“We demand the immediate lifting of all the blocking points for the restoration of normality in our country,” Arce said in a statement broadcast on television. “If we do not listen to this clamorous request from the Bolivian people, our government (…) will exercise its constitutional powers to safeguard the interest of the Bolivian people,” Arce asserted.
Likewise, he expressed his solidarity with those injured during the different unblocking operations, especially in Mairana, where at least 30 injuries were reported. In addition, he pointed out that the estimated economic losses due to the blockades amount to 1.7 billion dollars.
Arce linked these mobilizations with particular interests, mentioning that the blockers demand the candidacy of Evo Morales, and seek ensure their impunity in cases of statutory rape; as well as human trafficking and smuggling.
Protests continue in Bolivia
Arce’s announcement is a new attempt to stop the growing violence and road blockades that coca growing, peasant and mining sectors, supporters of former President Evo Morales, have maintained for more than two weeks in the center of the country, the tropics of Cochabamba.
Police operations were deployed in different areas, which led to clashes between the security forces and the people who were protesting, where The main ones occurred in the town of Mairana, belonging to Santa Cruz. In the midst of the conflict, there were several injuries, including 13 police officers, some of whom were evacuated by helicopter, due to the cutting of the connecting route between that department and Cochabamba.
The minister of Rural Development and Land, Juan Yamil Flores, lamented losses of up to US$1.3 billion in the country’s production: “The blockades are harming us (..) in the sector, especially the tropics, we have really regrettable reports, the banana, poultry, pineapple sector, the issue of our colleagues who produce soybeans, cane, in reality we are really hurt”. In addition, there are 23 blockades in the South American country.
Evo Morales denounced that the attack was perpetrated by “agents of the State” of Bolivia
The former president Evo Morales (2006-2019) denounced last Sunday that Bolivian “agents of the state” They tried to kill him in a shooting attack against his vehicle that injured his driver in Cochabamba (center) and reported the episode to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).
“I urgently denounce” before the IACHR “that elite agents of the Bolivian State attacked my life today (Sunday),” he reported. Morales on the social network
In a video broadcast by Kawsachun Coca radio, linked to Morales, it is observed that in There are three holes in the windshield of a truck in which the former head of state is traveling as co-pilot, presumably from gunshots. The driver has blood on his head and a woman asks him to “hurry up.”
The attack occurred “while the government reactivates joint operations between police, military and paramilitary forces to direct the repression and attack the lives of sisters and brothers at the blockade and social protest points,” he said earlier. Morales to the radio station of the Kawsachun Coca coca growers, located in the Chapare region.
“Lucho (President Luis Arce) has destroyed Bolivia and now wants to eliminate our process by ending the life of Evo. Let’s see how we prepare (…). A state of siege is underway,” added the coca leader, who is engaged in a dispute with the government of his former ally. Luis Arce, for the official presidential candidacy.
Source: Ambito
