LA PAZ – Supporters of Bolivia’s former president Evo Morales stormed a barracks in central Chapare province and took around 20 soldiers hostage, military sources said on Nov 1, marking a dramatic escalation in their stand-off with the state.
The hostage situation comes nearly three weeks after backers of Mr Morales, 65 – the country’s first indigenous leader – began blocking roads to prevent his arrest on what he calls trumped-up rape charges aimed at thwarting his political comeback.
He was in office from 2006 to 2019, when he resigned under a cloud after elections marked by fraud.
Bolivia’s armed forces on Nov 1 said that “irregular armed groups” had “kidnapped military personnel” and seized weapons and ammunition in Chapare.
A military source told AFP on condition of anonymity that “about 20” soldiers were taken hostage.
In a video broadcast by Bolivian media, 16 soldiers were seen surrounded by protesters holding pointed sticks aloft.
“The Cacique Maraza Regiment has been taken over by Tipnis activists. They have cut off our water, electricity and are keeping us hostage,” a uniformed man is heard saying in the video.
Mr Morales told reporters in Chapare that he would go on a hunger strike “until the government comes… to the negotiating table”.
Later, he called on his supporters to consider temporarily lifting the roadblocks to “avoid bloodshed”.
Despite being barred from running again, he wants to challenge President Luis Arce, his former ally-turned-rival, for the nomination of the left-wing MAS party in the country’s August 2025 elections.
Days after he led a march of thousands of mainly indigenous Bolivians to the capital La Paz to protest against Mr Arce’s policies, prosecutors announced he was under investigation for rape, human trafficking and human smuggling over his alleged relationship with a 15-year-old girl in 2015.
Mr Morales, who is accused of fathering a daughter with the girl, has called the accusations “a lie”. He said an investigation was closed in 2020 for lack of evidence.
On Oct 29, Mr Arce demanded an “immediate” end to the roadblocks. He said the government would “exercise its constitutional powers to safeguard the interests of the Bolivian people” if the protesters did not comply.
His warning was interpreted by some Bolivians as a threat to use the military to end the blockade. The latter has caused widespread food and fuel shortages and led to prices of basic goods skyrocketing.
“If he sends in the military, we are ready to fight,” Mr Carlos Flores, a 45-year-old agronomist who was part of a group blocking a bridge near Cochabamba, told AFP.
Mr Arce announced on Nov 1 that the government had “taken the first step” with the “unblocking” of roads to the west of the central city of Cochabamba, without giving details.
Chapare is where Mr Morales claimed he was the victim of an assassination attempt last week that he blamed on state agents.
In a video he shared on social media, he is seen travelling in a pick-up truck riddled with bullet holes near Cochabamba.
The government said police fired on the vehicle after coming under fire from Mr Morales’ convoy at a checkpoint. The latter was set up to combat drug trafficking in Chapare, one of the country’s main coca-growing regions. Coca is the raw material for cocaine.
Mr Morales, a former coca grower, was extremely popular until he tried to bypass the Constitution and seek a fourth term.
His supporters initially demanded an end to what they called his “judicial persecution”. But the protests have snowballed into a wider anti-government revolt marked by calls for Mr Arce to resign.
Mr Morales’ supporters blame Mr Arce, who has been in power since November 2020, for a sharp rise in food and fuel prices and shortages that pre-date the protests.
At least 90 people, mostly officers, have been injured in clashes between the protesters and security forces in recent days, including 20 – 19 police officials and one journalist – on Nov 1 alone.
Mr Arce has estimated the economic cost of the blockades at more than US$1.7 billion (S$2.2 billion). AFP
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Publish date : 2024-11-01 22:22:00
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