US riots and the Bolivian coup (E337)

Not a day goes by without a new video emerging from the United States of some horrific atrocity, a murder or a lynching: a homeless man attacked, another shot as he runs away from the police, sparking more riots and demonstrations across the country. But riots can be like fireworks; they go up as exploding skyrockets but come down like a burnt stick. So, what exactly is going on in America? The riots go on unabated, triggered by the killing of George Floyd at the hands of the police on May 25 in Minneapolis. But are they a series of firework displays or is something more profound happening? Professor Gerald Horne is Chair of History at the University of Houston, so we asked him whether the riots could be a precursor to revolution.

President Evo Morales was probably one of the most popular Latin-American political figures in recent history; however, he was, unfortunately, not popular in Washington. After a comparatively rare success, the US-backed regime change in Bolivia overthrew Morales with accusations of electoral fraud, heralded loudly on the pages of the New York Times. Seven months on, that newspaper now admits that data and analysis from the US-led Organisation of American States was flawed. This admission comes too late for President Morales as a witch hunt has ensued and his supporters are systematically hunted down. It also appears to be too late for the Bolivian people, as the new far-right government rolls back reforms and postpones scheduled elections. Ollie Vargas is a journalist based in Bolivia and has been covering events there on behalf of Mint Press; he spoke with Sputnik about what is happening on the ground.

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