Bolivian President Evo Morales announced his resignation on Sunday after the nation's military and police urged the leader to step down amid ongoing violent protest across the Latin American country.
Morales, in his resignation speech, expressed hope that the turmoil and unrest across Bolivia would cease on Sunday evening.
"My fight will continue, but I have an obligation to try to secure peace. It hurts that Bolivians are fighting with one another and it hurts that civil committees and leaders that have lost [in the election] are resorting to violence and confrontation among Bolivians. For this and many other reasons I am resigning and sending my letter of resignation to the Plurinational Legislative Assembly", Morales said.
Following the resignation of Morales, Bolivian Vice-President Alvaro Marcelo García Linera also submitted his resignation.
"I have decided to resign as vice president as well as the president of the [Plurinational Legislative Assembly]", Linera told reporters, adding that he would present an official letter of resignation to the legislative assembly soon.
Earlier on Sunday, the commander of the Bolivian armed forces, Williams Kaliman, urged President Evo Morales to step down to "bring peace and stability for the benefit of Bolivia". These demands were echoed by the nation's police chief Vladimir Yuri Calderon, who also called on the president to leave his post.
Amid the ongoing political turmoil in the country prompted in part by opposition demands for a recount in the 20 October presidential election, unconfirmed reports circulated Sunday alleging that the former president's plane had requested a flight plan to Argentina.
Protests in the country sparked after Morales secured a new term in a hotly-contested presidential election. Peaceful rallies quickly morphed into unrest following a heavy-handed police response and incidents of arson and looting, including offices of the state-owned media, increased.
Kerlyle on November 11st, 2019 at 01:04 UTC »
Reading this comment section is wild. Every other comment is someone with a wildly different view of the entire situation.
nagualdonjuan on November 10th, 2019 at 23:07 UTC »
As a Bolivian I'm sad about this news. It's true he probably wasn't the perfect leader and he stayed in power longer than he legally was supposed to. I totally accept and I'm against what he did. However, as someone who grew up in El Alto (one of the poorest cities in Bolivia) surrounded by people in extreme poverty, I believe he is still the best president Bolivia ever had.
I am not sad because Evo resigned. I'm sad because there is a high chance that people that hold their own interests before the country might end up in power once again. Evo never finished school, he struggled speaking Spanish, but he knew goddamn well what it is to be poor and he holds extreme empathy for those with the lowest income. That is something noone of the opposition can claim.
Dark days to come.
EDIT: Mandatory edit to explain that I completely agree that what Chavez and Maduro did to Venezuela is atrocious. I hope Venezuela, a country full of beauty and wealth gets to be prosperous again soon.
boredteddybear on November 10th, 2019 at 23:01 UTC »
I think you should read the Assosciated Press article instead. It's more objective and explains the situation properly.
https://apnews.com/d88e67e214b04dcd92dc58caa884cdaf