Crisis in Bolivia: protests have been going on for six days and MAS calls for the election of another governor in Santa Cruz

Six days after the arrest of the governor of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Luis Fernando Camacho, the wider region of Bolivia continues to be plagued by protests from his supporters demanding his release. according to the newspaper Dutythere are at least 90 detainees more than 200 injured by various accidentsincluding burning down and destroying the region’s prosecutor’s office.

The Bolivian daily also underlines that the regional authorities denounce the pressure from the Movement for Socialism (MAS), the party of President Luis Arce and former President Evo Morales, to Santa Cruz elects a new governordespite the region’s statute stipulating that the governor will cease to be in charge only upon death, resignation, permanent incapacity, criminal conviction, or revocation of office.

“The governor is Luis Fernando Camacho and the only way for someone to replace the governor is for something to happen that is established in article 26 of our statute. None of this happened, so the governor is Luis Fernando Camacho,” government sources said Duty.

MAS lawmakers in the region, however, will insist that it is impossible for Camacho to govern from prisonand that the lieutenant governor should assume on an interim basis with the approval of the Departmental Legislature.

six days of accidents

Camacho was arrested on December 28 on charges of “terrorism” for his role in the so-called “coup I” case, linked to the 2019 political crisis.

Since then he has been held in Chonchocoro prison “stable” condition and receive treatment due to a chronic illness which, according to the government, after the governor’s lawyer reported that he had suffered a decompensation.

On Monday, numerous groups of women took to the streets of Santa Cruz, first in the morning and then at the end of the afternoon, to set up a vigil in front of the Police Department Command to demand the detainees and Camacho’s freedom.

In the afternoon demonstration, women gathered in front of the police building they wore black clothes to represent the bad time that the department is going through, since last Wednesday the Police have arrested Camacho.

A few meters from the main police station, barricades have been built with rubble and even the remains of vehicles burned in recent days’ clashes between supporters of the governor and the police.

These skirmishes led to several considerable damages in public institutions at the national and regional level, for which there were several prisoners.

The worst incident was the destruction of the departmental prosecutor’s office. The four-story building was completely destroyed by fireas well as more than 30 cars that have been held at the venue due to various criminal proceedings.

In the late night of this Monday there were again clashes between protesters, who used firecrackers and fireworks against the police, while the security forces responded with tear gas.

In the central Cochabamba, on the other hand, there was a march and a sit-in at the Police Headquarters of that department, the same as in southern Tarija under the premise of asking for the freedom of Camacho.

In the last few hours, the deputy commander of the Santa Cruz Police, Edson Claure, met with the president of the Pro Santa Cruz committee, Rómulo Calvo, in an attempt to find a solution the conflict situation in the region.

“We are not going to make this scenario a moment of controversy; what we must seek is the pacification of the population,” Claure said, according to the newspaper Duty.

In Santa Cruz, which is also The economic engine of Boliviaroadblocks have been installed so that much of the food produced in the region and consumed by the rest of the country does not leave the department.

Source: EFE and El Deber