By AFP
November 1, 2024
An Indigenous woman supporter of former Bolivian president Evo Morales trains with a huaraca (a sling made of wool) in Parotani, 40 kilometers from Cochabamba, on October 31, 2024
- Copyright AFP AIZAR RALDES
Gonzalo TORRICO
Under a bridge in central Bolivia, supporters of former president Evo Morales, armed with slingshots and stones, practice their aim as they prepare to do battle with security forces.
“Evistas,” as Morales’s supporters are known, have blocked nearly two dozen roads, mostly in his stronghold of Cochabamba, since October 14 to prevent his threatened arrest on rape charges.
The protests, which have caused widespread food and fuel shortages, have grown more radical with each passing day.
On Friday, a group of Morales supporters stormed a barracks in the central Chapare province and took a group of soldiers hostage.
In Parotani, which lies on the main road from Cochabamba to the capital La Paz, AFP saw a group of protesters being schooled in firing slingshots.
Carlos Flores, a 45-year-old agronomist, ordered them to spin their “huaracas” (slingshots, in the local Quechua language) over their heads.
– ‘We are ready to fight’ –
A black-clad youth with a face mask, who used the alias “Choque,” whirled his sling and then released the stone, which whipped 100 meters (300 feet) through the air.
“This is our secret weapon… we inherited it from our grandparents,” Flores told AFP proudly.
Since the protests began last month, 70 people have been injured in clashes between the demonstrators and police sent to clear the roads.
Most of the injured were police, some of whom sustained head injuries, according to the authorities.
In Parotani, a police officer nearly lost a foot. President Luis Arce said the officer was attacked with dynamite.
While the demonstrations initially focused on the rape charges against Morales, which he claims were fabricated to thwart his attempted political comeback, they have snowballed into a broader revolt against Arce’s economic policies.
On Wednesday, Arce ordered an “immediate” end to the blockades and warned the government would “exercise its constitutional powers” to restore order, seen as a veiled threat to deploy the military.
“If he sends in his soldiers, we are ready to fight,” said Flores.
– Plentiful stones –
In the rocky hills that surround Parotani, dozens of sentries scan the horizon for signs of the security forces.
The police want to clear the bridge to allow the passage of trucks supplying food and fuel to Cochabamba, where prices have risen due to shortages.
Shepherdess Nicolasa Sanchez, 59, makes new huaracas by threading sheep’s wool between her bare toes and braiding them.
She makes about three a day.
“We could have thousands of huaracas as we will never run out of stones,” says Juanita Ancieta, leader of a group of rural women from the outskirts of La Paz.
From time to time, loud explosions can be heard in the area.
“We ask the armed forces and the police not to attack their people… not to stain their hands with our blood,” said Mariluz Ventura, representative of a union of Indigenous farmers.
– Bolivia’s ‘heart’ –
The demonstrators said they were prepared for weeks, even months of “resistance.”
In a sign the protests are becoming further entrenched, small shops selling clothes, cell phone accessories and even vinegar — an antidote to tear gas — have popped up around the bridge-turned-training ground. Out-of-town protesters have set up camp nearby.
“Cochabamba is the heart of Bolivia. That’s why it is the site of the biggest blockade in the country,” said Constancio Vallejos, a 37-year-old farmer who traveled around four hours from the east with a delegation of young farmers to join the protest.
Humberto Alegre, 31, heads one of the organizations that brings food to the protesters.
He said that he alone distributed about 500 rations a day.
Parotani has been without electricity and running water for days, leaving the townspeople reliant on water collected from the river.
“We are going to resist. This is the struggle we have begun. We will see it through to the end,” said Flores.
Morales supporters storm Bolivia military barracks, take hostages
By AFP
November 1, 2024
Before the apparent hostage-taking by supporters of former Bolivian president Evo Morales, his backers blocked roads in the center of the country
José Arturo Cárdenas
Supporters of Bolivia’s ex-president Evo Morales stormed a barracks in central Chapare province and took around 20 soldiers hostage, military sources said Friday, marking a dramatic escalation in their standoff with the state.
The hostage situation comes nearly three weeks after backers of Morales — the country’s first Indigenous leader — began blocking roads to prevent his arrest on what he calls trumped-up rape charges aimed at thwarting his political comeback.
