Bolivia
New President and Vice President Take Office
November 8, 2020. President Luis Arce and
Vice President David Choquehuanca
are officially
sworn in for a five-year term.
On Sunday, November 8 President Luis Arce and
Vice President David Choquehuanca were officially
sworn in for a five-year term, completing the
transfer of power from the "transitional
government" imposed on Bolivia by a U.S.-backed
military coup a year ago. President Arce and his
running mate of the Movement Toward
Socialism-Political Instrument for the Sovereignty
of the Peoples (MAS-IPSP) were elected by an
overwhelming majority of over 55 per cent on
October 18. Deputies and Senators who make up the
two chambers of the Plurinational Legislative
Assembly, where MAS-IPSP holds the majority of
seats, had been sworn in earlier. Almost 52 per
cent of those who make up the new legislature are
women, one of the highest percentages in the
world.
Two days before their official swearing-in, at
dawn on Friday, November 6 Luis Arce and David Choquehuanca participated
in an Indigenous ceremony at the ruins of the pre-Columbian city of
Tiwanaku, Bolivia's most important archaelogical and ceremonial site.
There they symbolically assumed the governance of Bolivia by receiving
the staff of power from Amautas (Indigenous wise persons) and pledged to
govern in peace, unity and prosperity, promising not to betray the
trust of the people. A similar ritual was celebrated with them in La Paz
the morning of their swearing-in, led by the National Council of
Amautas, who asked Pachamama (Mother Earth) for permission to open a good path during the presidential term.
November 6, 2020. Indigenous ceremony during which
the new president and vice president
symbolically assumes the governance of
Bolivia.
MAS senators are sworn in.
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Starting the day before the official swearing-in,
members of unions and many of the organized social
movements that are part of MAS' base, including youth
groups, guarded the area around Murillo Square
where the government buildings are located,
spending the night there. The people's forces were not
about to leave safeguarding the democracy they
fought to restore, and the safety of their new
government, to anyone but themselves, especially
before the transfer of power took place. The
treacherous role played by the country's police
and military, who were instrumental in consummating
last year's coup and in carrying out massacres
against the people is still a fresh memory. The
people's role in defending their electoral victory
was all the more important given that just days
earlier, recalcitrant elements of the reactionary
coup forces, unwilling to accept their humiliating
electoral defeat, were able to engage in a
terrorist attack by detonating dynamite in front
of the MAS headquarters while Luis Arce was
meeting inside with others. That incident followed
the killing last month of the militant and popular
young mineworkers' leader and MAS organizer
Orlando Gutiérrez. He succumbed in hospital to
head injuries suffered in an attack allegedly
carried out by a gang of those elements as well.
Thanks to the vigilance of the organized people,
Sunday's official events and celebrations went off smoothly. They were
enjoyed by the tens of thousands who came from all over the country to
proudly celebrate the victory they achieved by uniting in action to get
rid of the hated coup government of the racist oligarchy. The oligarchy
was intent on destroying the gains of the last 14 years, including the
country's public health system, with disastrous consequences. In
their rejoicing at their ability to restore democratic rule in the short time
that they did, and to hand such a sharp rebuff to the imperialist forces
that set the coup in motion, patriotic Bolivians were joined by many
others worldwide including in Canada and Quebec. Peoples worldwide wish
them well as they take on the challenge of defending what they have
achieved.
This article was published in
Volume 50 Number 44 - November 14, 2020
Article Link:
Bolivia: New President and Vice President Take Office
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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