Bolivian President Luis Arce accused former president and leader of the ruling party, Evo Morales (in government from 2006 to 2019), in a televised speech of trying to shorten his mandate and of having orchestrated a blockade which would have the objective of turning it into a “coup d’état” against him to “impose” his presidential candidacy “by fair means or foul.”
“I have the historical responsibility to denounce before the country and the world What could happen in the next few days in Bolivia because of you (Evo Morales). In the next few days a march will begin and then a nationwide street blockade will take place, which will end with an attempted coup against a popular government. It is something that sooner or later our people will have to be held accountable for,” said Arce.
The president was surrounded by his supporters during the recorded message at the government headquarters and addressed entirely to Morales.
Arce said that, since 2020, the former president has been dedicated to preparing his candidacy, trying to boycott his government and present himself as a “savior” of the country in order to “stay in power for another 14 years or more.”
On the streets
The indigenous people known as “red ponchos” from the Bolivian highlands began a road blockade on Monday to demand the resignation of the president and vice president, David Choquehuanca, for the lack of dollars and fuel, in addition to accusing them of promoting the division of social organizations.
Rocks block a road to Lake Titicaca in Vilaque, outside El Alto, Bolivia. AP Photo
The main leader of the “red ponchos”, David Mamani, declared that the peasant protest It is an indefinite strike “until the President of the State, Luis Arce, and his Vice President, David Choquehuanca, resign,” and new elections are called “as soon as possible.”
Dozens of protesters They were stationed on the main roads that connect La Paz, the city that is home to the Executive and Legislative branches of Bolivia, with the interior of the country, some neighboring municipalities and the international highway to Peru.
Bonfires were lit at the blockade points, Stones and mounds of earth or rubble were placed to obstruct the passage of vehiclesat the same time that the Police personnel tried to convince the mobilized to allow circulation.
Morales and his loyal sectors will begin a march on Tuesday from the town of Caracollo, 190 kilometers southeast of La Paz, to protest the economic situation and to defend the ruling Movement for Socialism (MAS). of an attempt at “proscription”.
The former ruler denied that the protests are to favor his candidacy, but rather they are the “discontent of the people towards a government that has protected corruptionwho never did anything to solve the crisis, who endorsed the illegal extension of magistrates.”
In this regard, the Ombudsman’s Office asked, in a statement, national and local authorities, as well as the sectors that support the protests, “to remain calm and avoid actions that could lead to acts of violence and greater conflict in the country.”
Morales and Arce have been estranged since the end of 2021and last year their differences deepened at a national party congress in which, in the absence of the president and his loyal sectors, Evo Morales was ratified as leader of the MAS and elected “sole candidate” for the 2025 presidential elections.
Arce and Vice President Choquehuanca were not at that meeting, in the town of Lauca Ñ, considering that the social organizations, the base of the party, were not represented as they should have been.
The social sectors that support both leaders called for MAS congresses on several occasions, but the electoral authority did not recognize these meetings until both ruling factions organized a single meeting by consensus.
Holding a congress of supporters and renewing its leadership is a necessary requirement for the MAS to participate in next year’s presidential elections.
Morales’ candidacy is a cause of internal controversy within the ruling party, The government has insisted that the former president cannot run again, while his supporters maintain that he can.
