More and more regions of Bolivia joined the strike
2023.01.04 09:33
More and more regions of Bolivia joined the strike
Budrigannews.com – Following the arrest of local governor Luis Camacho, protesters in Bolivia’s Santa Cruz farming region are blocking highways out of the province and threatening to snarl domestic transportation of grains and food.
The sixth day of protests in the region, a stronghold of the conservative opposition to socialist President Luis Arce, has seen thousands of people take to the streets, nights of clashes with weaponized fireworks, and cars being burned.
In support of Camacho and requesting his release, hundreds of women marched to the city police headquarters on Tuesday.
Vehicles that had been destroyed, smoldering fires, and blockades from the overnight clashes could be seen on the streets nearby.
The protests, which were sparked by Camacho’s arrest on Dec. 28 for an alleged 2019 coup, are widening the gap between Santa Cruz, which is in the lowlands, and La Paz, which is in the highlands and is more of an indigenous political center. These two cities have long fought over politics and state funds.
Camacho was seized by special police and taken out of the province by helicopter. At the moment, he is being held in a maximum-security jail in the highland city of El Alto. He denies all charges connected to the contentious removal of Evo Morales, the former leader of the socialist party, in 2019.
Leaders in Santa Cruz have pledged to fight until Camacho is freed, stopping grain transportation and striking government buildings. There are also calls for a federal system that gives the city more control and money from the state.
Rómulo Calvo, the powerful head of the Pro Santa Cruz civic group, stated, “We have a mandate from our assembly that nothing leaves Santa Cruz, and that is what we are going to do.”
The International Heavy Transport Association of Santa Cruz’s president, Marcelo Cruz, stated that routes were being blocked to prevent trucks from leaving the province.
“No animal, grain, or factory product should leave Santa Cruz for the rest of the nation. He stated, “The blocking points are being strengthened.”
“OUTLAW STATE”
Morales and his allies, including the current president Arce, claim that Morales’s ouster was a coup, and they have brought criminal charges against opposition figures they blame for it. In 2022, Jeanine Anez was sentenced to ten years in prison for her role as interim president following his removal.
Human rights groups contend that the government is pursuing its adversaries through an ineffective legal system.
Erwin Bazan, a member of the right-wing Creemos party, declared, “We are no longer a state of law, we are an outlaw state,” asserting that the charges against Camacho were politically motivated.
Others attribute the 2019 protests that resulted in the deaths of dozens, including Morales supporters, to tensions caused by Camacho.
“Let him serve 30 years in prison. Maria Laura, a supporter of the Movement for Socialism (MAS) party in power, stated, “We want justice.”
While Morales continues to be the party’s leader, he has occasionally clashed with Arce, the new president.
Arce was attempting to disarm Morales’ criticism, according to La Paz lawyer and analyst Paul Coca, who claimed that internal divisions within the ruling party were partially to blame for the arrest.
“Arce was forced to confront his party leader or confront Luis Fernando Camacho directly. Also, he clearly decided to go all out against Camacho,” he said.
As Bolivia struggles with a significant fiscal deficit and low reserves, the blockade may hinder exports, growth, and food supply to other parts of the country.
According to Gary Rodrguez, General Manager of the Bolivian Institute of Foreign Trade (IBCE), “Santa Cruz is the economic stronghold of Bolivia.”
Soy, sugar cane, wheat, rice, corn, livestock, and rice are all primarily grown in the region.
“All of this enormous private productive effort is now at risk.”
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