Morales, 65, was in office from 2006 to 2019, when he resigned under a cloud after elections marked by fraud.
Bolivia’s armed forces said Friday in a statement that “irregular armed groups” had “kidnapped military personnel” and seized weapons and ammunition in Chapare.
A military source told AFP on condition of anonymity that “about 20” soldiers were taken hostage.
In a video broadcast by Bolivian media, 16 soldiers were seen surrounded by protesters holding pointed sticks aloft.
“The Cacique Maraza Regiment has been taken over by Tipnis activists. They have cut off our water, electricity and are keeping us hostage,” a uniformed man is heard saying in the video.
Tipnis is an Indigenous stronghold of Morales.
– ‘Persecution’ and price hikes –
Despite being barred from running again, Morales wants to challenge his former-ally-turned-rival President Luis Arce for the nomination of the left-wing MAS party in the country’s August 2025 elections.
Days after he led a march of thousands of mainly Indigenous Bolivians on the capital La Paz to protest Arce’s policies, prosecutors announced he was under investigation for rape, human trafficking and human smuggling over his alleged relationship with a 15-year-old girl in 2015.
Morales, who is accused of fathering a daughter with the girl, has called the accusations “a lie.”
On Wednesday, Arce demanded an “immediate” end to the roadblocks and said the government would “exercise its constitutional powers to safeguard the interests of the Bolivian people” if the protesters did not comply.
His warning was interpreted by some Bolivians as a threat to use the military to end the blockade, which has caused widespread food and fuel shortages and prompted prices of basic goods to skyrocket.
Chapare is where Morales claimed he was the victim of an assassination attempt last week that he blamed on state agents.
In a video he shared on social media, he is seen travelling in a pick-up truck riddled with bullet holes near the city of Cochabamba.
The government said police fired on the vehicle after coming under fire from Morales’s convoy at a checkpoint set up to combat drug trafficking in Chapare, one of the country’s main coca-growing regions.
Coca is the raw material for cocaine.
Morales, a former coca grower, was extremely popular until he tried to bypass the constitution and seek a fourth term.
His supporters initially demanded an end to what they called his “judicial persecution.” but the protest movement has snowballed into a wider anti-government revolt marked by calls for Arce to resign.
Morales’ supporters, who have vowed not to budge from the barricades, blame Arce for a sharp rise in food and fuel prices and shortages that pre-date the protests.
At least 61 police officers and nine civilians have been injured in clashes between the protesters and security forces in recent days.
Arce has estimated the economic cost of the blockades at more than $1.7 billion.
Gonzalo TORRICO
Under a bridge in central Bolivia, supporters of former president Evo Morales, armed with slingshots and stones, practice their aim as they prepare to do battle with security forces.
“Evistas,” as Morales’s supporters are known, have blocked nearly two dozen roads, mostly in his stronghold of Cochabamba, since October 14 to prevent his threatened arrest on rape charges.
The protests, which have caused widespread food and fuel shortages, have grown more radical with each passing day.
On Friday, a group of Morales supporters stormed a barracks in the central Chapare province and took a group of soldiers hostage.
In Parotani, which lies on the main road from Cochabamba to the capital La Paz, AFP saw a group of protesters being schooled in firing slingshots.
Carlos Flores, a 45-year-old agronomist, ordered them to spin their “huaracas” (slingshots, in the local Quechua language) over their heads.
– ‘We are ready to fight’ –
A black-clad youth with a face mask, who used the alias “Choque,” whirled his sling and then released the stone, which whipped 100 meters (300 feet) through the air.
“This is our secret weapon… we inherited it from our grandparents,” Flores told AFP proudly.
Since the protests began last month, 70 people have been injured in clashes between the demonstrators and police sent to clear the roads.
Most of the injured were police, some of whom sustained head injuries, according to the authorities.
In Parotani, a police officer nearly lost a foot. President Luis Arce said the officer was attacked with dynamite.
While the demonstrations initially focused on the rape charges against Morales, which he claims were fabricated to thwart his attempted political comeback, they have snowballed into a broader revolt against Arce’s economic policies.
