The Government of Bolivia and different business sectors denounced this Tuesday the million-dollar losses that have so far been caused by the road blockades that sectors related to former President Evo Morales (2006-2019) have been carrying out for nine days against a criminal investigation into the politician.
The Minister of Public Works, Services and Housing, Edgar Montaño, told the media that the losses from uncollected tolls in nine days of blockades amount to 5,347,000 bolivianos, equivalent to just over 768,200 dollars (about 711,537 euros).
According to Montaño, in some localities where this pressure measure is carried out, the use of machinery and vehicles belonging to municipal governments was seen to carry elements to block, such as earth and stones.
On the other hand, it is estimated that the Bolivian productive system loses 191 million dollars per day due to road blockades, said the Vice Minister of Industrialization Policies, Luis Siles, in an interview the day before with the state channel Bolivia TV.
According to Siles, the industrial sector alone loses 96.6 million dollars every day and exporters another 53 million.
Most blockades are in Cochabamba
According to the most recent passability report from the state-run Bolivian Highway Administrator (ABC), in the central region of Cochabamba there are 16 blocking points installed mostly on one of the main trunk routes that link the east and west of the country, and in another that goes towards the southern department of Chuquisaca.
There are also two blockades in the Andean region of Oruro, one in neighboring Potosí and another in Santa Cruz, the most populated department considered the country’s economic engine.
In the early morning, a group of protesters set up a new blockade with stones and disused tires in the municipality of Vinto, less than 20 kilometers from the city of Cochabamba, the capital of the region of the same name.
Hours later, a police contingent arrived and managed to allow vehicles to circulate on one lane of the road, after talking with the leaders.
Clashes in Puente Ichilo
The agents used a mechanical shovel to clear the path, although the protesters warned of resuming the protest in the next few hours.
There was also a police intervention in the blockade in Puente Ichilo, a town located in Santa Cruz, on the border with Cochabamba.
Police and a group of young people arrived at the scene and pushed the blockaders back to the neighboring town of Bulo Bulo, in Cochabamba, where there were, however, more protesters waiting for them.
The agents fired tear gas at the protesters, who responded with stones and setting off firecrackers until the Police returned to Puente Ichilo.
Local media indicated that the young people who were with the agents belong to the Unión Juvenil Cruceñista, a citizen group of young people from Santa Cruz, while former President Morales called them “paramilitaries” in a publication in X.
The “evistas” have been blocking roads since last Monday due to a possible arrest warrant against the former president for a case of human trafficking and rape for the alleged “rape” of a minor with whom he would have had a child when he was president of the country .
They also demand that the Government provide solutions to the shortage of dollars and fuel, and the increase in the cost of some foods, problems that worsened as a result of the blockades.
The day before, the protesters threatened that the blockades would persist until they achieved Arce’s resignation and the advancement of the general elections scheduled for 2025, in which they also want Morales to be a candidate.
Since the investigation process became known in the Prosecutor’s Office, Morales has not left the Tropics of Cochabamba, his union and political bastion that is guarded by his followers.
#Millionaire #losses #reported #due #blockades #Bolivia #Diario #Página
