Voltaire is credited with saying that “politics is the art of lying on purpose”. From this point of view, falsifying or distorting the facts has become frequent in order to discredit the adversary. Machiavelli’s conception of the way of doing politics (“the end justifies the means”) is a pillar for those who wish to gain power regardless of whether what has been done is ethical or not. In other words, they separated ethics from politics. They put *Joseph Goebbels’ words into daily practice: “He lies, he lies; something remains”.
This way of doing politics is known as a ” dirty war “. A negative tactic used by conservative sectors of the right who seek to regain the power lost thirteen years ago. The dirty war in Bolivia and other parts of the world has been a long-term political marketing instrument. Through this resource they achieved some successes. For example, in 2016 the opposition denounced that Evo had a son with Gabriela Zapata and that she trafficked influences on behalf of the President. This had repercussions on the media and social networks and influenced some sectors of the population and voting. Subsequently, investigations established that everything was a lie. The consequences of this war were psychological; they provoked indignation, doubt and fear in the population. They appealed to human instinct and emotions.
At present, the opponents intend to re-edit the 2016 experience. They are using this method again in order to defeat the MAS binomial at the ballot box on October 20, despite the fact that in the latest studies published on the voting intentions they are far from that possibility. Evo leads with an average of 35%, followed by Mesa with 30% and Ortiz with 8%. So, to reverse this statistic, they need to intensify their strategy knowing that there are only four months left.
Lies, rumours and half-truths are the Trojan horses used to get backing and see if it is possible to stimulate a scenario of conflict. It is known that the opponents are coordinating with social sectors that resent the government, with citizen platforms of the 21-F and with the entire media apparatus (written press, radio, TV and social networks). Through half-truths they are preparing the conditions to take to the streets, not only against Morales, but also against the Electoral Body, since they are discrediting him on the basis of an alleged assembly of electoral fraud. The only purpose of the discredit is to ignore the results if Morales wins. In addition, they prefer to open several fronts to gain more strength. That is why they attack government management under the supposed stagnation of the economic model, when international organizations claim otherwise. They lie when they point out that if Evo wins, Bolivia will experience the same crisis as Venezuela. They prophesy international isolation. The latest acts of corruption and drug trafficking are linked to the government, when the crimes are intuito personae.
It is no secret to anyone that the dirty war is not employed solely through the creativity of the opposition, but in response to the advice of the U.S. Embassy in La Paz, secret services, NGOs, media owners, social network experts and organic intellectuals of the Bolivian bourgeoisie.
Let us hope that the dirty war and the manipulation at the time of the elections are not decisive, that the consciousness of the people and the political criteria are imposed. The challenge for MAS will be to counteract this way of doing politics, if *Goebbels’ logic has not prevailed which is dangerous for the Process of Change.
*“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”
– Joseph Goebbels: On the “Big Lie”
