The cost of the blockades in Bolivia exceeds US$ 1.7 billion, according to President Arce, and demands an end to them

( Spanish) –– In the last 17 days of blockades in Bolivia, at least 70 people have been injured, 9 civilians, and 61 police officers were attacked, reported President Luis Arce. The Bolivian president added that the costs of the blockade amount to US$1.7 billion.

“Mr. Morales, due to personal appetites, has mobilized his followers in various parts of the country with regional blockades that have meant substantial economic damage, for example, in these 17 days there has been an impact of more than US$ 1.7 billion,” the president detailed in a message broadcast on the presidency’s social networks.

He did not specify how he arrived at that sum, whether the costs have been generated by the destruction in clashes, the care provided to the wounded, the resources required by the security forces or the impact on commerce and the economy in general.

Arce said that the blockades impede the supply of fuel, increase the price of food or do not allow products to reach the markets and harm transporters, exporters and even tourism.

The blockades by Morales followers began on October 14 as a form of protest against the judicial investigations into the former president for an alleged case of human trafficking, and intensified after Morales denounced an assassination attempt against him.

Morales denies having committed any crime and says that the investigations and accusations are part of political persecution. The Government rejected Morales’ allegations about the attack against him and accused the former president of having faked the attack.

Morales and Arce, both militants of the Movement towards Socialism (MAS) party, have a confrontation in which the former president accuses the president of wanting to prevent him from competing in the 2025 presidential elections, an accusation that Arce rejects.

Arce assured that behind the blockade, which he described as “undemocratic and criminal,” the motivation is the imposition of an “unconstitutional” candidacy and the annulment of the judicial cases against Morales.

has consulted former President Morales’ team to obtain their reaction to these statements.

Arce demanded that the blockades be lifted before proposing any dialogue and warned that, if this does not happen, they will take measures to “protect the interest of the Bolivian people.”