Holy Cross of the Sierraone of the major cities of Bolivialived this Friday at day of violencewith street clashes between supporters and opponents of the government and the looting of two headquarters of government-affiliated trade unions.

The city located in the plain of the country, controlled by the right-wing opposition, meets 21 days of protests with blocks of streets, avenues and interdepartmental roads to ask the government of Luis Arce to carry out in advance a population census scheduled for 2024.

The opposition region asks the census to update its legislative representation and the amount of state funds it receives, considering that there is a higher number of inhabitants than that covered by the latest official statistics.

During the morning, street vendors and public service drivers marched along a city boulevard to demand the lifting of road and street blockades. Their mobilization clashed with opposition protesters and there were clashes with stones, sticks and firecrackers, AFP news agency reported.

Neighbors organized with the help of young people connected to the Santa Cruz Civic Committee, a conglomerate of civil businesses, and pushed back pro-government protesters.

Riot police intervened by firing tear gas to disperse the demonstrations.

Opposition groups burned tires they used as barricades and said they were repressed by uniformed officers.

“Today the people of Santa Cruz were attacked by the police and MAS,” said the governor of Santa Cruz, Luis Fernando Camacho, citing the ruling party, Movimiento al Socialismo.

He noted that the police and MAS “generated anxiety and fired tear gas”.

The government minister, Eduardo del Castillo, replied that the demonstration of sellers and drivers “was the peaceful march of the people who have been brutally attacked by funded radical sectors seeking confrontation”.

Hours later, young opponents angrily attacked the offices of the Santa Cruz Farmers’ Federation, linked to the ruling party, which they burned and looted until police and firefighters arrived, according to images by private TV channel Unitel .

Later, the headquarters of the largest local trade union, the Central Obrera Departamental (COD), was also looted.

There is no official version of the number of wounded and detainees.

In three weeks of protests, Santa Cruz has recorded four deaths in street clashes between civilians, a woman raped and 178 injured, according to a toll from the Arce government.

With information from AFP

DB