La Paz, Sep 23 (EFE).- The march led by former Bolivian president and official leader Evo Morales (2006-2019) arrived in La Paz on Monday, after thousands of his followers joined him in the city of El Alto, to demand that he be enabled as a candidate for the 2025 elections, despite having a constitutional prohibition.
The former president, followed by miners and indigenous groups in the front row, entered the city that is the seat of government via the main highway that links both cities on the seventh day of a walk that began on September 17 from the town of Caracollo, in the Andean region of Oruro, and which was described by President Luis Arce as a “coup d’état” against him.
The day before, there were some clashes in El Alto between Morales’ supporters and groups defending Arce, which left at least a dozen people injured, according to a report from the Ministry of Health.
Freddy Mamani, a pro-government deputy close to Morales, reported that the protesters led by the former president will gather at the entrance to La Paz, near the highway, where they will read several requests they have for the Arce government.
“We are not going to threaten anyone, we are not going to enter Murillo Square, we are going to gather here where there will be a party to defend Bolivia,” he said in a statement on Radio Kawsachun Coca, a media outlet close to Morales.
President Arce sent several public invitations to Morales to hold a dialogue, however the former president said he did not receive any invitation.
Morales’ supporters say it is a march to “save the country” in the face of problems such as the shortage of dollars and fuel and the rise in the price of some basic products. They also demand that the resolutions of a congress of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) held last year – not recognized by the Electoral Court – in which they defined Morales’ candidacy be respected.
The Arce government considers the march promoted by Morales to be a “coup d’état” intended to remove him from power so that the head of the Senate, Andrónico Rodríguez, who is close to the former president, can assume the presidency of the country.
Morales and Arce have been estranged since late 2021 due to differences in the State Administration that deepened in the face of the need to renew the national leadership of the MAS, still in the hands of the former president, something on which the factions loyal to both have not been able to agree.
.
#Thousands #Evo #Morales #supporters #enter #Paz #demand #approval #candidate
2024-09-24 23:20:06
