The Minister of the Government of Bolivia, Eduardo del Castillo, has denounced that former President Evo Morales on Saturday demanded of his followers that there be “deaths and bloodshed” in the context of the protests and road blockages.
“We denounce to the international community and the Bolivian people that unfortunately Mr. Morales has asked his followers this afternoon (Saturday) that they need greater confrontations to achieve deaths and bloodshed,” Del Castillo published on social networks.
The minister has assured that there is an “evident collapse of the so-called ‘blockades of impunity’ as expressed by his former minister of the presidency, Juan Ramón Quintana a few days ago.”
On Friday, after a police operation that managed to unblock Parotani, one of the strategic points to connect Cochabamba with the west of the country, former President Morales publicly asked his followers to consider an interim period in the blockades to avoid more confrontations, but Del Castillo has assured that “behind closed doors” he urged his followers to escalate the conflict.
“We warn the Bolivian people not to fall for the provocations of these people who are capable of anything so that the girl victims of rape do not have justice,” he added in reference to the accusations of abuse of minors, human trafficking and smuggling that They weigh on Morales.
This Sunday marks 22 days of road blockades, mainly in the department of Cochabamba, which have already caused shortages of fresh food and fuel in some cities. Morales’ allies also took three military units in Chapare this Friday and took at least 200 military and civilian personnel from one of the units hostage. Morales himself has started a hunger strike.
Among their demands is the release of the detainees, the cessation of the judicial proceedings against Morales and the recognition of the congress of the Movimiento Al Socialismo (MAS) party of Lauca Ñ, in Cochabamba, in which Morales was designated a candidate for the elections of 2025.
