Bolivian President Evo Morales affirmed that the campaign defending the “no” in the referendum on his right to re-election was funded from the United States, in an interview with the private television channel ATB that aired on Sunday night.
“I am not sure whether [the money] is sent by the corrupted criminals that fled to the United States, or by the U.S. State Department,” he said, referring to the Bolivian opposition leaders that have found shelter in the United States, including fugitives from justice like former President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada (1993-1997 and 2002-2003), his former adviser Carlos Sanchez Berzain and Manfred Reyes Villa.
According to Morales’ information, the country’s right-wing sectors are fighting each other over this alleged financial support.
The Bolivian opposition is constantly in touch with the U.S. National Democratic Institute (NDI), he said, adding that the U.S. embassy also treated many Bolivian politicians as their “pets.”
Moreover, the U.S. embassy recommended Bolivian opposition leaders not to publicly appear during the campaign, to show that his reelection reject mainly came from the population.
“Our campaign is not only against the Bolivian right but the international right,” as the United States planned to end with the “Kirchnerism” in in Argentina, “Chavismo” in Venezuela and “Evismo” in Bolivia.
The Bolivian people were scheduled to vote in a referendum due on Feb. 21, in order to decide whether Morales can run for a third reelection in 2019 or not – as electoral authorities ruled that his first term (2006-2010) did not count because it took place during the previous constitution.