Bolivia's President Just Stepped Down — Here's What You Need To Know

President Evo Morales of Bolivia stepped down on Sunday (November 10), amid protests demanding his resignation in the wake of a rather contested election. Nearly every person constitutionally in line to take over the presidency — including Vice President Álvaro García Linera, the Senate president, the head of the lower residence, and the head of Bolivia's Supreme Electoral Tribunal — also stepped down.


Morales, the opening member of Bolivia's Indigenous population to be president, came to power in 2006, making him Latin America's longest-serving leader. He had once been deeply popular among Bolivians, according to the Associated Press. So his resignation came with mixed reactions, from celebrations to reports of violence, in some part because it marked the potential end to the “pink tide” of left-leaning governments in Latin America, Al Jazeera reported.


While Bolivia once allowed two terms for a presidency, Morales pushed to change the law so that presidents could run for an indefinite quantity of terms; while Bolivians voted against the referendum in 2016, lawmakers approved the change one year later. The October 20 election marked his bid for a  fourth term in office, soon after leading the country through a fairly successful time of economic growth and shrinking inequality, according to the New York Times.


“I hope to tell you, brothers and sisters, that the fight does not end here,” the socialist leader mentioned from his stronghold in the Chapare region in central Bolivia, according to Al Jazeera. He called himself the victim of a “coup” and mentioned on Twitter that police issued a “illegal” warrant for his arrest.


“We will continue this fight for equality, for peace,” he added.


Morales’s resignation comes soon after weeks of deadly protests from citizens who disputed the President’s right to run for a fourth term, despite his popularity. In October, the Organization of American States (OAS) released a report of an audit of the October election, and offered that the vote should be annulled due to “serious security flaws” as well as a “clear manipulation” of the count that left Morales with a 10 point majority over his primary opponent. The report offered that the nation should hold new elections, this time with a new electoral commission. On early Sunday (November 10), Morales mentioned he would accept the recommendation, and even mentioned he may not run for reelection in that vote, according to the Washington Post. Although apparently that statement didn’t come soon enough — the President reported his departure from his post a couple of hours later.


Bolivian lawmakers are right now working to calculate the political future of the nation, according to the Associated Press. An opposition lawmaker, Jeanine Añez, mentioned that she would assume the interim presidency, yet she’d need congressional approval, and Morales’s party controls both houses of Congress, the Times announced. Experts instructed them Associated Press that such a conflict leaves space for the military to step in.


The unrest in Bolivia has caused a mix of reactions from other Latin American countries — including Mexico and Argentina. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told Al Jazeera that he was deeply concerned about the scenario. His spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, mentioned Guterres “urges all relevant parties to refrain from violence, decrease tensions and physical training maximum restraint.” U.S. Officials released a similar statement to Reuters.