Disinfo: Twitter campaign against Evo Morales may be run by the CIA

Summary

The same day of the coup against Evo Morales, thousands of automatised Twitter accounts with none, or just one follower, started promoting the hashtag #BoliviaNoHayGolpe (#BoliviaThereIsNoCoup). The hashtag wasn’t generated in a region with a strong Bolivian community but in the US state of Virginia, home of the CIA, which may point to its involvement.

Disproof

Though the existence of automatised bots and false accounts involved in the situation in Bolivia has been proven, the second part of the story is not true. The whole report is based on a tweet by US journalist Alan MacLeod, who pointed out that the hashtag #BoliviaNoHayGolpe (#BoliviaThereIsNoCoup) was "trending in Virginia, home of the CIA". But while he said in a subsequent tweet that there is a strong Bolivian community living in Arlington (indeed, one of the biggest in the US), which may easily explain the Twitter trend, RT ignored it and decided instead to push these allegations to promote its narrative of a US-backed coup in Bolivia. It is highly unlikely that a covert campaign carried out by a professional intelligence service could be so easily traced to its geographical origin. The story also falls within the broader pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative attempting to deny the existence of genuine grass-root protests, portraying them as foreign-led efforts and fake colour revolutions. You can see other examples of disinformation cases such as a US hybrid war against Bolivia, the recruitment of its security services or the application in the country of the lessons learnt in Venezuela. Read the statement by the EU High Representative/Vice President Federica Mogherini on the situation in Bolivia here.

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actualidad.rt.com (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 173
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 14/11/2019
  • Outlet language(s) Spanish
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Bolivia, US
  • Keywords: Colour revolutions, CIA, Coup
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Disproof

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Disproof

Conspiracy theory. No evidence is provided to support the claim. This is part of a disinformation narrative about US-led regime change operations against left-wing governments in Latin America. You can see other examples of this narrative in the EUvsdisinfo database, such as the alleged presence of a US marine in the Venezuelan barricades and the promotion of a Ukraine-style 'colour revolution', the training of Venezuelan exiles in Guyana for military operations inside the country, preparations for a military intervention after forcing Brazil to join NATO, deliberate blackouts in South America caused by the US, or the existence of plans for the secession of oil-rich regions in both Venezuela and Mexico. This narrative also falls within the broader pro-Kremlin disinformation efforts attempting to deny the existence of genuine grass-root protests, portraying them as foreign-led efforts and fake colour revolutions. Read the statement from the EU's High Representative/Vice President Federica Mogherini on the situation in Bolivia here.