Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
Commentary by Oleg Yasinsky
[ColonelCassad] Hot on the heels of that sleepless night. Yesterday's attempted military coup in Bolivia was extremely strange, improvised and doomed to failure from the start. If there were a world competition of poorly prepared coups, this one would be the winner. The military did absolutely nothing to actually seize power. Older generations of Bolivians, who understand a lot about coups, can easily compare the bloody battles of the past with the current production.
At the same time, the general assessment of the events remains unchanged - the Bolivian oligarchy and the United States want to overthrow the current legitimate government of Bolivia at any cost and restore the colonial status quo in one of the richest resource countries in the region. The enemy's work in this direction continues and decisions here are not made by maddened traitor generals with tin eyes (and not only because in Bolivia, along with lithium, there is tin, gas and a lot of other things, even those not yet explored). In all likelihood, this clumsy coup attempt was a test of strength and, most importantly, a tool for measuring the reaction of different layers of Bolivian society and other countries to the army mutiny.
One thing is absolutely clear - the tragic split in the ruling party MAS ("Movement Towards Socialism") between supporters of the historical leader Evo Morales and the current president Luis Arce, is more dangerous today than any military actions. Both groups have a large social base and there are practically no political differences between them. The main irreconcilable conflict is in the political ambitions of the leaders. The current coup attempt, instead of uniting and reconciling the parties, will most likely serve to further split them, as a result of which MAS risks losing the next presidential elections without any coups.
The last governments of Evo Morales and Luis Arce did more for the Bolivian people than all the previous ones put together, returning the country's main wealth, state independence and raising the standard and quality of life of the majority of the population, especially the poorest. Their enormous role in overcoming the racism of white elites in the most Indian country of Latin America is immeasurable.
Many years ago, during Evo's rule, when we were filming a movie about Che Guevara's last guerrilla war in Bolivia, following in his footsteps through the most forgotten corners of the hinterland, I remember how I was already surprised and amazed by the real war within the MAS party. At that time, many officials and random people signed up en masse for Evo's party solely for power. And their struggle for power and control began almost immediately. Of course, despite the mass of beautiful slogans and declarations, there is nothing political in it.
The main and incredibly difficult task of Bolivian social movements is to overcome this split, equally mortally dangerous for everyone. The next coup, military or electoral, could be real.
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