 another case of popular rejection of the return to the neoliberal past. That past was represented by Bolivian presidential candidate Carlos Mesa, who was the former vice president under the infamous Gonzalo Sánchez de los Saba, a mining tycoon who openly embraced neoliberalism and was forced to resign as a result of brutal acts of repression in which over 60 people were killed. This received 47.08% of the votes, while Carlos Mesa stood with 36.51%. In under Bolivian constitution, if there is less than 10% difference between the two leading candidates and none get over 50%, then a second round is held. Runner-up Mesa slammed the electoral results as shameful and said he will not recognize them, which sparked protests spearheaded by the right-wing opposition who burned the offices of the electoral authority in the southern cities of Sucre and Potosí and set fire to electoral ballots in Tariha. Immediately the electoral observation mission of the OAS, whose record in recognizing fraudulent results of government that violate human rights is well known, joined the push for holding a second round by denouncing an inexplicable change in trend that drastically changes the outcome of the election and leads to a loss of confidence in the electoral process. Alexa, show me the proofs for the claim of fraud. Sorry, I cannot find the answer to your question. The OAS justifies its position on the grounds that the tribunal's preliminary webpage count gave Eva Morales on Sunday evening 45.28% of the votes, only 7% point lead over Tarlos Mesa, with 86% of the votes having been counted. And then paused for 24 hours before a new update was provided. But in an extraordinary meeting of the OAS Permanent Council, Bolivia's Foreign Minister Diego Patti explained the pause. The preliminary webpage count is an unofficial and non-binding tally, which was delayed because the remaining percentage corresponded to the rural vote, in which immediate figures could not be obtained. Morales even invited the OAS to send representatives as a service for the auditing process. The OAS report doesn't take into account, although it's very obvious, that in all elections throughout the world, rural votes get counted last, and all experts on Bolivian politics agree that Morales enjoys disproportionately greater support in those areas. Alexa, why is the OAS Echoing Mesa's claim of fraud? The U.S. founds over 60% of the organization's budget. Post-election political violence had already broken out, and the OAS press release just made it worse. Do you think that the U.S., or France, or any other country will calmly accept that an organization cast doubt about the validity of the vote count in one of their elections without providing any hard evidence to back its claim? Mesa's rejection of the announced results is not surprising. After all, he stated weeks before the election that he did not believe in the impartiality of the electoral authorities. Not only was his position not surprising, so was that of the OAS. As a declared enemy of Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro, the OAS Secretary General wasn't about to stay neutral on a case involving one of Maduro's closest allies and the hemisphere. Michelle, you want to know more about the OAS's regime change efforts? Check out the case of Haiti in 2000. You'll be surprised at how unprincipled the OAS can get.