Yesterday a faction of the Bolivian military moved against elected leftist president Luis Arce. The attempted coup was defeated by popular protests, “massive international condemnation” and splits within the military.
The Canadian government stayed silent on the military assault against the presidential palace. While Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Spain, Russia, European Union, Organization of American States, etc. condemned the coup, Ottawa followed Washington’s position. The White House national security council spokesperson simply said, “the United States is closely monitoring the situation in Bolivia and urges calm and restraint.”
Twenty-four hours later foreign minister Melanie Joly had yet to comment on the coup attempt. Nor had Global Affairs’ main X account (As this article went to press, they posted “Canada welcomes the upholding of constitutional order in Bolivia and condemns an unacceptable attempt to hinder democracy.”). Late yesterday evening the official Canada in Bolivia account simply retweeted a travel warning with the statement, “On June 26, soldiers attempted to enter the residence of the president of Bolivia. The situation remains volatile and could escalate without notice. If you are in LaPaz, follow the instructions of local authorities.”
Presumably, Ottawa was amenable to the putschists who rammed vehicles into the presidential palace, complaining about economic troubles and the treatment of the country’s military. Many speculated that the US supports ousting Arce due to his government’s ties to Russia and hostility to Israel as well as to gain greater influence over Bolivia’s vast lithium supplies. Newsweek labeled this speculation “Bolivia Coup Sparks CIA Conspiracy Theories”.
While it is important to substantiate claims, it’s healthy to speculate about US support for coup attempts. Ditto for Canada. History proves both countries frequently choose pro-Empire governments over democracy.
In 2019 the Trudeau government supported the ouster of Bolivia’s first Indigenous president by an alliance of economic elites, Christian extremists and security forces backed by Washington. Hours after the military command forced Evo Morales to resign, foreign affairs minister Chrystia Freeland released a celebratory statement declaring, “Canada stands with Bolivia and the democratic will of its people.” Ottawa also provided significant support for the Organization of American States’ effort to discredit Bolivia’s 2019 vote, which fueled opposition protests and justified the coup.
Ottawa supported the unconstitutional replacement government led by rightist Jeanine Áñez, which ramped up political repression and anti-Indigenous measures. The undemocratic nature of Canadian policy was confirmed with the victory by Morales’ former finance minister, Luis Acre, in the October 2020 election. In a decisive rebuke of Ottawa’s support for the coup, Acre won 55% of the vote for president and the MAS party took a large majority in the Congress.
As Owen Schalk and I detail in Canada’s Long Fight Against Democracy, Ottawa has repeatedly endorsed US-backed military coups against elected, usually progressive, leaders. Canada has passively supported the ouster of, or actively contributed to, the overthrow of at least 20 elected governments. In doing so Canada helped destroy projects to build more equitable and democratic forms of governance across the globe.
Canadian officials claim to promote democracy. They say conflicts with countries such as China, Russia and Iran are due to those countries’ authoritarianism. But the Trudeau government’s reaction to yesterday’s coup attempt in Bolivia reminds us that’s not the case. Ottawa is more than willing to undermine elected governments it doesn’t like.
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