Bolivia: Evo Morales accuses the government of ignoring his offer of dialogue

On the second day of his hunger strike, former Bolivian President Evo Morales accused the government of ignoring his request for dialogue to end a month of protests which culminated Friday with the taking hostage of 200 soldiers.

In the process, the Ministry of Defense declared in a press release “strongly condemning the armed and violent takeover of military units”, without further details on the fate of the hostages.

“I asked for immediate dialogue and the establishment of two dialogue tables (…) And the government’s response was to arrest (…) comrades and take them to La Paz,” he said. said Sunday in a brief interview with AFP.

His supporters began blocking the country’s main roads on October 14 to denounce what they consider to be “judicial persecution” against their leader, targeted by an investigation for the alleged rape of a 15-year-old girl. . They are now also demanding the resignation of President Luis Arce, whom they accuse of being responsible for the fuel shortages Bolivia is experiencing due to lack of foreign currency to buy it.

“Total persecution”

On Friday, the police, supported by the army, managed to unblock a road near Parotani (center), a key axis linking Cochabamba, capital of the department of the same name and political stronghold of Evo Morales, to the administrative capital La Paz. Nineteen police officers were injured and 66 civilians arrested during the operation, according to authorities.

“This is total persecution,” denounced Sunday Evo Morales, former coca farmer and first indigenous person to have governed Bolivia (2006-2019). On Friday, he announced that he was starting a hunger strike to demand dialogue with the government of President Arce so that it “establishes (…) political and economic discussion committees”.

President Arce assured the same day that he would continue working “until liberating” the city of Cochabamba, where fuel is becoming increasingly scarce and prices are skyrocketing due to road blockages.

The government says it is ready to dialogue

Minister of the Presidency Maria Nela Prada said in a statement Saturday that the state ombudsman’s office was negotiating a dialogue. The government is willing to dialogue, but “to address issues that concern the executive branch and not other state organs,” she stressed.

Maria Nela Prada indicated that in other calls for dialogue, Evo Morales had made it a condition to resolve the question of his candidacy for the 2025 elections. Tensions worsened on Friday when 200 soldiers were “taken hostage” in three barracks by supporters of Evo Morales, in Cochabamba, according to a press release from the Bolivian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Former ally of Evo Morales, Luis Arce came to power in November 2020. The two men are now competing for control of the left and the nomination for the 2025 presidential election, to which Evo Morales, 65, wants to claim despite a court decision disqualifying him.

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