[rad-green] Evo Morales Says He Is 'Absolutely Convinced' US Led Coup in Bolivia to Exploit Lithium Reserves

*https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/12/25/evo-morales-says-he-absolutely-convinced-us-led-coup-bolivia-exploit-lithium
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/12/25/evo-morales-says-he-absolutely-convinced-us-led-coup-bolivia-exploit-lithium>Common
Dreams *         *December 25, 2019*





*Evo Morales Says He Is 'Absolutely Convinced' US Led Coup in Bolivia to
Exploit Lithium Reserves"It was a national and international coup d'etat...
it's a coup against lithium."by Jake Johnson, staff writer*

*Bolivia's ex-President Evo Morales speaks during an interview with AFP in
Buenos Aires on December 24, 2019. (Photo: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty
Images)*

Former Bolivian President Evo Morales said in an interview
<https://www.afp.com/en/news/3954/morales-claims-us-orchestrated-coup-tap-bolivias-lithium-doc-1na8521>
Tuesday
that he is "absolutely convinced" the United States orchestrated the military
coup
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/11/global-condemnation-appalling-coup-bolivia-military-forces-socialist-president-evo>
that
removed him from power last month with the goal of exploiting Bolivia's
enormous lithium reserves.

Morales told *AFP* that he believes the U.S. had not "forgiven" him for
pursuing
<https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bolivia-lithium-china/bolivia-picks-chinese-partner-for-2-3-billion-lithium-projects-idUSKCN1PV2F7>
lithium
partnerships with China and Russia over Washington.

"Transnational companies are behind the coup. The United States, too,
because of the lithium issue."
—Evo Morales

"It was a national and international coup d'etat," said Morales. "I'm
absolutely convinced it's a coup against lithium. We as a state had begun
industrializing lithium... As a small country of 10 million inhabitants, we
were soon going to set the price of lithium. They know we have the greatest
lithium reserves in the world of 16,000 square kilometers (over 6,100
square miles)."

U.S. President Donald Trump
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/12/statement-reads-chilling-warning-more-coups-come-trump-celebrates-military-coup>
 and officials in his administration
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/22/pompeo-calls-it-democracy-bolivia-post-coup-violence-grows-and-fear-civil-war>
have
openly and enthusiastically celebrated the coup in Bolivia, but it is not
yet clear whether the White House played a direct or indirect role in
Morales' ouster, which brought to power a right-wing anti-indigenous
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/13/military-coup-bolivia-has-been-consummated-says-evo-morales-right-wing-senator>
 government.

Morales was initially granted asylum by Mexico following the coup, but
earlier this month he moved to Argentina after that country's leftist
leaders granted him refugee status.

The former Bolivian president has been outspoken about the coup and its
aftermath since his ouster last month. On Twitter and in interviews,
Morales has condemned the interim government of Jeanine Añez for giving the
Bolivian military and security forces a blank check to gun down
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/22/pompeo-calls-it-democracy-bolivia-post-coup-violence-grows-and-fear-civil-war>
peaceful
indigenous protesters.

Morales has also accused
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/20/evo-morales-calls-truth-commission-expose-deceitful-role-us-backed-oas-bolivia-coup>
the
U.S.-dominated Organization of American States (OAS) of deliberately
misleading the public about the results of the November presidential
election.

"Luis Almagro deserves to be put on trial for being responsible for so many
massacres and deaths in Bolivia," Morales told *AFP*, referring to the OAS
secretary general.

The Tuesday interview with *AFP* was not the first time Morales has alleged
that Bolivia's lithium reserves were a key factor in last month's coup.

"Transnational companies are behind the coup," Morales told *The Intercept*'s
Glenn Greenwald in an interview earlier this month. "The United States,
too, because of the lithium issue."

Watch the full interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=132&v=-hEwE64-kUQ&feature=emb_logo

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