HAVANA, Cuba.- Actions of vandalism and rants took place last Sunday night in Bolivian cities, showing the power vacuum in the country following the coup d’état against President Evo Morales.

After announcing his resignation, Morales denounced on Twitter that he risks being held illegally, as well as the assault on his home and the destruction of the rule of law in Bolivia by the coup perpetrators.

Tension in the country seemed to grow following the Twitter message by protest leader Luis Fernando Camacho, confirming an arrest warrant against Morales, immediately denied by military and police officers.

According to local media, Bolivia now needs to decide whether to combat the government vacuum by a constitutional exit from the Legislative Assembly or whether it reaches a political and social agreement that legitimizes a new government.

Evo Resigns to Safeguard Peace

Bolivia’s President Evo Morales announced at a press conference his resignation to prevent further escalation of violence against the people, caused by opposition forces.

I decided to resign from my position so that Carlos Mesa and Luis Camacho stop mistreating and harming thousands of brothers. I have an obligation to seek peace and it hurts that among Bolivians we face each other, Morales said, who hours earlier had called for new general elections.

The leader of the Movement for Socialism condemned that opposition groups did not accept the dialogue proposed by the government and, although new elections were announced and several of their demands were guaranteed, they rejected everything and called for his resignation.

That is conspiring against democracy, that is a coup d’état, Evo Morales emphasized, who remarked he leaves a liberated homeland, in development with generations that have a lot of future.

Against Democracy

I am very sorry for this coup with a part of the police involved and attacking democracy, against social peace, with violence, with intimidation of the Bolivian people, Evo Morales highlighted in a speech from Chimore, in Cochabamba, bastion of the process of change.

Morales reiterated that Carlos Mesa and Luis Camacho are responsible for the course that events take in Bolivia, and even what might happen to him and Vice-President Alvaro Garcia Linera, who accompanied him during the televised intervention.

During this broadcast, in which Health Minister Gabriela Montano was also present, the Bolivian President said the struggle does not end, because the most humble, the poor, the social sectors, the good patriots, we will continue this struggle for equality, for peace.

It’s no betrayal of social movements. The fight goes on. We are people, he underlined.

Evo Leaves a Prosperous Country

In his televised appearance, Evo Morales said he does not run from nothing because he has nothing to hide, and after thanking the backing of countries such as Russia and China and some international agencies, he said he will continue the liberation process.

We have shown that Bolivia has been the country that has grown the most and we had a plan that was to move into industrialization, but there are those who do not want Bolivia to grow, he pointed out after announcing the resignation.

For his part, the Vice-President, Alvaro Garcia Linera, remarked that the government renounces to put an end to violence and recalled the recovery of national sovereignty and the promotion of the dignity of the rights of Bolivians.

We are the government that nationalized hydrocarbons, the government that brought more than three million citizens out of poverty, Garcia Linera added and then reiterated his loyalty to Evo Morales.