Bolivia's Morales claims election victory, blasts opposition 'coup'

Record ID: 1438133

  • Title: Bolivia's Morales claims election victory, blasts opposition 'coup'
  • Date: 23rd October 2019
  • Summary: GENERAL VIEW OF EXTERIOR OF THE SUPREME ELECTORAL TRIBUNAL SIGN OUTSIDE OF THE SUPREME ELECTORAL TRIBUNAL POLICE INSIDE THE SUPREME ELECTORAL TRIBUNAL GENERAL VIEW OF POLICE PATROLLING AREA POLICE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LA PAZ RESIDENT JULIA QUISPE, SAYING: "All Bolivians are very conscious of what is going on here today. We want this to go to a second round because that was the desire of the majority of the population especially from those of us who have to work independently. These elections were fraudulent and the entire world has witnessed it." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING THROUGH THE STREETS
  • Embargoed: 6th November 2019 13:29
  • Keywords: Bolivia President Evo Morales election vote counting fraud allegations state of emergency
  • Location: LA PAZ, BOLIVIA
  • City: LA PAZ, BOLIVIA
  • Country: Bolivia
  • Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting,Editors' Choice
  • Reuters ID: LVA003B2BJYH3
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Bolivian leader Evo Morales on Wednesday (October 23) repeated his claim of victory in a presidential election and accused the opposition of trying to orchestrate a coup, after mass opposition-led protests since the Sunday vote that claimed the counting was rigged.
    The latest official vote count showed Morales with 46.49% with nearly 97% of the ballot processed, 9.5 points ahead of main rival Carlos Mesa, but still just short of the 10-point lead necessary to win outright and avoid a riskier second round run-off.
    Protesters, angry at what they saw as an attempt by leftist President Morales to rig the vote, had protested en masse in capital city La Paz, outside where the electoral board was processing the last remaining ballots.
    In a fiery early-morning speech at the government office in La Paz, Morales criticized the violence, which he blamed on the opposition and what he said was foreign backers.
    "I have called this conference to denounce in front of the Bolivian people and the entire world, that a coup d'etat is in progress. In advance, the right had prepared with international support for a coup," he said.
    Unrest in the country began after an official vote count was disrupted by a near 24-hour halt late on Sunday, when Morales claimed his party would win outright despite initial numbers showing the two main rivals heading to a second round.
    The official election monitor and a number of foreign governments voiced concern about the integrity of the vote.
    The uncertainty over the election has rocked the land-locked nation, which has gone through almost 14 years of relative stability and growth since Morales came to power in 2006 as the country's first indigenous leader.
    (Production: Monica Machicao, Herbert Villarraga, Santiago Limachi)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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