Street clashes between supporters of Bolivian President Luis Arce and his former ally Evo Morales left eight people injured on Sunday in the city of El Alto, where a march by the former president and thousands of his supporters is due to pass on their way to La Paz.
Supporters of the Bolivian president gathered on an avenue in the Ventilla area of the city of El Alto to oppose Morales’ march, which began on Tuesday, September 16 in the town of Caracollo, 190 km to the south, and was scheduled to arrive in La Paz on Monday, September 23.
There, other neighbors, supporters of Morales, harassed them to leave the place. Then, both sides clashed for hours with stones, sticks and firecrackers.
Police riot squads were deployed to the scene to disperse the two groups using tear gas.
The state ombudsman, Pedro Callisaya, said that he verified that “neighbors are facing, apparently, officials who are harassing the population.” Callisaya added: “I want to ask the government to demobilize public officials.”
Health Minister María René Castro reported in the evening that “so far we have eight injured.”
Earlier, the Arce government and his former ally Morales accused each other of creating a climate of violence, while the former president’s march heads toward La Paz.
Foreign Minister Celinda Sosa sent notes to the United Nations, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to inform them about the Bolivian situation.
Confronted by official candidacy
“We are observing a threat and siege of a violent march led by former President Evo Morales Ayma, which is heading towards the city of La Paz, the seat of the Bolivian government. This mobilization is not aimed at social protest, its primary objective is to interrupt the current constitutional mandate,” Sosa said in his letters.
He added that the interruption of the Arce government would be “through the advancement of national elections and the facilitation of a new candidacy of Mr. Morales, despite the fact that the Political Constitution of the State does not allow it.”
Arce and Morales are facing off over the official presidential candidacy for the August 2025 elections, although only the coca grower leader has announced that he wants to run.
Morales and at least 10,000 of his supporters began the march from the town of Caracollo to the Government Headquarters. The former head of state said that it is against the economic crisis that is manifested in the lack of dollars and fuel.
The former president, who is leading the march, denounced that the Arce government intends to stop it by force and that “if there are any injured or dead, it is the government’s responsibility.”
He even revealed that he had been warned that they would try to kill him and that, therefore, some police and military officers, whom he did not identify, “sent him bulletproof vests, out of concern.”
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