAS.

We kindly ask for your resignation, because we know that you will not be
brought down by any coup d'etat, since the OAS does not have an army of its
own.

Attentively yours,
Jorge Majfud

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