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Funny how the Myanmar coup gets so much coverage in the west and the one in Bolivia was not even reported as a coup even. But perhaps it was because the indigen

Funny how the Myanmar coup gets so much coverage in the west and the one in Bolivia was not even reported as a coup even. But perhaps it was because the indigenous non-white leader Evo Morales (over 50 percent vote) was overthrown and replaced by the white minority (5 percent vote). Media in the West used terms like political crisis or Evo Morales ouster or he flew to Mexico etc.... Media that flat out ignored calling it a definitional coup included the BBC, The Economist, NY Times, Washington Post etc... The same form of lies was also in their coverage of the coup by the military junta in Chile which they refused to call a coup at that time as well. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/25/morales-claims-us-orchestrated-coup-to-tap-bolivias-lithium https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/25/morales-claims-us-... https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/18/silence-us-backed-coup-evo-morales-bolivia-american-states https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/18/silenc...

snypher 6y ago
All while Joe Biden is saying nonsense like "Juan Guaidó is the legitimate president of Venezuela".
- drewblaisdell 6y ago
  I'm not sure why you're being downvoted. Guaidó is supported by both major political parties in the US but is not recognized as president of Venezuela by any members of the EU. The US has an abysmal track record of meddling in Latin American elections - who should we look to here?
  - knowaveragejoe 6y ago
    Erm, where are you getting this information? Most countries, if they've expressed a view on the issue, support Guaido, including essentially the entire EU: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Guaid%C3%B3#/media/File:Venezuela_president_recognition_map.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Guaid%C3%B3#/media/File:V...
    - boomboomsubban 6y ago
      Though I can't say no member states recognize him, the sources on Wikipedia are largely tweets and I'm not sure how up to date they are, the EU as a whole has retracted their support for him as interim president. https://www.euronews.com/2021/01/07/eu-no-longer-recognises-juan-guaido-as-venezuela-s-interim-president https://www.euronews.com/2021/01/07/eu-no-longer-recognises-...
      - drewblaisdell 6y ago
        Yep. Also reported by Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-election-eu-idUSKBN29B2A9 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-election-eu-idU...
        knowaveragejoe 6y ago
        Interesting, I see why this news slipped by given the date. Edit: If I'm reading this correctly, the EU is not walking back their recognition here but rather updating it
        boomboomsubban 6y ago
        I don't know what the difference is, they don't recognize him currently even if they did in the past.
        knowaveragejoe 6y ago
        The difference is that further elections & governmental procedure occurred in Venezuela and the EU is simply updating their recognition in light of that. They aren't timidly walking back their earlier recognition as if they were caught supporting the wrong guy.
intricatedetail 6y ago
Media in the west are licensed so they need to be careful. They can report anything they want as long as it does not put given agenda at risk.
- duxup 6y ago
  >They can report anything they want as long as it does not put given agenda at risk. Where do you feel that happens?
  - drewblaisdell 6y ago
    Herman and Chomsky's propaganda model (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_model https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_model) is probably the best way to understand what the poster is referring to.
    - frongpik 6y ago
      That's a pretty good article. A quote from it: "So I think when we talked about the "fifth filter" we should have brought in all this stuff -- the way artificial fears are created with a dual purpose... partly to get rid of people you don't like but partly to frighten the rest. Because if people are frightened, they will accept authority."
  - wry_discontent 6y ago
    ....The coup in Bolivia
    - duxup 6y ago
      I don't think the original comment was about coverage of events in Bolivia, in Bolivia.
      - wry_discontent 6y ago
        I'm referring to the US coverage.
Izikiel43 6y ago
The same Evo Morales who tried to modify the constitution to run another time since he wasn't allowed anymore using a referendum, people voted against so he lost, then sued and was allowed to run under very flaky legal arguments, then when the election came and his opponent was winning, results stopped being published and he proclaimed himself the winner without even finishing the count?
- forgotmysn 6y ago
  the very same
- boomboomsubban 6y ago
  >his opponent was winning, results stopped being published and he proclaimed himself the winner without even finishing the count? First, his opponent was never winning. His opponent was barely inside the 10% margin needed to secure a runoff election. And though Morales claimed himself the winner before absolutely all the votes were counted, he still left open the possibility of the runoff election being held. No significant fraud was ever found to have occurred, but after bogus claims of fraud Morales agreed to hold new elections. Morales was ousted from power before any further elections could happen though. If you want to claim the election was corrupt, his opponent Mesa should have become president. What happened was clearly a coup.
- wry_discontent 6y ago
  We also call elections before all the votes are counted here in the US. Morales did win that election, the suspicious patterns that were reported were bogus. The NYT had to issue a retraction over it, despite the fact that coverage at the time pointed out exactly the flaws mentioned later. You're also leaving out that Morales resigned and fled the country. And the fact that after the "interim government" was dissolved, Morales' very same political party won again.
  - foolmeonce 6y ago
    Looking at the 2020 results, it seems like a remarkably good outcome to me. The trouble is that any leader who tries to expand term limits gets a relatively good deal probability wise, while the society gets a lot of uncertainty followed by a high probability of dictator. Consequences of trying to raise term limits should be many and more severe.

