Morales won legitimate presidential elections in October

Morales ousted on a baseless allegation of vote fraud

Bolivian former president Evo Morales was ousted from power on the allegations of vote fraud in October 2019 presidential elections. The Trump administration and Bolivian right wing ruling class joined hands against Socialist Morales and organised a coup against him. The new search has found that no voter fraud ever took place during October elections.

The report and other election experts have also revealed that OAS (Organization of American States) played key role in accordance with Trump administration to make the October election controversial.

The report also revealed that the protest movement against Evo Morales on electoral fraud was politically motivated. OAS is now working as an arm of the American administration to protect the American interests in the region through electoral process.

 OAS and corporate media deliberately accuse Morales for fraud in the election that never took place. The Bolivian opposition used the statements of OAS and media reports to organise violent protests against legitimately elected president.

This report shows that how American imperialism used the allegations of electoral fraud to oust the anti imperialist and left wing leaders in Latin America. This research report exposed the dirty work of OAS and corporate media to malign and discredit the election process without having any solid proves and evidence.

In a December interview with The Globe Post, CEPR analyst Jake Johnston raised concerns that the OAS was becoming increasingly political under the leadership of Secretary-General Luis Almagro.

“This situation today with the OAS, I mean, you’ve seen the OAS move extremely close to Washington now,” he said. “They get around 60 percent of their budget there. And in terms of policy, that’s been abundantly clearer under the leadership of Almagro.”

As an ally of Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro, Morales was viewed as a geopolitical foe by the administration of Donald Trump, who “applauded” the ouster of Morales as a “significant moment for democracy in the Western Hemisphere.”

In December, researchers from CEPR were joined by 116 economists and statisticians who signed a letter published in the Guardian calling on the OAS to “retract its misleading statements about the election, which have contributed to the political conflict.”

While the new MIT study is the latest to call the OAS’ findings into the question, others have also cast doubt on the organization’s objectivity.

A US research centre said it found "no evidence of fraud" in Bolivia's presidential elections last October, which was won by incumbent President Evo Morales but had its results dismissed after the Organization of American States (OAS) accused his government of manipulating the results. Morales stepped down in the ensuing uproar.
However, a new study published by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Election Data and Science Lab - commissioned by the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) - concluded it was "very likely" that Morales' victory was legitimate.

"The media has largely reported the allegations of fraud as fact... However, as specialists in election integrity, we find that the statistical evidence does not support the claim of fraud in Bolivia's October election. On election night, with 83 percent of the votes tallied, official results showed Morales with a seven percentage point lead over his rival Carlos Mesa.

A new study published Thursday found no evidence of fraud in Bolivia’s October presidential election, casting doubt on prior findings issued by the Organization of American States.

The election was won in the first round by longtime leftist president Evo Morales, but the results were ultimately thrown out after the OAS accused Morales’ government of manipulating the results.

 Bolivian President Morales was ousted from power in a military coup on November 10 amid widespread unrest stemming from the fraud allegations.

The former president has unequivocally denied the fraud accusations and has accepted asylum in neighboring Argentina. He has been barred from returning to Bolivia by the de facto interim government that swept to power following the coup.

The analysis stands in sharp contrast with the findings of the OAS, which reported to have found clear evidence of “intentional manipulation” on the part of Morales’ government. OAS is an intergovernmental organization based in Washington that often monitors elections in Latin America.

With about 84 percent of votes counted, the unofficial TREP results showed Morales leading his nearest opponent by about 8 points – shy of the 10 point margin necessary to avoid a runoff election.

At that point, the electoral commission stopped updating the TREP results. When it was resumed about 24 hours later after pressure from the OAS and the opposition,  the results showed Morales had cleared the 10-point margin and was on course to win in the first round. The final, official results showed Morales had won by 10.5 points.

But before the official results could be posted, the OAS issued a statement expressing “deep concern” over the supposedly “hard-to-explain” and “drastic” increase in Morales’ lead while the quick count was suspended, implying that the results were a fraud.

Picking up on the OAS’ statement, major media outlets around the globe erroneously reported that the vote count itself had been suspended, apparently confusing the quick count with the official results.

The fraud allegations stemming from the OAS’ statement sparked weeks of violence, terror, and unrest, culminating in Morales being deposed in a coup.

 “Morales appear to have been heading toward a first-round victory prior to the interruption of the preliminary count. The results once the count resumed are in line with the prior trend.”

The prior reports published by CEPR found that the rise in Morales’ lead was not “drastic” but was in fact “steady” and “gradual.”

Not only was the increase not “hard-to-explain” but it was entirely predictable based on the fact that the late votes were coming from rural regions where Morales is particularly popular, they found.

                                                  Khalid Bhatti