Bolivia semi-paralyzed by checkpoints by followers of Evo Morales

With several roads blocked, Bolivia is semi-paralyzed by peasant protests who for nine days have been asking for “the cessation of judicial persecution” against their leader, Evo Morales, under investigation for alleged child abuse when he was president.

Road closures have isolated Cochabamba from La Paz, Oruro, Potosí, Sucre and Santa Cruz. In La Paz the protest increased the prices of the basic basket and Long queues form around petrol stations.

This Wednesday, public transport drivers interrupted traffic on dozens of routes in the city complain about fuel shortages.

“We can no longer work (…). Some slept in line all night,” said Juan Mamani, a 53-year-old bus driver.

The government of President Luis Arce blames Morales supporters for preventing distribution. Hundreds of tankers are blocked on roads occupied by protesters.

The silence of the Prosecutor’s Office on the “arrest” announced by him against Morales, under investigation for “rape, human trafficking and smuggling”, further tightens the knot that immobilizes Bolivia.

Facing the presidential candidacy of the sentence left for the 2025 elections, Morales accuses his former minister Arce of trying to “outlaw” him by opening criminal investigations.

Fundamental struggle

Although the protests began with the aim of avoiding the possible capture of the Aymara leader, now calls are made for Arce find a way out of the crisis resulting from the lack of dollars and fuel.

“The political culture of Bolivia in general is too caudillista (…). All of this makes this a scenario where reaching an agreement, talking, agreeing is almost impossible.”explains Daniel Valverde, professor of political science at René Moreno University.

Groups close to the coca leader sent a letter to Arce asking: as well as the “termination of the judicial persecution” of the Aymara leaderits recognition as an official candidate and the repeal of a package of regulations.

“We will not give in to those who want to set the country on fire to protect themselves from personal accusations against which they must show their faces,” Arce responded.

Since the protests began, the blockades have gone from four to 21 points.

So far, clashes have occurred in Parotani, Pojo, Epizana and Caracollo, in Cochabamba. On Tuesday in Puente Ichilo, Santa Cruz, around 700 police officers blocked the road with tear gas.

The blockade was triggered by the announcement by prosecutor Sandra Gutiérrez prepared an arrest warrant against Morales for alleged child abuse with whom he had a daughter. But then he no longer commented on the investigation.

The former president assures that it is “another lie”, as the same case was investigated and closed in 2020.

His supporters are calling on Arce to stop the investigations against him, even though they are in the hands of a supposedly independent prosecutor.

“There are too many indications that the institutions, and in this case the Public Prosecutor, They must be in an internal struggle, trying to measure. Because if an arrest warrant is issued, we must recognize that the government’s situation will be difficult” with respect to the mobilizations, says Valverde.

While farmers also protest against the difficult situation facing the country, the blockades push the economic crisis to the limit.

Economic losses due to the lockdowns, which began on October 14, reach at least 81 million dollars, as the Ministry of Economy reports to AFP.

Bolivia’s two main economic centers, La Paz and Santa Cruz, are separated by Cochabamba, the third producing region that serves as a transit zone.

“When this highway is interrupted, the connection between the most dynamic centers of the country and “This has a major impact on the economy.”warns José Luis Evia, former member of the board of directors of the Central Bank of Bolivia.

The economic context is not the most favourable: in September the country recorded annual inflation of 6.2%, the highest since July 2014.