Mexico City, December 2 (RHC)-- From exile in Mexico City, Evo Morales has said that the Bolivian people will continue their fight against an American and Israeli backed military coup in the country and ultimately prevail.
The coup government, "assisted by Israel and the U.S., will prepare itself [to stifle resistance], but when a nation rises, no system can stop it, like the Bolivian nation which has risen in quest for truth, unity and freedom,” Morales said during an exclusive interview with Iran’s Spanish-language television channel HispanTV.
Morales was forced to resign on November 10th under pressure from the country's armed forces after the US-backed opposition there rejected the October election results. He was granted asylum in Mexico.
Evo Morales has described his ouster as a coup and said there is evidence that Washington orchestrated it. The former Bolivian also says that the United States opposes his return to Bolivia.
Earlier this week, Bolivia's self-proclaimed interim president, Jeanine Anez, signed a law preventing Morales from participating in a new election, which is expected to be held in upcoming months. Interior Minister Arturo Murillo has hinted that the self-appointed government may seek to imprison Evo, accusing him -- without any evidence -- of terrorism and sedition.
Speaking to HispanTV, however, Evo Morales explained that his “biggest crime was returning hope to the Bolivian people,” as his economic policies had benefited the Bolivian people to the detriment of certain political and business figures. “Be sure that under the orders of Washington, the right-wing party will not allow me to return,” he said, adding that “my crime is defending the oppressed, the workers and the indigenous peoples.”
“This is why I fear nothing and if anything happens to me or if I am arrested while returning [to Bolivia], the main culprit is the fascist right which carried out the coup, and secondly the United States,” he said.
Promising a strong movement against the coup government and stressing his right to participate in new elections, Morales did not specify if he would ultimately run for office or return to Bolivia in the near future. “With Evo or without Evo, we will guarantee the freedom of the Bolivian people,” he said, calling on all “idigenous, workers and everyone to be alert and try to regain political power” in order to protect the “interests of the nation.”
Morales vowed that the Bolivian nation will unite almost unanimously against the “self-appointed government” in the near future once it starts implementing its “neoliberal’ economic policies which are “dictated from abroad.” During the interview, Evo sent his “regards to all truth seekers within the international community" and "compatriots who are fighting for democracy.”
