A week after the presidential election in Bolivia and the controversial victory of incumbent Evo Morales, resistance forms in the ranks of the opposition. A broad coalition of representatives of several middle and right-wing parties, as well as civil society, called for the cancellation of the October 20 election yesterday. The group called Democracy Defense Democracy also called for the establishment of a new supreme electoral tribunal to organize impartial elections.
The leader of the group, Waldo Albarracin, said in La Paz that the government’s electoral fraud had prevented a run-off election between leftist incumbent Morales and his conservative challenger Carlos Mesa.
He called for more street protests against the government. La Paz will also join the general strike, which is already being held in the cities of Santa Cruz, Potosi and Sucre in protest against the election result. A few hours earlier, Morales had stated that Bolivia was preparing a coup d’état. He ruled out further negotiations on the election result.
