- Title: "We live in a democratic country, not a dictatorship," says Bolivian protester
- Date: 24th October 2019
- Summary: LA PAZ, BOLIVIA (OCTOBER 23, 2019) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SHOTS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS PROFANITY*** VARIOUS OF RIOT POLICE WITH PAINT-STAINED SHIELDS / HELMETS MAN WITH SPIDERMAN MASK SHOUTING (Spanish) "BOLIVIA SAID NO" YOUNG PEOPLE PROTESTING OUTSIDE THE ELECTORAL SUPREME COURT (PROFANITY OVERHEARD) MAN SHOWING ELECTIONS BALLOT PROTESTERS CHANTING (Spanish) "BOLIVIA SHOULD BE RESPECTED DAMN IT" (PROFANITY OVERHEARD) BANNER BEING HELD UP THAT READS (Spanish) "THE WORST ENEMY OF A CORRUPT GOVERNMENT, IS AN EDUCATED POPULATION" LARGE CARDBOARD FACE OF BOLIVIA'S PRESIDENT EVO MORALES PROTESTERS CHANTING (Spanish) "MY VOTE SHOULD BE RESPECTED DAMN IT" (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PROTESTER, DANIELA RUIZ, SAYING: "Our vote should be respected and he (Morales) should accept a second round so that he leaves one and for all." PROTESTERS CHANTING (Spanish) "DICTATORSHIP NO, I CAN'T BE BOTHERED TO LIVE IN A DICTATORSHIP" VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS CHANTING (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PROTESTER, FERNANDO PAREDES, SAYING: "Well, what is going to happen is that we are going to live in a dictatorship, just like Cuba and Venezuela. This is not the dictatorship by a tyrant, it's Mr. President Evo Morales who wants to be in power and he does not want to leave power. Now he asks us for five years more and then he will ask for another ten years so that is why we today are saying that Bolivia is to be respected, we live in a democratic country not in a dictatorship." POLICE IN STREET GENERAL OF GOVERNMENT MINISTRY MORALES' INTERIOR MINISTER, CARLOS ROMERO, WALKING INTO NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MORALES' INTERIOR MINISTER, CARLOS ROMERO, SAYING: "These days we have permanently endured the actions of violent groups that even resort to the hiring of paid people, that's what we have seen for example in Sucre with videos that are circulating. We saw this in Santa Cruz and Cochabamba." GOVERNMENT MINISTRY SHIELD
- Embargoed: 7th November 2019 03:35
- Keywords: streets anti-government protests opposition Bolivia's capital election election results La Paz Morales orchestrate a coup Protesters
- Location: LA PAZ, BOLIVIA
- City: LA PAZ, BOLIVIA
- Country: Bolivia
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Civil Unrest
- Reuters ID: LVA001B2GIBT3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS SOME PROFANITY IN SHOTS 3 AND 5
Protesters poured on to the streets on Wednesday (October 23) in Bolivia's capital La Paz as anger continues to mount over election results.
Bolivian leader Evo Morales, again claiming victory in the country's fraught presidential election, accused the opposition on Wednesday of trying to orchestrate a coup after anti-government protests that charged the vote counting was rigged.
Hundreds of people with flags and fireworks chanted into the night on Wednesday outside the electoral building in La Paz, as the official vote count, which has been mostly static all day, showed the leftist Morales with 46.69% of the vote with 97.5% of ballots counted from Sunday's election - 9.85 points ahead of main rival Carlos Mesa.
That left Morales, who has governed landlocked Bolivia for almost 14 years, just short of the 10-point lead needed to win outright and avoid a risky runoff, although it appeared only a matter of time before that threshold was breached.
In the plaza, the mood was boisterous more than outright angry, with small bonfires and mostly young people chanting that they did not want to live in a dictatorship.
The unrest began after an official quick vote count was disrupted by a day-long halt starting late on Sunday, when the count of almost 84% of ballots showed the two main rivals heading to a second round.
The tensions mark the most severe challenge to Morales' rule since he took office in 2006 as the country's first indigenous leader.
(Production: Monica Machicao, Santiago Limachi, Herbert Villarraga, Sergio Limachi) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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