Bolivia’s self-proclaimed interim president appoints cabinet
Bolivia’s self-proclaimed interim president has sworn in new government ministers following the forced resignation of president Evo Morales.
On Wednesday, Jeanine Anez appointed 11 ministers out of a total of 20 to form her cabinet after the 60-year-old leftist Morales stepped down and sought asylum in Mexico under pressure from the military and his political opponents.
During her first televised address, Anez urged citizens to resume their normal lives after weeks of violence in the wake of a disputed election and vowed to seek “a national consensus.”
Just outside the presidential palace in the capital, La Paz, where the cabinet appointment took place, thousands of people marched to support Morales and protest against the power grab in the country, with Bolivian police reportedly firing tear gas to contain the situation.
The 52-year-old former deputy speaker of Bolivia’s senate declared herself acting president on Tuesday after Morales resigned and took asylum in Mexico.
Anez took over the presidency in a legislative session that failed to reach a quorum because it was boycotted by legislators from Morales’ left-wing party.
Bolivia’s ousted president condemned that takeover of power as “the sneakiest, most nefarious coup in history.”
Tensions began in Bolivia after Morales won the country’s October 20 presidential election. The opposition rejected the outcome and claimed that there had been fraud in the electoral process.
That sparked violent street protests, which left three people dead and hundreds more wounded, in what the Morales government called a coup.
As president, Morales helped lift millions out of poverty, increased social rights, and presided over nearly 14 years of stability and high economic growth in South America’s poorest country. The economy has grown by an annual average of about 4.5 percent, well above the regional average, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts it will grow at four percent this year.
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