Evo Morales Resigns as Bolivia’s President

After weeks of violent unrest, the Bolivian president resigned from his position and fled to Mexico. (Flickr)

Evo Morales resigned as president of Bolivia on November 10, decrying his removal as a coup. The announcement came shortly after the chief of the armed forces urged the president to step down in the interest of preserving peace and stability. After 14 years in power, Morales’ resignation followed a report from the Organization of American States that found “clear manipulation” in his reelection last month. This announcement came amid the fourth week of violent unrest in the country following the contested election results. 

The cause of Morales’ resignation is disputed. The former-president insists that the pressure against him was part of a coup orchestrated by his right-wing challenger, former-President Carlos Mesa. Morales tweeted on November 10 that a national police official was publicly calling for his detention: “The coup mongers are destroying the rule of law.” However, the head of Bolivia’s national police has denied that the force ever issued a warrant for the arrest of the president. 

Since the outbreak of the unrest, opposition forces have ransacked the homes of members of Morales’ socialist party and kidnapped one of his relatives. Morales cited this as a chief reason for stepping down, saying, “We resign because I don’t want to see any more families attacked by instruction of Mesa and [opposition leader Luis Fernando] Camacho. This is not a betrayal to social movements. The fight continues. We are the people, and thanks to this political union, we have freed Bolivia. We leave this homeland freed.”

Mesa and those who oppose Morales have replied that his resignation is not the result of a coup but a triumph of the “heroism of peaceful resistance” to support democracy.

Opponents of Morales celebrated his resignation with fireworks and parades, while his supporters clashed with police in the country's largest cities. 

The event has also sparked varied international responses. Mexico aided Morales and his closest political advisor, offering them political asylum. Mexico’s foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, welcomed the two to the country after they fled Bolivia on November 12. Ebrard tweeted, “Mexico will maintain its position of respect for democracy and institutions. Coups, no.”

President Donald Trump described the resignation as "a significant moment for democracy in the Western Hemisphere,” while Russia, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela all argued that Morales was ousted in a coup that threatens to undermine democracy.

Morales’ departure has left a power vacuum in Bolivia. Under the Bolivian Constitution, during such a crisis, presidential elections must be held within 90 days. On November 12, Jeanine Áñez, the leader of the opposition party in the Bolivian Senate, declared herself to the interim president but vowed to uphold the constitutional provision for new elections. Morales, however, slammed Áñez as "a coup-mongering right-wing senator."