First modification:
Sentiments in Bolivia remain tense on the seventh day of a strike in Santa Cruz, the country’s most populous region and one of the country’s main exporters. The protesters seek a census in 2023, assuring that there is underreporting that is affecting the resources allocated to the department and its participation in Congress. The Government continues to seek to carry it out in 2024. In addition, President Luis Arce led a new meeting that sought solutions to unemployment.
Santa Cruz, the most populated region of Bolivia, celebrates seven days of strike. Opponents of President Luis Arce have entered an indefinite strike seeking to carry out a census in 2023, unlike the government’s proposal to carry it out in 2024.
The day was marked by massive marches and the multiplication of roadblocks, as urban public transport bus drivers joined the mobilization.
The leader Segundo Ricaldi affirmed for the EFE news agency that the carriers are “damaged” with seven days without being able to work. “Without money, what are we going to do? There is a situation that we are going through, our family is bad, we do not know where to get money to pay the bank, “he assured.
In addition, the city of Santa Cruz, the regional capital, woke up with an accumulation of garbage in the streets because the entrance to the city’s landfill has been fenced off for three days. A “counterattack” from sectors close to the Government, who disagree with the strike.
Looking for the strike to be lifted, government sectors have also closed four highways that connect the city with the rest of the country. Thus, they have prevented the passage of food, vehicles and people.
The acts have been condemned by the president of the Pro Santa Cruz Civic Committee, Rómulo Calvo, who denounced that the ruling party is leaving the region without gas or fuel.
A meeting that seeks to calm down
Cochabamba, to the west of Bolivian territory, was the venue for the second meeting between representatives of the Government and the protesters. Despite the fact that the opposition leader and governor of Santa Cruz confirmed that he was not going to participate, Vicente Cuéllar, president of the 2023 Census Promotion Committee, did.
For its part, the Government confirmed the attendance of eight governors, 300 mayors of municipalities that include the ten largest cities in the country and representatives of indigenous territorial entities.
President Luis Arce stated on his Twitter account that it was a meeting “of four hours of constructive dialogue.”
After more than four hours of constructive dialogue with the governors, mayors, authorities of the Native Indigenous Peasant Autonomies, the Autonomous Region of Chaco and the rectors of the public system of #Bolivia??, gathered in #Cochabamba for the Census, we continue… pic.twitter.com/dZZeW6uWTN
– Luis Alberto Arce Catacora (Lucho Arce) (@LuchoXBolivia) October 28, 2022
the indefinite strike
Santa Cruz is not only a region considered to be the country’s economic engine, but it is also one of the government’s opposition strongholds. There, the indefinite strike promoted by these sectors has paralyzed the activities of the region.
But the movement has been a matter of dispute with government supporters and opponents. On Wednesday there were clashes between both parties with stones and firecrackers, leaving several injured.
The Bolivian Government has reacted and has already adopted several measures. One of them was to stop the export of products such as beef, oil, sugar and soy derivatives, produced largely in Santa Cruz, to guarantee the “supply” of the internal market.
The measure was condemned by several exporting sectors of Santa Cruz.
In parallel, protests over the census have occurred in other departments of the country such as Beni and Tarija, which this week carried out a 24-hour strike. In La Paz and Cochabamba, according to EFE reports, several groups marched in support of the Santa Cruz demand.
The education sector joins the strike
Another sector that joined the protest was education. Students, professors and administrators from the Gabriel René Moreno University joined in a march for the census in 2023.
“As university students and teachers, we are asking the central government to carry out the census as soon as possible to make a rational distribution of the economic resources that our university and the people of Santa Cruz and Bolivia in general need,” professor Ezequiel told EFE. Paniagua.
According to the professor, the university budget has also been affected by the lack of an updated census.
What are the positions found?
A date divides positions in Bolivia. The representatives of Santa Cruz are reiterative with the need to carry out a census in 2023. They point out that it is the only way to have updated data on which the allocation of resources and participation in Congress depend.
Also, the strikers say that there is an underregistration that harms them because the region has grown in population in recent years.
Thus, the protesters assure that it must be carried out next year so that the new figures apply for 2025, when the presidential elections are scheduled.
The dissent began when the Government postponed the date of November of this year to 2024. A decision that, they say, was made because there were technical problems and that it was necessary to ensure that it had better quality data.
With EFE and local media
