Protests erupted in Bolivia last month following a controversial election in which suspicion arose among opponents of the incumbent, Evo Morales, after the quick count was surprisingly halted.
His main rival, Carlos Mesa said that the quick count’s results were fraudulent.
Morales has been in power since 2006. If he wins the election he’ll stay on as president for another five years. The Bolivian people, for the most part, are not happy about this.
The latest in a series of violent clashes between government supporters and opponents took place in Vinto, a small town in Cochabamba province in central Bolivia where protesters blocked a bridge.
Rumours started to circulate that two opposition protesters had been killed nearby in clashes with supporters of Morales, prompting an angry group to march to the town hall.
BBC reports that the protesters accused Mayor Patricia Arce of bussing in supporters of the president to try and break the blockade on the bridge. They also blamed her for the two deaths, one of which was later confirmed.
Amid shouts of “murderess, murderess” masked men dragged her through the streets barefoot to the bridge. There, they made her kneel down, cut her hair and doused her in red paint. They also forced her to sign a resignation letter.
The aftermath of that, here.
And from Twitter:
BOLIVIA: Anti-government protestors covered a pro-government mayor from Vimto in paint and cut her hair before parading her through the street. – @Marco_Teruggi pic.twitter.com/AZ0YTnNMGL
— Conflict News (@Conflicts) November 7, 2019
Arce was eventually handed over to police who took her to a local healthcare centre.
While this is bad, it’s not nearly as bad as what they do to mayors in Mexico.
More on the election that sparked the protests:
The final result gave Mr Morales just over the 10-percentage-point lead he needed to win outright in the first round of the presidential election.
Election observers from the Organisation of American States (OAS) expressed their concerns and an audit by the body is currently underway. However, Mr Mesa has rejected the audit arguing that it was agreed without his or his party’s input.
The protests will likely continue until the audit is over and the people know exactly where they stand with their current president.
[source:bbc]
