September 24, 2021
Bolivian President Luis Arce, photo: UN
The President of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Luis Alberto Arce Catacora, denounced, before the 76th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN), in New York, United States, the coup of November 2019 by the opposition right wing with the support of the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, the European Union (EU) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), among others.
The Head of State pointed out that it is important for the States and member countries of this multilateral organization to know that the rupture of the constitutional order in Bolivia had the direct participation of political parties that did not achieve popular support at the polls, some bad officers of the Bolivian Police, the Armed Forces (FFAA), civic committees, the hierarchy of the Catholic Church and the hegemonic mass media.
“The coup counted on the participation of the OAS through its Secretary General, Luis Almagro, of other governments such as the former government of Argentina, which sent arms and ammunition to the coup perpetrators, of the representative of the European Union (in Bolivia) and of other non-governmental organizations of international origin,” he said.
President Arce pointed out that after the coup d’état, in the presidential elections of October 18, 2020, the Bolivian people were able to recover democracy with the triumph of the binomial that put forward the Movement Towards Socialism – Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples (MAS-IPSP), with more than 55% of the vote at the polls.
“Allow me to inform the member countries that the Plurinational State of Bolivia (…) on October 20, 2020 has recovered its democracy thanks to the unity, struggle and conscience of the Bolivian people ratified at the polls and we are ratifying our intercultural democracy, as well as our political, economic and social stability that we have worked so hard to build,” he said.
He denounced that the latest report presented by the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI), of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR), identified that gross human rights violations, massacres and summary executions were committed in the Plurinational State of Bolivia between September 1 and December 31, 2019.
The Head of State said that his administration has assumed the commitment, before the Bolivian people, to seek justice for the 38 people killed, for the hundreds of wounded and detained, for the persecuted, asylum seekers, exiles and for the grave violations of human rights that were executed by the de facto regime. “Because justice is an essential condition for democracy and the construction of true social peace,” he said.
Arce Catacora said that during this period the right to the presumption of innocence and the right to due process were systematically violated with the persecution and imprisonment of innocent people who were humiliated and repressed. He also said that patriotic symbols such as the wiphala were disgraced , and he denounced racist and sexist actions of the force directed at the population who mobilized for their rights, mostly indigenous people, workers, peasants and farmers.
“Strong and dignified nations have always been built by learning of the great lessons left by the tragedies and misfortunes experienced, collectively building social peace through processes of memory, truth and justice; that is our commitment to the Bolivian people. My democratically elected government, despite the difficulties, including the Covid-19 pandemic, is making the greatest efforts to recover stability and economic growth with social justice,” he said.
Maritime Claim
President Luis Alberto Arce Catacora said that with the legitimacy granted by the Bolivian people with 55.11% in the presidential election of October 18, 2020 to defend the independence and dignity of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, claims in that world forum its right to obtain a free exit, sovereign and useful to the Pacific Ocean through dialogue and agreement with the Republic of Chile, in accordance with what was established by the International Court of Justice, in its ruling of October 1, 2018, in which it urged Chile and Bolivia to continue working towards a meaningful solution to the problem.
In this context, the Head of State assured that the integration processes taking place around the world must be based on the effective solution of the great unresolved issues in Latin America, such as the sovereignty of the Malvinas Islands and the Bolivian landlockedness, open wounds in our continent that must be healed through dialogue, diplomacy and understanding among brotherly peoples.
Finally the Bolivian president pointed out that multilateralism is the ideal tool for dialogue, cooperation and the search for solutions to the problems afflicting humanity to restore the validity of international law, the preservation of peace with social justice and the reconfiguration of the weakened international order.
Therefore, he called to work to stop the climate crisis and build equality so that living well translates into access to education, health, food, decent work, integral development and a true harmony with Mother Earth. To work to guarantee the self-determination of peoples and lasting peace.
“There is no doubt that the challenges we face every day are more complex. If we seek a better world for current and future generations, we must reflect on the path we have taken to overcome the polarization of the world’s social architecture and instead join efforts to promote international cooperation that will allow us to face today’s problems in a strengthened way,” he said.
Capitalism is Responsible for the Climate Crisis
In the framework of the 76th General Assembly of the United Nations (UN), President Luis Alberto Arce Catacora denounced that the capitalist system is the main responsible for the global climate crisis due to the excessive depredation of natural resources.
“Our planet, our common home, our Mother Earth still suffers the serious consequences of consumerism and the excessive depredation of natural resources. Once again we ratify that the capitalist system is one of the main causes of the climate crisis,” he said.
In this context, he called on the governments of the world to retake the customs and worldview of the indigenous peoples, which raises the thesis of the interdependence between human beings and nature. He pointed out that Bolivia is promoting the new model of subsistence, the Living Well.
He explained that this paradigm promotes a change in the horizon of life, leaving behind depredation, irrational competition, excessive consumerism and the insatiable search to accumulate profit at the expense of nature, endangering life on the planet.
In his talk at the UN President Luis Alberto Arce Catacora went on to demand the release of patents for the mass production of vaccines against Covid-19 and that its access be declared as a human right.
He asked the heads of state and government who are part of the multilateral organizations to work in solidarity to avoid the hoarding of immunizers and to promote fair, equitable and timely access; as well as access to medicines and supplies to face the pandemic.
“Access to vaccines should be considered a human right (…) Transnational drug companies should release patents and share their knowledge and technology for the production of vaccines against Covid-19 and that, by working together, we guarantee immediate access to all people in all countries of the world,” he said.
He pointed out that the growth of poverty, extreme poverty and the inequitable concentration of vaccines were even denounced by the World Health Organization (WHO).
“According to available data, to date, only 30% of the world’s population requiring vaccines has received at least one anti-virus dose and only 15.5% are fully vaccinated. At the same time, only 1.1% of the population in low-income countries has received at least one dose,” he warned.
In the context of world poverty Arce went on to call for refinancing or relief of foreign debt at the global level, and to support social policies for populations in vulnerable situations.
“The Plurinational State of Bolivia proposes to advance in agreements with multilateral financial organizations for the refinancing or relief of foreign debt at the global level and to support social policies for populations in vulnerable situations from a comprehensive and sustainable development approach. It is essential to rebuild the economies of the countries for social protection and health; that is, to safeguard and protect workers, workers, peasants, indigenous peoples, native peoples, micro and small entrepreneurs”.
Source: Plurinacional, translation Resumen Latinoamericano – English