Anti-government protests in Bolivia, president cries “coup”

Published on : 10/12/2021 – 11:40

The opposition blocked the streets of the main cities of Bolivia on Monday (October 11th) in protest against the leftist government of President Luis Arce, which says his opponents are seeking to create the conditions for a “coup”. The biggest demonstrations took place in La Paz, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz (east of the country), the most populous cities of Bolivia, as well as in Tarija (south).

The police dispersed the crowds by using tear gas in the capital and in Cochabamba (center), one month before the first anniversary of the start of Luis Arce’s mandate. The latter, 58 years old and dolphin of the former president Evo Morales (2006-2019), faces the first protests against his government. Its detractors accuse it of encouraging political trials and of seeking to pass a draconian law on fortunes.

This bill, currently before Parliament, is controversial: if adopted, the text would allow the government to investigate the property of any citizen without a court decision, which would oblige, in particular, lawyers and journalists to disclose information about their sources. President Luis Arce criticized the mobilizations, assuring that they were only seeking to destabilize his government.

“The undemocratic conspiracy was not definitively defeated with last year’s elections. It is rising again, encouraging unrest and disunity among Bolivians in order to create the conditions for a new coup,” he said. he declared.

The president, who won the elections with 55% of the vote in early November 2020, called on the peoples of the world “to be vigilant, because the struggle of one people is the struggle of all peoples”. The ruling party has repeatedly claimed that it was the victim of attempts at destabilization.

With AFP