January 11, 2016
On Feb. 21, Bolivians will decide whether to modify the 2009 constitution to allow President Evo Morales to run again in 2019.
Bolivian President Evo Morales affirmed that the campaign defending the “no” in the referendum on his right to re-election was funded from the United States, in an interview with the private television channel ATB that aired on Sunday night.
“I am not sure whether (the money) is sent by the corrupted criminals who fled to the United States, or by the U.S. State Department,” he said, referring to the Bolivian opposition leaders that have found shelter in the United States, including fugitives from justice like former President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada (1993-1997 and 2002-2003), his former adviser Carlos Sanchez Berzain and Manfred Reyes Villa.
According to Morales’ information, the country’s right-wing sectors are fighting each other over this alleged financial support.
The Bolivian opposition is constantly in touch with the U.S. National Democratic Institute, he said, adding that the U.S. embassy also treated many Bolivian politicians as their “pets.”
Moreover, the U.S. embassy recommended that Bolivian opposition leaders avoid appearing publicly during the campaign to emphasize the rejection of Morales’ re-election mainly comes from the population.
“Our campaign is not only against the Bolivian right but the international right,” Morales said, adding that the United States has plotted to end leftist governments in Argentina and Venezuela, as well as Bolivia.
The Bolivian people are set to vote in a referendum Feb. 21 to decide whether Morales can run for a third full term in 2019 or not. Electoral authorities ruled that his first, partial, term from 2006 to 2010 did not count toward the two-term limit because it took place during the previous constitution.
Source: teleSur