Dozens of Bolivian trucks have been stranded for 10 days at the Desaguadero border point for protests with roadblocks in southern Peruplunged into a political crisis since the removal of President Pedro Castillo.
On the Bolivian side, trucks with export cargo – mostly from the eastern region of Santa Cruz, the economic engine of the Andean nation – have been waiting to cross since January 4, when protests against Peruvian President Dina Boluarte resumed.
While, on the Peruvian side, shops and banks were closed, protesters burned tires and roadblocks prevented the passage of buses that travel through southern Peru.
“If there is no solution, the strike continues,” shouted a group of protesters on Friday demanding Boluarte’s resignation after the deaths of 49 people. The protesters keep the Desaguadero international bridge closed, where every day thousands of people travel between the two countries.
“We are totally outraged, we also know that in the part of Juliaca and Puno (in southern Peru) there are already more than 40 deaths,” Teófilo Ramos, a resident who was at a blockade point, told The Associated Press.
Another protester who preferred not to give his name mentioned that they support Castillo because they identify with him. “He represented the people and they have not let him govern by Congress … so we are against it,” he added.
The truckers called for a truce while hundreds of people looked for different places to avoid the blockade points.
“We respect their belongings, but… we see ourselves harmed,” Janeth Tamayo, a tourist who was stranded with a group of Haitians and Chileans and who were happy to arrive in Bolivia so they could take a bus to La Paz, told the AP.
“We are walking and we have been cold, hungry. We haven’t eaten for almost two days,” she added.
The protests cause great damage to Bolivian exports, mostly soybeans and their derivatives, vegetable oil, alcohol and minerals that left Santa Cruz, where there are also blockades due to the preventive arrest of the region’s governor, Luis Fernando Camacho, for the charge of terrorism.
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