Bolivia reaches one week of unrest following opposition leader's arrest

Record ID: 1705223

  • Title: Bolivia reaches one week of unrest following opposition leader's arrest
  • Date: 4th January 2023
  • Summary: VIACHA, EL ALTO, BOLIVIA (JANUARY 4, 2023) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF "RED PONCHOS" PRO-GOVERNMENT GROUP BLOCKING ROAD CHONCHOCORO PRISON ENTRANCE VARIOUS OF CHONCHOCORO PRISON BUILDING VARIOUS OF POLICE OUSIDE PRISON VARIOUS OF RED PONCHOS GROUP OUTSIDE PRISON CHANTING (Spanish): "Justice!" (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LEADER OF THE "RED PONCHOS" (PONCHOS ROJOS) GROUP FROM CUTINI DE CHONCHOCORO, BONIFACIO QUISPE, SAYING: “We are protesting because, since congress members from Santa Cruz are arriving, we want (right-wing leader) Luis Fernando Camacho to stay here (prison) for 30 years.” VARIOUS OF SANTA CRUZ GOVERNMENT WORKERS ARRIVING TO PRISON VARIOUS OF WIFE OF RIGHT-WING LEADER LUIS CAMACHO INSIDE BLACK CAR (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) SANTA CRUZ GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENT ADVISOR, EFRAIN SUAREZ, SAYING: “We arrived here – I’m not sure if by the main or an alternative road – but the main and most important thing is we reached Chonchocoro. My message is clear: Santa Cruz will reach Chonchocoro one way or another because a branch of our government has been installed here. The (Santa Cruz) governor (Luis Fernando) is working from the Chonchocoro prison.” SANTA CRUZ GOVERNMENT WORKERS LEAVING PRISON RED PONCHOS OUTSIDE JAIL SANTA CRUZ, BOLIVIA (JANUARY 4, 2023) (COMITÉ PRO SANTA CRUZ) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRO SANTA CRUZ COMMITTEE PRESIDENT, ROMULO CALVO, SAYING: “We’ll maintain the blockades on highways leading to the country’s interior. This task is being carried out bravely throughout our provinces by the provincial civic committees and their populations.” VIACHA, EL ALTO, BOLIVIA (JANUARY 4, 2023) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF POLICE OFFICERS WORKING AT JAIL SANTA CRUZ, BOLIVIA (JANUARY 4, 2023) (COMITÉ PRO SANTA CRUZ) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRO SANTA CRUZ COMMITTEE PRESIDENT, ROMULO CALVO, SAYING: “The national police has turned into a repressing force that only serves the interests of the political party in power. The people who wear those uniforms have wrecked and distorted the role of the public order institution.” SANTA CRUZ, BOLIVIA (JANUARY 3, 2023) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SHOTS) POLICE FIRING GAS CANISTER FIRES BURNING IN STREET DEMONSTRATORS CHANTING (Spanish): "Free (Luis) Camacho"
  • Embargoed: 18th January 2023 22:15
  • Keywords: Bolivia Luis Fernando Camacho Santa Cruz Viacha
  • Location: VIACHA, EL ALTO & SANTA CRUZ, BOLIVIA
  • City: VIACHA, EL ALTO & SANTA CRUZ, BOLIVIA
  • Country: Bolivia
  • Topics: South America / Central America,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA001045604012023RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:Bolivia has seen a full week of protests and unrest caused by the detention of opposition leader and Santa Cruz governor Luis Camacho.
    On Wednesday (January 4), outside Chonchocoro prison where Camacho is held, Santa Cruz government management advisor Efrain Suarez insisted that Camacho was continuing to work on his duties as governor from within the prison.
    Outside Chonchocoro, Santa Cruz government authorities were met by a pro-government indigenous group known as ‘Red Ponchos’ who demanded Camacho stay in prison.
    Police arrested Camacho, the right-wing governor of opposition stronghold and farming province Santa Cruz, on Dec. 28 on terrorism charges related to what authorities call a coup in 2019 against then leftist leader Evo Morales. Camacho denies the charges.
    Camacho's arrest has sparked a weeklong protest by his supporters, whose ongoing highway blockades could snarl the movement of food and grains.
    Blockades throughout the region are expected to continue, said the President of Pro Santa Cruz Committee Romulo Calvo.
    As a civic leader in 2019, Camacho led protests against Morales, whose party is now back in power under President Luis Arce. Morales had clinched a fourth term in defiance of term limits and a referendum vote against him being allowed to run.
    Bolivia's government says Camacho must face justice for what it calls a coup against Morales, who resigned under pressure as the 2019 protests spread, the police mutinied, and union groups and finally the military urged him to step down.
    (Production: Santiago Limachi, Sergio Limachi, Agustin Marcarian, Monica Machicao, Gloria Lopez, Nina Lopez)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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