On Wednesday, Arce ordered an “immediate” end to the blockades and warned the government would “exercise its constitutional powers” to restore order, seen as a veiled threat to deploy the military.
“If he sends in his soldiers, we are ready to fight,” said Flores.
– Plentiful stones –
In the rocky hills that surround Parotani, dozens of sentries scan the horizon for signs of the security forces.
The police want to clear the bridge to allow the passage of trucks supplying food and fuel to Cochabamba, where prices have risen due to shortages.
Shepherdess Nicolasa Sanchez, 59, makes new huaracas by threading sheep’s wool between her bare toes and braiding them.
She makes about three a day.
“We could have thousands of huaracas as we will never run out of stones,” says Juanita Ancieta, leader of a group of rural women from the outskirts of La Paz.
From time to time, loud explosions can be heard in the area.
“We ask the armed forces and the police not to attack their people… not to stain their hands with our blood,” said Mariluz Ventura, representative of a union of Indigenous farmers.
– Bolivia’s ‘heart’ –
The demonstrators said they were prepared for weeks, even months of “resistance.”
In a sign the protests are becoming further entrenched, small shops selling clothes, cell phone accessories and even vinegar — an antidote to tear gas — have popped up around the bridge-turned-training ground. Out-of-town protesters have set up camp nearby.
“Cochabamba is the heart of Bolivia. That’s why it is the site of the biggest blockade in the country,” said Constancio Vallejos, a 37-year-old farmer who traveled around four hours from the east with a delegation of young farmers to join the protest.
Humberto Alegre, 31, heads one of the organizations that brings food to the protesters.
He said that he alone distributed about 500 rations a day.
Parotani has been without electricity and running water for days, leaving the townspeople reliant on water collected from the river.
“We are going to resist. This is the struggle we have begun. We will see it through to the end,” said Flores.
Morales supporters storm Bolivia military barracks, take hostages
By AFP
November 1, 2024
Before the apparent hostage-taking by supporters of former Bolivian president Evo Morales, his backers blocked roads in the center of the country
- Copyright AFP/File AIZAR RALDES
José Arturo Cárdenas
Supporters of Bolivia’s ex-president Evo Morales stormed a barracks in central Chapare province and took around 20 soldiers hostage, military sources said Friday, marking a dramatic escalation in their standoff with the state.
The hostage situation comes nearly three weeks after backers of Morales — the country’s first Indigenous leader — began blocking roads to prevent his arrest on what he calls trumped-up rape charges aimed at thwarting his political comeback.
Morales, 65, was in office from 2006 to 2019, when he resigned under a cloud after elections marked by fraud.
Bolivia’s armed forces said Friday in a statement that “irregular armed groups” had “kidnapped military personnel” and seized weapons and ammunition in Chapare.
A military source told AFP on condition of anonymity that “about 20” soldiers were taken hostage.
In a video broadcast by Bolivian media, 16 soldiers were seen surrounded by protesters holding pointed sticks aloft.
“The Cacique Maraza Regiment has been taken over by Tipnis activists. They have cut off our water, electricity and are keeping us hostage,” a uniformed man is heard saying in the video.
Tipnis is an Indigenous stronghold of Morales.
– ‘Persecution’ and price hikes –
Despite being barred from running again, Morales wants to challenge his former-ally-turned-rival President Luis Arce for the nomination of the left-wing MAS party in the country’s August 2025 elections.
Days after he led a march of thousands of mainly Indigenous Bolivians on the capital La Paz to protest Arce’s policies, prosecutors announced he was under investigation for rape, human trafficking and human smuggling over his alleged relationship with a 15-year-old girl in 2015.
Morales, who is accused of fathering a daughter with the girl, has called the accusations “a lie.”
On Wednesday, Arce demanded an “immediate” end to the roadblocks and said the government would “exercise its constitutional powers to safeguard the interests of the Bolivian people” if the protesters did not comply.
His warning was interpreted by some Bolivians as a threat to use the military to end the blockade, which has caused widespread food and fuel shortages and prompted prices of basic goods to skyrocket.
Chapare is where Morales claimed he was the victim of an assassination attempt last week that he blamed on state agents.