snypher 6y ago

All while Joe Biden is saying nonsense like "Juan Guaidó is the legitimate president of Venezuela".

drewblaisdell 6y ago
I'm not sure why you're being downvoted. Guaidó is supported by both major political parties in the US but is not recognized as president of Venezuela by any members of the EU. The US has an abysmal track record of meddling in Latin American elections - who should we look to here?
- knowaveragejoe 6y ago
  Erm, where are you getting this information? Most countries, if they've expressed a view on the issue, support Guaido, including essentially the entire EU: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Guaid%C3%B3#/media/File:Venezuela_president_recognition_map.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Guaid%C3%B3#/media/File:V...
  - boomboomsubban 6y ago
    Though I can't say no member states recognize him, the sources on Wikipedia are largely tweets and I'm not sure how up to date they are, the EU as a whole has retracted their support for him as interim president. https://www.euronews.com/2021/01/07/eu-no-longer-recognises-juan-guaido-as-venezuela-s-interim-president https://www.euronews.com/2021/01/07/eu-no-longer-recognises-...
    - drewblaisdell 6y ago
      Yep. Also reported by Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-election-eu-idUSKBN29B2A9 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-election-eu-idU...
      - knowaveragejoe 6y ago
        Interesting, I see why this news slipped by given the date. Edit: If I'm reading this correctly, the EU is not walking back their recognition here but rather updating it
        boomboomsubban 6y ago
        I don't know what the difference is, they don't recognize him currently even if they did in the past.
        knowaveragejoe 6y ago
        The difference is that further elections & governmental procedure occurred in Venezuela and the EU is simply updating their recognition in light of that. They aren't timidly walking back their earlier recognition as if they were caught supporting the wrong guy.

intricatedetail 6y ago

Media in the west are licensed so they need to be careful. They can report anything they want as long as it does not put given agenda at risk.

duxup 6y ago
>They can report anything they want as long as it does not put given agenda at risk. Where do you feel that happens?
- drewblaisdell 6y ago
  Herman and Chomsky's propaganda model (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_model https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_model) is probably the best way to understand what the poster is referring to.
  - frongpik 6y ago
    That's a pretty good article. A quote from it: "So I think when we talked about the "fifth filter" we should have brought in all this stuff -- the way artificial fears are created with a dual purpose... partly to get rid of people you don't like but partly to frighten the rest. Because if people are frightened, they will accept authority."
- wry_discontent 6y ago
  ....The coup in Bolivia
  - duxup 6y ago
    I don't think the original comment was about coverage of events in Bolivia, in Bolivia.
    - wry_discontent 6y ago
      I'm referring to the US coverage.

Izikiel43 6y ago

The same Evo Morales who tried to modify the constitution to run another time since he wasn't allowed anymore using a referendum, people voted against so he lost, then sued and was allowed to run under very flaky legal arguments, then when the election came and his opponent was winning, results stopped being published and he proclaimed himself the winner without even finishing the count?

forgotmysn 6y ago
the very same
boomboomsubban 6y ago
>his opponent was winning, results stopped being published and he proclaimed himself the winner without even finishing the count? First, his opponent was never winning. His opponent was barely inside the 10% margin needed to secure a runoff election. And though Morales claimed himself the winner before absolutely all the votes were counted, he still left open the possibility of the runoff election being held. No significant fraud was ever found to have occurred, but after bogus claims of fraud Morales agreed to hold new elections. Morales was ousted from power before any further elections could happen though. If you want to claim the election was corrupt, his opponent Mesa should have become president. What happened was clearly a coup.
wry_discontent 6y ago
We also call elections before all the votes are counted here in the US. Morales did win that election, the suspicious patterns that were reported were bogus. The NYT had to issue a retraction over it, despite the fact that coverage at the time pointed out exactly the flaws mentioned later. You're also leaving out that Morales resigned and fled the country. And the fact that after the "interim government" was dissolved, Morales' very same political party won again.
- foolmeonce 6y ago
  Looking at the 2020 results, it seems like a remarkably good outcome to me. The trouble is that any leader who tries to expand term limits gets a relatively good deal probability wise, while the society gets a lot of uncertainty followed by a high probability of dictator. Consequences of trying to raise term limits should be many and more severe.