(La Paz) The 20-day demonstrations in the Santa Cruz region (center), a stronghold of the opposition and economic engine of Bolivia calling for a population census, resulted in four deaths and 178 injuries, according to an official report presented Thursday.
Posted at 19:06 yesterday
There are “four people who have died […]a case of gang rape […] and we have 178 accident reports, “Secretary General of the Presidency Maria Nela Prada said at a press conference.
So far the authorities had announced only one death, the one that occurred on 22 October during the outbreak of demonstrations to demand an early census.
The census is used to recalculate the distribution of seats in Parliament and public resources. However, the Santa Cruz region, Bolivia’s economic locomotive and the most populated, ruled by the right-wing opposition, sees itself disadvantaged by an outdated census dating back more than 10 years.
Two deaths are the consequences of street clashes between pro-government supporters and opponents. The other two occurred in accidents on barricades erected to block roads.
The close collaborator of the left-wing president Luis Arce urged the judicial authorities to “act quickly so that justice is done and that these events never happen again”.
Protesters are demanding that the census be carried out by 2023, while the government believes that the technical conditions are not met before 2024, a year before the next presidential elections.
Government and opposition entered into a failed dialogue this week.
The city of Santa Cruz, which has nearly 2 million inhabitants, is isolated from the rest of the country with roadblocks on all communication routes.
Due to these blocks, the Bolivian Football Federation (FBF) decided Thursday to end the closing tournament, while there were still six games to play and no championship title will be awarded. On the other hand, a ranking has been established to decide the teams that will participate next year in the continental cups, the Copa Libertadores and the Copa Sudamericana, the European equivalent of the Champions League and the Europa League.