In a video he shared on social media, he is seen travelling in a pick-up truck riddled with bullet holes near the city of Cochabamba.
The government said police fired on the vehicle after coming under fire from Morales’s convoy at a checkpoint set up to combat drug trafficking in Chapare, one of the country’s main coca-growing regions.
Coca is the raw material for cocaine.
Morales, a former coca grower, was extremely popular until he tried to bypass the constitution and seek a fourth term.
His supporters initially demanded an end to what they called his “judicial persecution.” but the protest movement has snowballed into a wider anti-government revolt marked by calls for Arce to resign.
Morales’ supporters, who have vowed not to budge from the barricades, blame Arce for a sharp rise in food and fuel prices and shortages that pre-date the protests.
At least 61 police officers and nine civilians have been injured in clashes between the protesters and security forces in recent days.
Arce has estimated the economic cost of the blockades at more than $1.7 billion.
Bolivia’s breadbasket squeezed by pro-Morales blockades
By AFP
October 31, 2024
Copyright AFP AIZAR RALDES
Gonzalo TORRICO
At a wholesale market in the central Bolivian city of Cochabamba, farmer Damaris Masias watches through tears as 10 tonnes of tomatoes that she spent over a week trying to get through roadblocks are tossed into a bin.
On a normal day her hometown of Omereque, situated 168 miles (270 kilometers) from Cochabamba, is an eight-hour truck ride away.
But the blockades set up by supporters of ex-president Evo Morales to thwart his possible arrest on rape charges turned the journey into a nine-day odyssey during which the produce rotted.
“Only God knows how many tears these tomatoes caused,” the distraught 48-year-old told AFP.
Cochabamba, Morales’ political stronghold, is the crucible of the campaign of blockades which began on October 14 after he was accused of rape over his alleged relationship with a 15-year-old girl while president in 2015.
The former leader, who is attempting a comeback, denies the allegations, saying he is the victim of “judicial persecution” by his former-ally-turned rival, current President Luis Arce.
The political tensions have risen dramatically in the past week, with Morales — who was president from 2006-2019 — accusing the state of an assassination bid, which it denies.
– Rotting food –
Clashes between his supporters and security forces have left dozens injured in recent days.
On Wednesday, Arce ordered an “immediate” end to what he called the “anti-democratic and criminal blockade.”
He estimated the cost of the roadblocks at over $1.7 billion and said they were “having terrible effects on families” by causing food and fuel prices to escalate.
Masias lost not only her own tomatoes when she set out for Cochabamba, but those of an entire neighborhood of what she calls “poor people.”
“I tried my best to get here,” she said, standing next to pallets of decomposing peppers and green beans.
– Switch to air shipments –
From four roadblocks on October 14, the number set up around the country has risen to 24, mostly in the Cochambamba area, the authorities said.
Desperate to find an alternative route to market, food producers have begun shipping their goods by plane.
A queue of people some 980 feet (300 meters) long formed this week outside the Cochambamba parcel office of state airline Boliviana de Aviacion. Some began queueing before dawn.
“We are looking for air bridges so that our product is not ruined,” says Christian Vrsalovic, a dairy producer whose transport costs have risen five-fold since the protests began.
The Bolivian National Agricultural Confederation (Confeagro) estimates that the roadblocks have set the agricultural sector in Cochabamba alone back around $20 million.
“Cochabamba is the country’s main economic hub,” Confeagro’s vice-president Rolando Morales, who is no relation to Evo Morales, said.
“All the agrifood exports from Santa Cruz (Bolivia’s richest department) pass through here en route to the port of Arica in Chile to generate the foreign currency that the country so badly needs,” he said.
– ‘Customers scold us’ –
On a retail market in Cochabamba, Ana Luz Salazar lines up the yellow chickens that are left on her hands at the end of the day.
The birds have shot up in price from $2 to $3.4 per kilo since the blockades began, causing sales to plummet.
“Customers scold us. They say ‘it’s so expensive’. Some don’t buy anything,” the 55-year-old vendor said.
On the outskirts of the city of 660,000 inhabitants, on a poultry farm owned by 48-year-old businessman Ivan Carreon, the vast sheds usually teeming with battery hens lie nearly empty.
