San Francisco Labor Council opposes the coup in Bolivia

The following resolution was passed by unanimous vote of the San Francisco Labor Council on Jan. 13.

Whereas Evo Morales, running for his fourth term of office as President of Bolivia, had the highest vote count in the unofficial and official vote results, leading by over 10% his nearest rival and receiving over 47% of the vote in the October 20 national election in Bolivia, and

Whereas there has not been any demonstrable evidence of election fraud in this election, despite claims of the OAS, and

Whereas under Evo Morales’s tenure since 2006, Bolivia has made outstanding economic and social gains on behalf of Bolivia’s poorest and mostly Indigenous citizens, such as reducing extreme poverty from 38% to 18% and implementing measures to respect the dignity and equality of the Indigenous majority, and

Whereas even though Evo Morales had agreed to hold new elections and to a peace agreement, the military deposed him and began brutally attacking his supporters, killing more than 20 people, and the coup regime has issued a decree giving police and military impunity when they kill protesters, and

Whereas AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka has said, “The AFL-CIO joins the @ituc @CSA_TUCA [International Trade Union Confederation/Trade Union Confederation of Workers in the Americas] in condemning military interference in Bolivia’s election process. Morales reduced widespread poverty and fought for the inclusion of the Indigenous majority. Bolivians must be able to vote peacefully and freely in new elections,” and

Whereas Brazilian nurses’ union President Shirley Diaz Morales condemned the coup: “We in Latin America cannot tolerate that every time any leader stands up against social injustice, they face a coup,” and

Whereas the United States government has a long history of undermining the sovereignty of Latin American countries, including Bolivia, to take advantage of economic and political control of these countries;

Therefore Be It Resolved that the San Francisco Labor Council vigorously condemns the recent coup in Bolivia and supports Evo Morales, the illegally deposed President of Bolivia, who is committed to a peace agreement and new elections, and

Be It Further Resolved that the San Francisco Labor Council joins international labor and human rights organizations in demanding that the people of Bolivia be able to vote in free and fair elections without intervention or further oppression by the police or military, and

Be It Finally Resolved that the San Francisco Labor Council will send this statement to Representatives Nancy Pelosi and Jackie Speier, Senators Kamala Harris and Dianne Feinstein, President Donald Trump, the AFL-CIO, the California Federation of Labor and the Alameda and San Mateo Labor Councils.