If a nation’s leader loses the support of his military and resigns, but no one steps into replace him… has there been a coup?This is no riddle. It’s one of the main political questions facing Bolivians days after their long-serving and (by all accounts) effective leader Evo Morales resigned, along with his Vice President, amid (well-supported) accusations of vote rigging, as well as other attempts to weaken the country’s democratic processes. Now, Bolivia is leaderless and the country’s political future is cloudy to say the least.This week, we try to elucidate this complex challenge with the help of our friend and Latin American politics expert, Dr. Jesse Acevedo of the University of Denver’s Political Science Department.Further reading:NYT: Evo Morales and Bolivia: What We Know About the President’s ResignationWaPo: Leftists are wobbling in South America. Here’s why Bolivia’s Evo Morales may be the last socialist standing.Foreign Affairs: Why Latin America Was Primed to Explode
If a nation’s leader loses the support of his military and resigns, but no one steps into replace him… has there been a coup?
This is no riddle. It’s one of the main political questions facing Bolivians days after their long-serving and (by all accounts) effective leader Evo Morales resigned, along with his Vice President, amid (well-supported) accusations of vote rigging, as well as other attempts to weaken the country’s democratic processes. Now, Bolivia is leaderless and the country’s political future is cloudy to say the least.
This week, we try to elucidate this complex challenge with the help of our friend and Latin American politics expert, Dr. Jesse Acevedo of the University of Denver’s Political Science Department.
Further reading: