14ymedio, Havana, 14 July 2022 — “I saw the best democracy in Cuba, what dictatorship?” Evo Morales said on Argentine public television last Tuesday during prime time. The former Bolivian president visited the country for an official meeting with president Alberto Fernández, and to participate in an academic event. In an extensive interview – which was followed by a documentary entitled The Return of Evo Morales – he addressed the current status of his country and the continent.
The benefits of Cuban democracy, for the Bolivian leader, reside precisely in the fact that there are no political parties. “I saw there how, from the neighborhoods, they are debating who is going to be their assemblyman. Being an assemblyman is not a business, it is a service,” he argued.
“There, for example, there is no political expense, which is what many people reproach in other countries. They meet on time to approve something,” says one of the program’s collaborators, Néstor Espósito, while Morales nods.
The Bolivian had previously been asked about the Island and Venezuela as countries identified as undemocratic and not protecting human rights. “In Venezuela, I have seen, there is freedom of expression, right?” Morales starts. “The great advantage is that Venezuela rises after the economic blockade. Imagine the very beginnings of Donald Trump, how he planned to end Maduro’s life, a military intervention… but [Venezuela] has defended itself, defending political and economic sovereignty. Now, look, the president of the United States, instead of negotiating with Guaidó, is negotiating the sale of oil with Maduro. He has therefore succeeded,” he says.
Morales also exposes his particular opinion on the war in Ukraine, deeply aligned with Russia. “It is an armed confrontation caused by NATO and the United States, which wanted to take Russia. They were getting closer, and any country wants to defend itself,” argues the former president, who believes that the United States lives from war and warns of the risks of multilateralism.
In addition, the former president also has a recipe to end hostilities. “Dialogue would be good, but, above all, that sovereignty be respected and that NATO does not continue advancing. Unfortunately, I do not understand that some European countries form NATO to invade. Why invade countries? To plunder natural resources. That it is the struggle of humanity,” explains Morales, four and a half months after Russia launched an offensive occupying part of Ukraine.
Evo Morales also criticized the media that do not defend his postulates. “You said: ‘If there were no media there would be no right’,” the interviewer said. To which the former president replies: “No. I have no problem with the right-wing media, but they are only dedicated to talking about Evo, to slander… if not, they would have nothing to talk about,” he said.
“I say that some media, especially those that accompany the policies of the empire, are worse than the atomic bomb. They destroy humanity. That is why we have a huge responsibility to have the media,” he continued with a reference to those created by his party, the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS).
Morales was exiled in Argentina after leaving Bolivia after the 2019 elections. The elections were considered fraudulent by the Organization of American States (OAS) and were followed by the interim government of Jeanine Áñez. The former president returned to his country in November 2020, one day after Luis Arce, from his party, was sworn in after winning the elections.
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