 For more videos on people's struggles, please subscribe to our YouTube channel. In November 2019, shortly after Evo Morales was declared the winner of the presidential election in Bolivia, the right wing in the country launched a brutal campaign of violence against his party, the movement toward socialism. This developed into a full-fledged coup d'etat with the Bolivian army playing an especially key role in the return of the right wing. Ever since a coup government was formed, these forces have been trying their best to ensure that the AMAs, which is wide support among the masses of Bolivia, does not come back to power in the coming elections. In this episode of Around the World in Eight Minutes by People's Dispatch, we look at what is being described as a second coup in Bolivia as Morales has been barred from contesting for the Senate. The decision to bar Evo Morales and former Foreign Minister Diego Pari was announced on February 20th by the President of Bolivia's Supreme Electoral Tribunal Salvador Romero. Both Morales and Pari had been registered as candidates for the Senate, for Cochabamba and Potosi respectively. Romero announced that Morales and Pari did not beat the requirement of permanent residents in Bolivia. Evo Morales tweeted that the decision was an attack on democracy. He pointed out that the members of the tribunal knew that he met all the requirements to be a candidate, and he said that the actual aim was a ban on the AMAs. The National Board of the AMAs also condemned the announcement by the tribunal and stated that it was a political action to bar the participation of the candidates to the Senate, Evo Morales and Diego Pari, without any constitutional or legal support. They pointed out that the tribunal had violated several regulations such as the electoral calendar and the law of the electoral system. Morales declared that his disqualification was a second coup in Bolivia. He alleged that the members of the tribunal are not guaranteeing clean and transparent elections and that they are subjecting themselves to the dictatorship and North American policies. He concluded that the coup regime does not want him to return to Bolivia, which is an order from the United States. Gustavo Ferreira, Morales' legal counsel in Argentina, argued that the barring of the candidacy of Morales contradicts the principles of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The move could also threaten the candidacy of Luis Arce, the contender for the presidency from AMAs. Since the civic military coup d'etat was carried out against Morales on November 10, members and supporters of the AMAs have been systematically targeted by the de facto coup government led by Jeanine Arnais. Following threats to their lives, physical attacks, as well as the filing of serious charges by the coup government, dozens have been forced to flee the country. Morales himself fled to Mexico following his forced resignation and later on to Argentina, where he was offered political asylum. The persecution of AMAs leaders has risen following the announcement of candidates for the general elections on May 3. Bolivian authorities have also arrested several members of the party who are registered as candidates. There have also been a number of attempts to block the registration of several candidates. In our next story, on February 19, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the construction of thousands of new housing units for illegal Israeli settlers in the occupied Palestinian territory of East Jerusalem. These units are planned in an area which is allotted to Palestine, even under Donald Trump's pro-Israel peace plan. Netanyahu in a video message said that he had approved the construction of more than 5,200 illegal homes for Israeli Jews in the illegal Jabal Abu Ghanem settlement as well as the illegal Givat Hamato settlement in East Jerusalem. Netanyahu said that 1,000 housing units will also be constructed for Arab residents of Bait Safafa. The move has been strongly condemned by Palestinians as well as by human rights organizations. Israeli settlement watchdog peace now said that the decision was equivalent to state suicide and would lead a deadly blow to the two-state solution, as the new construction would disrupt territorial continuity between parts of East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem. This would effectively end any hopes of a viable, contiguous, independent Palestinian state. The Palestinian leadership, including the president's office and senior government officials also renounced the Israeli decision. Palestinian spokesperson, Nabil Abu Rudine, said that this was an attempt by the Israeli prime minister to win over right-wing, extremist Jewish votes in the upcoming elections at the expense of the Palestinian people and peace and stability. The elections in Israel are less than two weeks away. Palestinian Liberation Organization Secretary-General Saab Erekat accused the US administration in Israel of collaborating and forming a new annexation committee to illegally steal and colonize land belonging to the state of Palestine. Erekat stressed that the Israeli actions are reflective of the impunity and the lawlessness that the Trump deal has provided to Israel. He added that only international intervention could stop these war crimes and violations of international law. Ironically, even though the state of Israel has lauded and welcomed the so-called peace plan put forward by the Trump White House, the construction will take place in a territory year marked for development by the state of Palestine of a special tourism zone. Finally, in Greece, workers across the country took part in a massive national strike on February 18th in defense of social security. Major trade unions in the country, especially the all workers militant front, Pame, gave the call for the strike against the social security bill tabled by the conservative new democracy government in the Greek parliament. According to reports, tens of thousands marched in Athens alone and major mobilizations took place in around 60 centers across the country. Political parties, including the Communist Party of Greece and various youth and student groups expressed solidarity with the strike and joined the mobilizations. The bill, tabled by the labor minister, calls for the privatization of social security, huge cuts on principal and subsidiary pensions and benefits and for raising the retirement age to 67. Pame said that the aim of all governments over time has been to free the capitalists and their state from the burden of employee insurance, either by reducing employer contributions or by gambling on insurance funds and promoting private insurance. Pame said that the ND government is faithful to the orders of business groups and is thus pushing this anti-insurance law. Various trade unions across Europe, including USB Italia and sections of the CGT in France expressed solidarity with the Greek workers. That's all we have for this episode of Around the World in Eight Minutes. To know more about these stories, visit our website peoplesdispatch.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Thanks for watching.