The chickens and hens of Cochabamba are fed with soybeans and corn from the regional capital Santa Cruz, but the roads to Cochabamba have been blocked by the protests.
“We had to sell 15,000 hens … in order to guarantee balanced feed for our other batches,” Carreon explained.
Beef producers are in even worse straits, according to Confeagro’s Morales, who warned that cattle feed was in extremely short supply.
“Cochabamba, which used to be called Bolivia’s breadbasket,’ remains so in name only,” he said.
By AFP
October 31, 2024
Copyright AFP AIZAR RALDES
Gonzalo TORRICO
At a wholesale market in the central Bolivian city of Cochabamba, farmer Damaris Masias watches through tears as 10 tonnes of tomatoes that she spent over a week trying to get through roadblocks are tossed into a bin.
On a normal day her hometown of Omereque, situated 168 miles (270 kilometers) from Cochabamba, is an eight-hour truck ride away.
But the blockades set up by supporters of ex-president Evo Morales to thwart his possible arrest on rape charges turned the journey into a nine-day odyssey during which the produce rotted.
“Only God knows how many tears these tomatoes caused,” the distraught 48-year-old told AFP.
Cochabamba, Morales’ political stronghold, is the crucible of the campaign of blockades which began on October 14 after he was accused of rape over his alleged relationship with a 15-year-old girl while president in 2015.
The former leader, who is attempting a comeback, denies the allegations, saying he is the victim of “judicial persecution” by his former-ally-turned rival, current President Luis Arce.
The political tensions have risen dramatically in the past week, with Morales — who was president from 2006-2019 — accusing the state of an assassination bid, which it denies.
– Rotting food –
Clashes between his supporters and security forces have left dozens injured in recent days.
On Wednesday, Arce ordered an “immediate” end to what he called the “anti-democratic and criminal blockade.”
He estimated the cost of the roadblocks at over $1.7 billion and said they were “having terrible effects on families” by causing food and fuel prices to escalate.
Masias lost not only her own tomatoes when she set out for Cochabamba, but those of an entire neighborhood of what she calls “poor people.”
“I tried my best to get here,” she said, standing next to pallets of decomposing peppers and green beans.
– Switch to air shipments –
From four roadblocks on October 14, the number set up around the country has risen to 24, mostly in the Cochambamba area, the authorities said.
Desperate to find an alternative route to market, food producers have begun shipping their goods by plane.
A queue of people some 980 feet (300 meters) long formed this week outside the Cochambamba parcel office of state airline Boliviana de Aviacion. Some began queueing before dawn.
“We are looking for air bridges so that our product is not ruined,” says Christian Vrsalovic, a dairy producer whose transport costs have risen five-fold since the protests began.
The Bolivian National Agricultural Confederation (Confeagro) estimates that the roadblocks have set the agricultural sector in Cochabamba alone back around $20 million.
“Cochabamba is the country’s main economic hub,” Confeagro’s vice-president Rolando Morales, who is no relation to Evo Morales, said.
“All the agrifood exports from Santa Cruz (Bolivia’s richest department) pass through here en route to the port of Arica in Chile to generate the foreign currency that the country so badly needs,” he said.
– ‘Customers scold us’ –
On a retail market in Cochabamba, Ana Luz Salazar lines up the yellow chickens that are left on her hands at the end of the day.
The birds have shot up in price from $2 to $3.4 per kilo since the blockades began, causing sales to plummet.
“Customers scold us. They say ‘it’s so expensive’. Some don’t buy anything,” the 55-year-old vendor said.
On the outskirts of the city of 660,000 inhabitants, on a poultry farm owned by 48-year-old businessman Ivan Carreon, the vast sheds usually teeming with battery hens lie nearly empty.
The chickens and hens of Cochabamba are fed with soybeans and corn from the regional capital Santa Cruz, but the roads to Cochabamba have been blocked by the protests.
“We had to sell 15,000 hens … in order to guarantee balanced feed for our other batches,” Carreon explained.
Beef producers are in even worse straits, according to Confeagro’s Morales, who warned that cattle feed was in extremely short supply.
“Cochabamba, which used to be called Bolivia’s breadbasket,’ remains so in name only,” he said.
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