Bolivian police try to clear routes after 12 days of roadblocks by followers of Evo Morales

Bolivian police were trying on Friday to clear some vital routes after 12 days of blockades by followers of the former president Evo Morales who seek to avoid prosecution and who have deprived cities of supplies, aggravating the economic crisis in the country.

A police contingent surprised the protesters who did not resist at one of the blocking points of a vital route that connects the food-producing cities in the east with the markets in the west. But there were more than a dozen cuts on the route where trucks with food and fuel are stranded.

The day before, dozens of flower, banana and vegetable producers threw their rotten products onto the streets in the city of Cochabamba, in the center of the country, and gathered at the doors of the police and the government to ask the authorities for measures to clear the routes.

Civic and neighborhood organizations in that city, the hardest hit by the protests, demanded action from the government, said Amilkar Rocha, president of the Chamber of Commerce.

Morales’ followers began the protest to reject the arrest of their leader investigated by the prosecution for allegedly having a relationship with a minor when he was president (2006-2019). The politician entrenched himself in his coca-growing fiefdom in the center of the country and accused his heir and political successor, President Luis Arce, of “assembling” the case to remove him from the presidential race next year.

Fuel and food shortages in turn, it fueled protests by transporters and producers who were already hit by an increase in the cost of living. Hundreds of truckers are stranded on the roads.

Business associations have reported losses of nearly $200 million. The government enabled flights to transport chicken meat to La Paz, where the price of the product increased, reported the Vice Minister of Consumer Defense, Jorge Silva.

The police have reported the presence of snipers and dynamite among the protesters. Arce returned on Friday after participating in the BRICS summit in Russia at the invitation of Vladimir Putin. Analysts believe that the government has avoided using massive public force due to fear of confrontations.

The government attributes rising prices and food shortages to smuggling to neighboring countries and Morales’ “boycott.” But the economy had already begun to weaken due to the drop in income from natural gas exports due to lack of investment. Without the dollars that come from the sale of gas, the Arce government has difficulties importing and subsidizing fuel and food prices have risen because many inputs are imported.

The pulse between Arce and Morales The control of the divided and weakened ruling Movement towards Socialism (MAS), which has governed the country for almost two decades, is aggravating the crisis, according to businessmen and analysts.

“We are facing an inflationary process. Bolivia urgently needs 3 billion dollars to lift the economy, but it also needs a political balance to stabilize the patient,” said analyst and university professor Gonzalo Chávez.

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