Soldiers detained // Government announces recovery of several roads blocked by attacks // Dozens arrested and accused of being terrorists
AFP, AP Reuters and Europa Press
La Jornada Newspaper
Saturday, November 2, 2024, p. 17
Peace. The president of Bolivia Luis Arce denounced yesterday that armed groups related to (former president) Evo Morales stormed three military units in the coca-growing region of Chapare and maintain hostages to soldiers and their families, after a police contingent finally managed to clear the country’s main route that was blocked for 19 days. Morales asked his organizations to lift the blockade and announced the start of a hunger strike to demand dialogue with the government.
In a message on the X network, Arce denounced that these groups “have taken the place where the military weapons are located.
The takeover of a military installation by irregular groups anywhere in the world is a crime of treason, an affront to the Constitution, the armed forces and the Bolivian people themselves, who strongly reject the criminal blockades of Evo Morales.he added.
Evista groups took over the Cacique Maraza regiment, and set up vigils in the Epifanio Ríos regiment and in the Puerto Villarroel naval base, all in the tropics (Chapare) of CochabambaThe brujuladigital.net newscast reported yesterday morning.
Videos circulated on social networks in which 16 soldiers are seen surrounded by farmers brandishing sticks with sharp tips. They have cut off our water and electricity, they have taken us hostage.a soldier is heard saying.
The armed forces confirmed the seizure of military units and the raid on the Cacique Juan Maraza barracks, in Villa Tunari, with 20 people – including military and civilian personnel – taken hostage in retaliation for the unblocking operations in the region. They warned that Whoever takes up arms against the nation would be considered treason and armed uprising. and urged the protesters to abandon their attitudes and leave the barracks immediately and peacefully.
Arce warned that these criminal actions affect the entire Bolivian society and only seek the breakdown of legally constituted public order with the aim of shortening the mandate of the current government, impose an unconstitutional candidacy (that of Evo Morales) and achieve impunity in judicial proceedings against the former president.
Restore public order
As a democratically elected government, within the framework of our constitutional powers and with the support of the people, we will continue to carry out actions aimed at restoring public orderArce emphasized.
Meanwhile, Morales spread a letter addressed to Arce in X: No one would have imagined that the last months of his government would be so dark and lamentable; even less so that you would end up authorizing violence against those who brought you to power with their vote, their struggle and their blood..
The police mobilized a large number of troops and tractors to clear debris, with which the protesters were blocking the routes, with the support of a fraction of the military police, and in their path they found that many protesters had left to celebrate the holiday of All Saints (Day of the Dead). Other groups concentrated in Parotani, 347 kilometers southeast of La Paz, a strategic route for the union of the cities of the east, with the west and south of the country, which in recent days was the most disputed bastion between protesters and police. and where clashes occurred yesterday when protesters from the hills threw dynamites at the law enforcement forces in charge of unlocking the blockade.
▲ In images above, riot officers forcibly free roads blocked by followers of Evo Morales in Parotani, department of Cochabamba. Above these lines, a member of indigenous groups, who have blocked highway crossings, practices slingshot to defend herself against police operations.Photo Afp
At the close of this edition, President Arce announced that yesterday a first step: unblock Cochabamba towards the west of our country. Now we will continue working until we free this department from the sequestration to which it is subjected.
More than fifty blockers were arrested, most accused of terrorism, while 19 police officers and a journalist were injured, brujuladigital.net reported.
Morales asked his organizations to make a pause in the blockades and announced that he would begin a hunger strike, until the government agrees to establish dialogue tablesin order to avoid facts of blood and why this pressure measurement harms the economy of Boliviansreported the medium brujuladigital.net. He added that yesterday he witnessed a police and military operation that i had never seenso he decided to go on hunger strike and demand dialogue to take care of life.
Morales proposes to discuss economic aspects, such as the lack of fuel and dollars, the increase in prices of products in the family basket, as well as political issuessince he considers that a persecution is being carried out against him, after eight judicial proceedings have been initiated against him.
Among the various complaints there is one for the destruction during the large mobilization that he led in September, another for attacks on the police, one more for child abuse and human trafficking – as a result of a relationship he had with a 16-year-old minor. years when he was president, and from which a girl was born – and which according to the leader is a lie more orchestrated by the government to prevent him from being a presidential candidate in 2025.
They reject official negotiation
President Arce assured that No dialogue is possible while the economy of Bolivian families continues to be suffocated and the right to access food, fuel and medicine is violated.
The protests, which although initially motivated by the economic crisis, have served to reclaim the political aspirations of Morales, who despite not being qualified insists on running in the new elections.
Clashes with authorities have been increasing, especially this week, after he reported that his car was shot at while addressing a radio program on October 27, in what he described as plan to kill him. Government Minister Eduardo del Castillo said Morales resisted a search by an anti-drug patrol and fled.
Added to the complaints against Morales in Bolivia is another – also for alleged sexual abuse of minors – in Argentina, presented by the Apolo Foundation, chaired by the far-right Yamil Santoro, for the alleged commission of crimes linked to human trafficking for exploitation purposes. sexual and abuse of minors during his political asylum between 2019 and 2020, the Fides news agency reported.
This complaint is based on testimonies and sources that indicate that Morales lived together while residing in Argentina with minors who had been transferred from Bolivia, in presumably vulnerable conditions, to perform domestic work and personal servicesstated a note on the Argentine media portal The Clarín.
