‘This is not Venezuela!’: Socialist leader of Bolivia Evo Morales resigns as protests roil nation

Although Morales stringently attempted to cling to power throughout the past few weeks, there began a sea change Friday when police started to break off and join protesters who believed the October election was rigged. Morales’ own top generals abandoned him on Sunday.

“I am sending my resignation letter to the Legislative Assembly of Bolivia,” Morales said in a statement.

Celebrations broke out throughout the country upon the news of his resignation.

“This is not Cuba. This is not Venezuela!” demonstrators in the nation’s capital of La Paz chanted this weekend. “This is Bolivia, and Bolivia will be respected.”

Following the Oct. 20 election in Bolivia, the results could not be verified due to “serious irregularities,” and Morales declared himself the winner. His declaration sparked weeks of violent protests in the country, during which at least three people were killed and hundreds of others were injured.

“I regret this deeply,” Morales, who one day prior agreed to Organization of American States’s calls for a new election, told the nation Sunday.

The next two people in line to lead the country, Vice President Álvaro García Linera and Senate President Adriana Salvatierra Arriaza, also stepped down. Jeanine Añez, second vice president of Bolivia’s Senate and an opposition lawmaker, said she would assume the presidency with the aim of calling new and open elections.

Morales was the first indigenous leader of Bolivia but has been accused of using his years in power to consolidate control over the country. Morales has had the support of Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro, a socialist who has attempted to cling to power despite many countries, including the United States, refusing to recognize his presidency.

During last month’s disputed election, Morales needed a 10-point margin in the race to secure victory without a runoff, which would likely have gone poorly for Morales as other opposition candidates had vowed to rally behind whoever won the runoff.

Opposition supporters cheered early results, which showed he had failed to meet the 10-point margin, but without explanation, Morales’s government suddenly stopped providing information on the tally and then declared that Morales had won outright, sparking the protests and clashes that led to his resignation.

The existence of the election itself was mired in controversy.

Prior to Morales’s presidency, leaders were limited to just two terms in office. In 2016, Morales held a national vote to abolish those term limits, but the referendum was defeated. Despite that, he used a loophole to circumvent the outcome of the vote, with the Constitutional Court permitting him to keep running for office.

After Morales’s departure, Senate Foreign Relations Committee member Marco Rubio released a statement that expressed support for the Bolivian people and praised the resignation.

“The resignation of Evo Morales is a testament to the strength and the will of the Bolivian people,” the Florida Republican said. “Morales was illegitimately holding on to power in Bolivia after the recent presidential elections. For the sake of Bolivia’s democratic future and stability, it’s important that free and democratic elections are held and the results are respected.”

The governments of Venezuela, Cuba, and Mexico all condemned Sunday’s events, characterizing the ouster as a coup rather than a resignation.

“We have to take care of our brother Evo Morales,” Maduro said on state television. “We must declare a vigil in solidarity to protect him.”

Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said that his country would offer Morales asylum should he need it.

In the aftermath of the departure, Morales’s residence was reportedly ransacked by protesters. Video emerged of the house with the words “son of a bitch” written in red spray paint across one of the walls.

It is not clear when an interim president will take over, although Morales’s resignation is expected to be read in Bolivia’s Congress on Monday. It is also still unclear when new elections will be held.

Carlos Mesa, the leader of Bolivia’s top opposition party, had declined Morales’s calls for negotiations.

“I have nothing to negotiate with Evo Morales, who has lost all grip on reality,” he told reporters.