Protesters in Santa Cruz area assault buildings and block highways to protest the arrest of right-wing opposition chief Luis Fernando Camacho.
(AFP)
Protesters in Bolivia’s Santa Cruz, a comparatively rich
farming area, have attacked buildings, burned automobiles and blocked
highways as a part of a 24-hour strike following the arrest
of the regional governor, a right-wing opposition chief.
As night time fell on Friday, protesters in elements of the provincial
capital torched automobiles and tires and hurled fireworks towards
police forces, who used tear gasoline to disperse the crowds.
During the day, across the metropolis, largely peaceable teams
had protested by blocking roads with tires, rocks and flags
strung throughout streets as blockades.
The protests are the most recent face-off between Santa Cruz,
led by right-wing Governor Luis Fernando Camacho, and leftist
President Luis Arce’s authorities.
Camacho was detained on Wednesday on a cost of “terrorism” for his alleged involvement in
2019 political unrest that noticed then-president Evo Morales resign and flee
the nation.
He was sentenced to 4 months of pre-trial detention late on Thursday and was transferred to
a most safety jail early on Friday.
Camacho has maintained his innocence and known as his
arrest and transport to La Paz, the nation’s capital, a
kidnapping.
Prosecutors denied the arrest was a kidnapping or
politically motivated.
READ MORE: Bolivia prosecutors name detained opposition chief a flight threat
(AFP)
‘It was not a coup’
The governor grew to become a face for the right-wing opposition
motion as a civic chief who known as for leftist Morales to
step down in 2019.
On Twitter on Friday morning, Camacho’s
communications group stated the fallout from the contested election
“was not a coup, it was a fraud.”
Camacho additionally led weeks-long protests snarling commerce from
the area via final month, calling for the federal government to
transfer up a census date that will probably give Santa Cruz extra
political illustration and tax revenues.
The authorities has not stated the way it will reply to
Friday’s roadblocks, although some navy forces had been unfold
all through Santa Cruz late Thursday.
In the final spherical of protests, government-allied teams violently clashed with Camacho supporters.
READ MORE:
Bolivia detains fundamental opposition chief as tensions spike
Source: Reuters
