By Daniel Nardini

It is one of the most disconcerting situations that could have occurred. It seemed that former Bolivian President Evo Morales was destined to get a fourth term, and remain in power indefinitely like his counterpart Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. It was clear that the Bolivian presidential election was fraudulent and there was no question that everyone in the government knew it. Most of the people in Bolivia knew it as well, and that is why there were so many protests and virtual revolts. When Morales tried to crush them, the police took the side of the demonstrators and the armed forces did not want to intervene. What should be remembered is that Morales put all of the generals in the Bolivian armed forces into place for their loyalty to him. Even with this, the generals knew that there was no way for them to hold on to power without a bloodbath and fighting a possible revolution and civil war.

Neither the government nor the police nor the army wanted this. The best option was to call on Morales to resign for the good of the nation. Thankfully this is what happened. The Bolivian government then tried to sort out the mess it had been put in, and this has meant new elections, a return to a more democratic form of government, and trying to restore the freedoms people had lost under Morales. All of these things will be very hard to do. Morales had ruled the country for almost 14 years. he had curtailed freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and the right to peaceful assembly. He had taken away what the people of Bolivia had enjoyed for decades before him, and there are still those who blindly follow Morales and will try to wreak havoc against the country. But at this moment there is hope for Bolivia, and hope that the country can be returned to what it had been before Morales had taken control.