“Solidarity with the people!”

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To be precise, the title of my article is taken from the exhortation at the end of the Plurinational State of Bolivia’s communiqué issued in La Paz on June 26 of last year, about three hours after the attempted coup led by General Juan Zuniga. The notice was a thank you to the international community and read as follows: «The Plurinational State of Bolivia thanks the international community for the support it has given to the Government of President Luis Arce Catacora, democratically elected by the Bolivian people, in the face of an attempted coup. Democracy, peace and stability are the fruits of the struggle of our people. Jalala, unity of the people!

There is no need to argue about the crude attempt condemned by the international community (except the Javier Millé government, but not all Argentines), as it is well documented in the international media, but it does require three very specific reflections.

1. The Latin American right is transcending itself Conversion Populism, now identified as a vulgar right. They bid farewell to the academy, to suits and ties, and gave way to popular recognition through performance, vulgar lies and improvisation. Javier Mire and General Zuniga, now out of prison, are his best prototypes. When President Arce stood up and showed him who held the baton, the coup generals, chewing gum or coca leaves (you could almost hear the popping of gum), had to leave the Bolivian government building. Soon after, Zuniga declared that the whole movement was a self-coup. Some journalists who support him repeat this accusation like a ventriloquist dummy, and there is no evidence to support it. How he and his troupe will fare in the judiciary remains to be seen.

(frasepzp1)

2. “If I lose, I lose!” a pseudo-politician shouted in a tavern in my town in 1962 (I was about 8 years old at the time). He came out drunk and screaming from that hut (try the tavern) which was located on a street I walked every day to the school where I went to elementary school. Months later, when I was discussing the events I witnessed at home, I discovered that this man belonged to a political group that had lost an election won by Miguel Ydigoras Fuentes. Due to the disappointment, the man had been drinking heavily for about four years. But beyond the tragicomedy, the warning/threat of “If I lose, I’m out of luck!” was used to manipulate the political system. Through such coups as the one against Ydigoras (because the conservative classes in Guatemala believed that this would favor the candidacy of former President Juan José Arevalo), the one against Augusto Cuarto (Pinocchio) Pinochet in Chile, the uprising of Juan Carlos Ongonha in Argentina against President Arturo Illa, and countless similar movements during my teenage years. Because of this, I began to question whether it was really worth trying to live in a democracy, because it would never end. Guatemala was not far behind. Ydígoras Fuentes was deposed by Peralta Azurdia; Lucas García was removed by force by Óscar Humberto Mejía Víctores, who handed over command to Ríos Montt by a group of officers, and in the democratic era, a rural coup attempt was made against the first president of the period, I mean Vinicio Cerezo Arévalo.

3. The oxygen of the 21st century, against the crude and suffocating illegal seizure of power. The perverse “If I lose, I’m out of luck!” It has collapsed twice in less than a year in Latin America. The first one, in the 48 states of Totonicapán (Guatemala), taught us how to save the dignity of the people and how to do it while adhering to legality, justice and morality. Our last electoral process, after more than a hundred days of resistance, culminated in the inauguration of Bernardo Arevalo and Karin Herrera last January. The second was on June 26 of this year, when the Bolivian people voted for their legally elected president. Both cases were supported by the strong support of the international community.

So the oxygen of democracy – this means Attachment, promise, hope and happiness – The key is decisive intervention at the national and international level when people are threatened. Guatemala and Bolivia have just proved this. So: “Jalala stands in solidarity with the people!”

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