 How long do we have till you want to put me on we're gonna go live in about a minute In a minute. Yeah, okay Here, let me shoot you were better way up against the wall No, that's bad out here All right, well then I'm just gonna go back and sit down Yeah, I guess I have to just yeah, that's very good better where you are Okay, is there any way you can give me like another extra minute because I'm worried that I'm gonna run out of like data if I don't put a Card on here. Well, okay, so people on Facebook. Let's see you do this now So, let's just let me just welcome them and you take care of your technology So hi everyone This is what the app is going on in Latin America code pinks weekly Webinar 20 minutes of hot news from Latin America. We apologize for the technical difficulties today We've had issues on both sides of the Um Technological loop this morning, so we're about 30 minutes late and I hope some of you are still with us And we will we be recording this webinar and posting it on YouTube and Facebook so Today We have Wyatt Reed reporting live from La Paz, Bolivia Wyatt is on assignment with the gray zone project and We are very fortunate to have 20 minutes of his time today to share with you what he has seen Since his arrival in La Paz shortly after the coup of Sunday, November 10 And as a journalist where he's gonna share with us a little bit of what he's seen on the ground but also what's happening with media coverage in and out of Bolivia and And the state of and the condition that journalism journalists are working under right now, so We'll talk with Wyatt for about 20 minutes and then We'll take 10 minutes a Q&A if any of you have additional questions For him so welcome Wyatt so happy to have you here and I so thank you for your patience with the technology this afternoon Yeah So you're really bad at the moment again Can you you were really good when you were sitting up against the wall Yeah, we can hear you it's it's garbled a little It's much better. So let me where should I start? Why don't you start with Wyatt how you got there and when you arrived and let us give us a quick overview of what you've witnessed And then let's talk about the state of the media coverage And and then what journalists on the ground are experiencing does that sound like a fair conversation, right? Yep. Yep. Yep. So I have been here about two weeks now And I just got into Santa Cruz Then I'm a lot of majority of my time So I've seen a lot seen things really shift from a much more sort of militarized militant ongoing sort of really massacres is the only way to characterize them to Now we're at the point where this new government has more or less achieved, you know, what they call pacification. So this Essentially looks like a very sort of fun easy piece, right? We have Reducing right yes coming out of the synthetic gas plant, you know where they massacred so many people to clear that out so things are in many ways looking normal, but beneath the surface, it's very much a scary place to be especially who are Trying to either pose this to or to sort of expose the So in that sense, I Guess, you know right now. I haven't seen a whole lot of of Santa Cruz The only thing here for a few hours, but what I have seen is is a march of people here who are are being forced to sort of pay for this huge increase in energy consumption that occurred as you know, this three-week period of sort of police repression against, you know, these massive protests that could We just we just lost you know nothing to do with this and So they stayed inside their houses and it was a extremely hard Yeah, you're you're very garbled at the moment. Yeah, you're so there Yeah, we're here. Yeah So I was trying to explain Today there was a big Well, yeah, we just lost you again, okay everyone give us a few minutes for Wyatt to reconnect. All right. Oh good. Okay. Are you there? So we let what the last thing I heard was the police repression over the over the gas Okay, we can hear you Start again So I arrived in Santa Cruz today and there's a big protest against the election inside during the police repressions against, you know, anti-coup protesters It's been some of the hottest weeks of the year so far here in Santa Cruz So naturally this led to a massive increase in electricity consumption And so people are seeing their electrical bills jump up three times in many cases And you know, that's really untenable for a lot of working-class people and what's kind of interesting is around this time last year. There was a So we've lost you again Okay, that's good stay right where you are I'm trying not to move it up. Don't move Same thing happened in the last year, right? With the Alice government there was an increase in electrical use and an increase in thing about that was those bills 5,000, you know, kilowatt hours So that really only affected business owners, you know So the people who came out to protest that last year were the civic committees of Santa Cruz And that's really where Macho and under Macho Cut his teeth as the civic committee here But I think that sort of shows you kind of the difference between these two governments and their Their rationales for doing things and their justifications and also Really who they favor and to they who they do not who they disadvantage so in that sense, you know only having been here for a few hours in Santa Cruz, I think I'm getting a clearer picture This new government and what it means for working people here So let me ask you something yesterday there was an article published in the Hill here in DC and it was I don't not sure if you had a chance to see it there, but it basically Basically criminalized the moralist government and Denied that a that a coup actually took place on November 10 and this is we're seeing More and more of that narrative here in the state is that Typical of what's coming out of Bolivia now. How is the how are you seeing the the media? managed and or produced Because what you're sharing with us right now, we are really not reading or seeing here in the US well Yeah, I mean, it's funny because you know for I think maybe the first time in recorded history The people in the US actually have a slightly clearer picture of what's happening Bolivia than the Bolivians do right Because here there's just absolutely no No alternative voices allowed on the air at all. So if anybody wants to find out what's really happening They have to go to social media Because the only channels that are allowed on the air of these You know essentially state propaganda at this point, you know any any single channel that questions what's happening has been very much purged at dissenting voices and You know those who you know might otherwise You know not go along with this that have been bought off So really there's and well, that's not even to mention right tell us to her and RT They'll sort of last through international channels that you would be able to get on cable. Those are gone as well So even if you have you know the package whatever You just you can't find a single bit of information that isn't more or less pro-coup propaganda So yes, obviously, you know the The narrative United States is extremely wrong, but somehow here it's even wrong You know At least I think there are a few outlets who are willing to publish you know these reports by like for example the Center for Economic Policy and Research and you know the similar academics including you know a There was a big open letter published yesterday by