LA PAZ, Bolivia: Bolivia’s President Evo Morales claimed on Sunday his political rivals were preparing to overthrow him next week as strike action and protests against his controversial re-election continued.
It was the second time in five days that the leader has warned of a coup, and it comes after Bolivia’s electoral court declared him the winner of last Sunday’s poll over his nearest challenger, Carlos Mesa.
The court said Morales had won with 47.1 percent compared to 36.5 percent for Mesa — narrowly giving him the 10-point margin he needed to win outright without a runoff.
But a sudden and unexplained change in the ballot count Monday had boosted his advantage, leading the election court’s own vice president to resign in protest.
Speaking from the rural village of Vila Vila, Morales warned that “various sectors of society... are preparing for a coup d’etat next week.”
Mesa called for a strike on Monday to protest what he said was a fraudulent election.
“All of us have to be determined, without any hesitation, to go out into the street to show that we don’t accept fraud,” Mesa said to a crowd of about 500, speaking in a church in San Miguel, an affluent neighborhood in southern La Paz.
Meanwhile, a powerful farmers’ union announced plans to block roads on Monday “in defense of the indigenous vote” to support Morales.
Foreign powers including the European Union and the United States have called for a second round of voting, while the Organization of American States (OAS) expressed its “surprise” and “concern” over the sudden vote shift.
The Washington-based OAS is planning an audit of the results.
Mesa, a former president backed by a collective of centrist and right-wing parties, has rejected the official tally, calling it “a breach of the popular will.”
The poll triggered a week of violent protests, with rival supporters clashing with security forces and each other in La Paz and elsewhere.
Mesa has called on his supporters to maintain their street protests.
Thousands of demonstrators blocked streets in major cities around the country on Saturday, erecting barricades and waving the red, yellow and green Bolivian flag.
Morales urged those who accuse him of fraud to provide evidence.
“We aren’t hiding anything, we aren’t lying,” he said on Saturday.
Morales had said earlier that he would be happy to contest a second round — and do so “the next day” — if anyone provided evidence of fraud.
His candidacy was itself a scandal. The Bolivian constitution limits a president to two successive terms, but this was Morales’s fourth election victory.
Bolivia’s first indigenous president, Morales lost a referendum in 2016 in which he tried to remove term limits from the constitution, but a year later the Constitutional Court authorized him to stand for a fourth term.
The court, like the election tribunal, is made up of members appointed by Morales’s Movement for Socialism party.
As things stand, Morales — already the longest-serving leader in Latin America, will continue to lead his country until 2025.
Bolivia president Morales says rivals preparing ‘coup’
Bolivia president Morales says rivals preparing ‘coup’
- The court said Morales had won with 47.1 percent compared to 36.5 percent for Mesa
- Mesa called for a strike on Monday to protest what he said was a fraudulent election
Italy protests, recalls ambassador to Switzerland after New Year’s bar fire suspect released
- Meloni overnight called Moretti’s release “an affront to the memory of the victims”
- Six of those killed in the bar blaze were Italian as were 10 of the injured
ROME: Italy formally protested on Saturday the release on bail of the owner of a Swiss bar engulfed in a deadly New Year’s Day fire and recalled its ambassador to Switzerland, as the court’s decision came under criticism in both countries.
Jacques Moretti and his wife Jessica, owners of Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, are under investigation for negligent homicide and other crimes linked to the blaze that killed 40 people and injured more than 100, many of them teenagers.
Jacques Moretti was detained on January 9 but released on bail on Friday.
PM MELONI CALLS DECISION ‘AN INSULT’ TO VICTIMS’ FAMILIES
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni overnight called Moretti’s release “an affront to the memory of the victims ... and an insult to their families.”
Six of those killed in the bar blaze were Italian as were 10 of the injured.
A government statement on Saturday said Meloni and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani instructed Italy’s ambassador to immediately contact Beatrice Pilloud, the chief prosecutor in Switzerland’s Valais canton, to convey Italy’s “strong indignation” over Moretti’s release.
It added that the court had taken the decision despite the seriousness of the alleged crime, the risk of flight and the possibility of evidence being compromised.
“The whole of Italy is clamouring for truth and justice, and is calling for respectful measures to be taken in the wake of this disaster, which take full account of the suffering and expectations of the families,” the statement said.
Meloni and Tajani also ordered Ambassador Gian Lorenzo Cornado to return to Rome to determine what further action to take, it said.
Swiss prosecutor Pilloud confirmed to Swiss news agency Keystone SDA that she had been contacted by the Italian ambassador but explained that a separate court had ordered Moretti’s release.
“I do not wish to be responsible for a diplomatic incident between our two countries. I will not give in to any possible pressure from the Italian authorities, which is why I advised the ambassador to address himself to the Swiss political authorities,” she said.
A Swiss Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.
’ANOTHER SLAP’, TEEN VICTIM’S FATHER SAYS OF RELEASE
Moretti was released under a bail arrangement that included a 200,000 Swiss franc ($256,377) payment and an order to report daily to a police station.
Lawyers for the victims of the fire and their families said they were struggling to understand the court order, adding that their clients were concerned about evidence disappearing.
“It is another slap on a wound that will never heal,” Andrea Costanzo, whose 16-year-old daughter Chiara died in the fire, said in comments published in Italian newspapers on Saturday.
The Morettis have both expressed grief over the tragedy and said they would cooperate with prosecutors.
In a statement following Jacques Moretti’s release, their lawyers said they would “continue to comply with all requests from the authorities.”
