Armed group attacks military barracks in Bolivia; police forcefully clear roads

The Bolivian Armed Forces said this Friday that irregular armed groups took over a military installation in Cochabamba and are holding military personnel hostage with weapons and ammunition.

“Those who carried out or intend to continue with criminal acts against fundamental rights, human rights, security, the freedom of people (…) are reliably asked to abandon their attitudes and leave the barracks in a manner immediately and peacefully,” the Armed Forces said in a statement.

In the morning, a group of farmers invaded a military barracks in the tropics of Cochabamba, the stronghold of former President Evo Morales, in response to the police and military intervention against the road blockades that the coca leader had organized.

The protesters took the military hostage and looted the rifles of the Cacique Juan Maraza Regiment Military Unit in Villa Tunari. “The lives of my instructors and soldiers are in danger,” said a soldier who was recorded by the invaders and whose images were broadcast by local media.

Previously, the Police deployed nearly 2,000 troops to clear roads that have been blocked by Morales supporters for 19 days to prevent him from facing a criminal investigation; In certain areas, the blockaders resisted with dynamite thrown from the hills.

In addition, the police mobilize tractors to clear the routes of debris, while a fraction of the military police supports the actions.

This time the police found an unexpected ally in their wake: the All Saints holiday, a traditional religious festival in the Bolivian Andes.

Many protesters have left the roads to celebrate; Others have concentrated in Parotani, 347 kilometers south-east of La Paz, a strategic route for the union of the cities of the east, with the west and south of the country, which in recent days has been the most disputed bastion between protesters. and police.

Several police officers arrived there to confront the protesters who, seeking to ward off law enforcement, threw dynamite from the hills.

Last week around thirty police officers were injured, one of them was hit by the dynamite explosion. More than fifty protesters were detained, but the so-called blockers once again took control of the routes after the passage of the law enforcement officers.

They defend former president Evo Morales

The conflict broke out three weeks ago when an order from the prosecutor’s office was announced to arrest Morales for the alleged abuse of a 15-year-old minor when he was still president in 2016.

On Sunday, October 27, the 65-year-old politician reported that his car was shot at while he was heading to a radio program in that area. Government Minister Eduardo del Castillo gave another version: he said that Morales resisted a search by an anti-drug patrol and fled.

According to Andean traditions, at noon on November 1st the souls return to the world of the living to share food with their loved ones. Tables are set up with food, bread and drinks to receive “the souls” who depart at noon on the day. 2, after a family banquet.

Hundreds of trucks with food, export merchandise and fuel are stuck on the roads. The business associations speak of million-dollar losses, the Minister of Rural Development, Yamil Flores, estimated the losses due to the road closures at 970 million dollars.

La Paz and other cities are short of meat coming from the east and prices have escalated, aggravating the economic crisis that is hitting Bolivians. Last week, producers threw flowers, milk, vegetables and fruit into the streets that had rotted due to the blockades.

[Con información de AP y Reuters]

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