Belarus Color Revolution Proceeds According to the Time-Worn Script

Aug. 11, 2020 (EIRNS)—The color revolution being carried out in Belarus is following the script that should be well-known so far. Now it is reported that failed presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has fled to Lithuania, as if for her life, where Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius has proclaimed she is “safe.”

Linkevicius told the national radio LRT that “the main thing is that she is safe, since she was detained in Belarus before and spent about seven hours in detention,” giving no details on how she arrived. Tikhanovskaya called on her supporters to respect Belarusian law and to refrain from going out on the streets. She further stated that she had made the decision to leave Belarus on her own.

After the election, Tikhanovskaya filed a complaint to the Central Election Committee demanding results of the vote to be declared void, hold a recount or repeat election. She was officially given about 10% of the vote, whose turnout was 84%. Two other presidential candidates, with less than 3% of the vote say they will also file a complaint for a recount. (Originally, Tikhanovskaya’s husband Sergei Tikhanovskiy was the candidate. But Tihanovskiy was not allowed to run after he had assaulted a police officer, and was arrested June 9, thereby prompting his wife to run in his place.)

Although Tikhanovskaya had protested her detention, the Belarus State Security Committee Valery Vakulchik said that security services had prevented an assassination attempt on her. According to him, officers had guarded the opposition united headquarters in order to prevent the emergence of “a sacred sacrifice.”

Right on cue, European states are being mobilized against the Minsk government, joined by the White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, and Secretary State Mike “Armageddon” Pompeo, who proclaimed the election was “not free and fair.” France and the Britain have criticized the excessive use of police force, while German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has threatened to reimpose EU sanctions, which had been relaxed in hopes that Belarus would distance itself from Russia. EU foreign policy representative Josep Borrell demanded that all inmates be released.

Belarusian law enforcement agencies say they have detained over 2,000 demonstrators, TASS reports, but they are lifting the cordon in downtown Minsk once the demonstrations end. The protests seemed well organized and preplanned: In one area, protesters had set up barricades out of concrete piles and metal mountings, to block a main avenue. One protester tried to throw an unidentified explosive device at police officers, but it exploded in his hand, causing fatal wounds, according to a police statement.

Belarus and Russia have extensive economic ties—trade with Russia accounts for half of Belarusian external trade; together they form the Union State, which allows free movement of citizens from one country to the other to live, study, or work, and both are members of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).