a lot of well-regarded academics Demanding that The OAS retract Offered a $500 reward for anybody who would ask these questions. Yeah, you know of of the OAS sort of Morning Demanding to know, you know, where how exactly they can justify Continuing to to keep up this charade that there was somehow some you know fast inexplicable discrepancy between the Later full results and the final ones So yeah, in that sense, you know, obviously in the United States It's hard to find out what's going on in Bolivia But if if you're in Bolivia really the only way to find out is is is going yourself Or you know having access to these alternative media channels, you know a lot of assistance to Bolivia You know funnily enough, it's there's a meme page on Facebook called such a let's you know It's essentially one of the main sources of how people are finding out So, you know, that's kind of the level that we're at so we have a couple I want to just mention since You're talking about alternative media. We should remind the audience that you are on the ground in Santa Cruz, Bolivia now On assignment with the great project and the audience can check gray zone calm for your work And then also I want to remind listeners that Code pink or we have a Bolivia news page code pink org slash Bolivia news. So those are two sources for all of you to reference in addition to what you and so Wyatt, can you tell us a little bit we some of the things that I have personally read is that there's been some physical Threats to journalists as well as just blacking out media sources. Have you seen or heard of any Yeah, I mean So I you know have friends who work with You know what I'm really is one of the last remaining voices Calling the other side of the story of lattice is fancy of Bolivia And one of them was Help for 24 hours and in a location where you know, he was not allowed to Brother his friends, but they refused to tell them where he was They said that he wasn't there and they made him sign this, you know Document saying that he wouldn't participate in social media, which is you know, not only ridiculous But also illegal and even under Bolivian law so We're really facing this situation where You know, if you're facing City that is arbitrary and Is itself in many ways criminal and then you're you're facing a question from these sort of fascist Groups that are sort of doing the dirty work of the coup And they really don't have any rules at all because you know as as other colleagues from They watched someone who attempted to fail right and and they're sort of youth vanguards as they as they took to the streets wearing these you know helmets and gas masks and massive shields and waving batons and You know, she's filming them and and they start screaming her surrounding her blowing whistles in her ears Sort of tactics that are familiar to people who have dealt with the right wing Latin American diaspora before But Then they immediately called for a cab up to her inside of this vehicle and She disappeared and she's gone, you know, and nobody has She's not it's if she is dead, but it's certainly not anything that's going to be investigated by the police so it really is a terrifying moment for the leftists who are Focal about their opposition and to refuse to stay silent So Wow, this is you know, we're just not seen hearing about this in in the mainstream US media as you know So how for you personally do you have any personal stories you can share with us? Have you found yourself relatively safe in your reporting or Has it been a challenge for you as well? Clearly you haven't been disappeared yet And we hope to God that that's not going to Be an issue and you've been there for two weeks now, correct? And you're able to remain relatively safe I want to ask you something you mentioned something You mentioned the word the government's arbitrary Behavior and this is the interim and or coup government as Most of us would say interim government as the US State Department would refer to it the the coup government was to believe constitutionally call for elections within 90 days of Declaring itself the government and my understanding that's now been pushed back to sometime in April that is that correct? Do you have any? Knowledge as to what's happening with impending elections Well, that's it's definitely a real possibility To the best of my knowledge that hasn't been formalized in any way yet and as far as I'm aware At least the presumption right now is that they're going to be held on January 22. So obviously as you guys say it's It's many people are sort of banking on that need moved back And the government is constantly sort of providing rationale in terms of this posted terrorism and sedition to words they use all the time about anybody who's doing anything that's perceived as going against the great You know very easily charge the sedition or charge the parents So as the election stands, I mean the the mobs party is is planning on participating to the best of their ability they're Congress which candidates signal field in these foot-on-foot elections And terms of whether or not they're to be trusted it's You know, I certainly wouldn't Especially, you know without extremely extraordinarily robust international observation system that you know includes Nations that are So international organizations With the exception of the OAS, I think you and I would argue they should not that that and that body should not participate on any level at this point Right because obviously at this point the OAS main main participation believe it has been as a cheerleader of the two at the instigator They are quote-unquote This was really the main justification in a lot of ways for two Both internal and external So, yeah So why we are at our 20 minutes of hot news and I so thank you for your patience with the technology Issues today. Is there anything you'd like to add before we sign off? Anything that Yeah Really just wanted to take a minute to thank you all with code change and thank everybody for tuning in remind people to keep checking back with Coding and with brazen I've got a lot of medium material that I'm hoping to push out, you know, as soon as possible through both these outlets and you know really We're the other ones telling the story right now, right? There's there's not a whole lot of people on the ground from any kind of international media And so, you know, I think it's it's it's up to us to be able to tell the stories for these people It's a wider audience because they're having trouble Even to each other So I want to thank you again so much for you know all the help that I've got And, you know Okay, thank you so much be safe and let's definitely have you come back and talk with us again Great, yeah, we'll do it again and I'll make sure we've worked at the Okay, we're just happy to have you with us and we know that you're traveling in places where the technology Isn't always the best and we had some issues on our end as well today Also, so I just want to remind the audience that you can find Wyatt's work at the Grey Zone He is on assignment with the Grey Zone project right now in Bolivia And so look for his work at greyzone.com and also Visit codypink.org Slash Bolivia news will be sharing our own work as well as Wyatt's contributions as well And please join us next Wednesday December 11th at 12 p.m. Eastern for another 20 minutes of hot news From Latin America. Thank you so much everyone. Thanks Wyatt. So appreciate it. Be safe Okay Take care Bye bye