Disillusionment with US foreign policy in Bolivia—deceit, treachery and just plain lying.

By SJ Otto

It is still hard for me to believe the way my government really operates and how our news media covers it. It’s hard for me to believe our government is as treacherous and despicable as it is today. I grew up learning to believe in the system, during grade school, middle and high school, and all the values that it insisted were true. Some things like freedom and democracy seemed so simple. I was taught to believe that I had the right to believe in anything I wanted and the government guaranteed those rights to me. As a kid, I grew up in this system believing in our independent and unbiased news media.

We were also taught about all those bad countries, such as Nazi Germany and all the countries under communism and supposedly in those countries we would not be able to make all these great choices. 

By the end of my high school days I came to realize how badly I was lied to. Today the deceit from this country and our news media is just unbelievable. The biased of our reporting is so bad that it looks like all the terrible countries we learned about in grade school.

By high school I noticed that most of South America was run by military dictatorships (in the 1970s). Then Salvador Allende tried to create a Socialist country through democratic means, President Richard Nixon was just fine with a military dictatorship to oust and replace him. That was probably the first time I realized how phony US democracy in South America rally was. And from that time on it just got worse.

So today I get a taste of our phony foreign policy in action. The US created a coup to oust the Bolivia’s President Evo Morales. He was an honorable president, who was very popular and did nothing wrong. But he as not a team player for the US as a part of President Donald Trump’s attempts to eradicate socialism from the western hemisphere. From The Associated Press:

“ Bolivia's interim president met with a U.N. envoy to discuss the country's crisis Saturday, a day after security forces fired on supporters of former President Evo Morales in a clash that killed eight people and raised fears that violence could escalate.

On leaving the meeting with interim leader Jeanine Áñez, U.N. envoy Jean Arnault said the United Nations is concerned about the violence in Bolivia and hopes it can contribute to an accelerated pacification process leading to elections.

U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet issued a statement earlier in the day calling the deaths "an extremely dangerous development."

The Interim leader Áñez was not elected. She and her right-wing follewers claimed Morales committed voter fraud. But he was removed before any of these charges could be made to stick.

This is the US up to its old tricks. It would be easy for everyone to just blame Trump on this fiasco, but he is only the tip of the iceberg. There is no doubt full support from nearly every member of congress, Republicans AND Democrats. There has been one exception and that is Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar:

“Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar has called on Americans to condemn the removal of leftist Bolivian President Evo Morales, who was forced to resign by the country's army following weeks of unrest over disputed elections.”

In the next few days I’m sure she will find she is alone on that. Conservatives, such as those at Fox (or Faux) News, will accuse her of being anti-American, along with other nasty accusations.

As I look back at my grade school, middle school and high school education, she may be the only member of congress who I feel is pro-American. I was raised to believe that people have a right to choose their destiny. The phonies in congress just believe in their right to a system that allows them to make as much money as possible, at the expense of people who live in what has been described as the US’s back yard.

Under real democracy the people of Bolivia would have the right to elect their own leader and if it were for real, the US would respect that decision. That is not hat has happened.

Interim leader Jeanine Áñez has already made big changes and they include changing to the US side on such issues as Venezuela. Our government has what it wanted all along. Bolivia is now a US team player. Through violence and deceit this country now has what it wanted. Bolivia is now a US team player and Omar is the only person in congress who feels it as unfair of this country to do that. The UN is concerned about the violence there and we can be sure the rest of congress and our idiot president don’t care at all. Capitalism is about is about making a lot of money at the expense of others. The real lesson I learned years ago is that capitalism and real democracy are incompatible.  

Pix from Former Bolivian President Evo Morales begins exile in Mexico