- Click to share on Facebook (Opens in a new window)
- Click to share on Twitter (Opens in a new window)
- Click here to share on LinkedIn (Opens in a new window)
- Click to email a friend (Opens in a new window)
(CNN Spanish) - Blockades, councils, marches and recriminations: Government and opposition in Bolivia maintain the pulse on the results of the controversial elections in which President Evo Morales was declared the winner.
Protesters and the opposition claim that the electoral authorities manipulated the vote count in favor of President Evo Morales, the nation's socialist leader. Protests have become violent over the result, with protesters burning urns and clashes with riot police in several cities.
MIRA: Protests in Bolivia intensify over presidential election results
This Tuesday a march at the headquarters of the Government of Bolivia tries to prevent vehicular passage in one of the main avenues of the city of La Paz. The authorities approach the protesters that block the road and with pepper gas disperse them from the place.
Why do they protest?
The preliminary results of the elections published hours after the polls closed on Sunday showed a narrow margin between President Evo Morales and former President Carlos Mesa, which would have caused a second round in December. To avoid another round of voting, a candidate needs a 10-point advantage.
But opposition groups and international observers began to suspect after election officials halted the count for 24 hours on Sunday without any explanation. When the count resumed, Morales' leadership had jumped, making sure he was an absolute winner.
The president of the TSE, María Eugenia Choque, announced that it was decided to suspend the transmission of preliminary results to avoid confusion, since the final computation had begun.
MIRA: President Evo Morales invites several countries to participate in election auditing
The electoral authorities then explained that the transmission of results was suspended because the TREP system managed to compute 80% of the votes, which they would have said was the initial goal of the TSE.
A third explanation of why the count was suspended was that it was related to technical problems.
Gerardo de Icaza, Director of Electoral Cooperation and Observation of the Organization of American States, denounced that the Government of Bolivia has provided contradictory versions of the reasons why the electoral count was interrupted.
The protests began Monday night and have already spread to La Paz, Santa Cruz, Oruro and Sucre
The opposition denounces an alleged electoral fraud. In an interview with Fernando del Rincón in Conclusions on Thursday, Carlos Mesa said "fraud is being consummated and ratified." The opponent points out that “this result breaks all legitimacy of an eventual government of Evo Morales; I would be an illegitimate president. ”
For his part, Morales denounced on October 23 that the right of Bolivia, with international support, prepared for a coup d'etat. The president called on Bolivians to defend democracy.
The OAS denounced irregularities in vote counting in Bolivia and recommended a second round. Morales requested an audit by the agency. Luis Almagro, OAS Secretary General, said they accepted and would do a mission to verify the transparency and legitimacy of the electoral process.
MIRA: Engineers denounce alteration of minutes in presidential elections of Bolivia
Who protests?
There are both opposition and related groups to the Government. Morales asked his followers this weekend to fence the cities after the civic strikes of the opposition in several cities.
"If they want unemployment, there is no problem ... We are going to accompany the cities with encirclement, to make us respect, to see if they endure," he said.
MIRA: More protests are expected in Bolivia while the opposition denounces electoral fraud
To that request was added the Single Trade Union Confederation of Workers.
For its part, the Departmental Coordinator for the change, or Codecam, threatened to prohibit the entry of food into cities.
In a press conference this Monday from Santa Cruz, former presidential candidate Carlos Mesa announced that the mobilizations will not stop "until a democratic path is raised that poses the departure of Evo Morales."
“We and I in particular, the popular will of more than 2 million votes and in that case I come as a citizen as a former president, stating the refusal to be robbed of an election for the second time, and in this case I am not afraid not I have a choice for confrontation. If I am at risk or I am not at risk it is beyond that, ”he said.
That they ask for?
The ruling party tries to convey an image of transparency. The vice president of the country, Álvaro García Linera, invited the opposition candidate Mesa to participate in the audit to be carried out by the OAS.
According to Linera, Mesa refuses to accept the sovereign decision of the Bolivian people:
“We, in the most transparent, secure and confident manner in the sovereignty of the people, have invited an international audit. We have summoned the OAS and sister countries to clear up any doubts regarding this malicious campaign that the losing candidate has made, the losing opposition candidate that refuses to accept the sovereign decision of the Bolivian people. ”
MIRA: Economic losses in Bolivia due to protests
In response to the invitation, Mesa said that “it seems key” that Morales' binomial does not accept the results given by the Superior Electoral Tribunal until the audit of the Organization of American States is carried out.
"If they are willing to recognize that until there is an audit they do not accept the results as valid and closed, we will be in condition," said Mesa.
Carlos MesaEvo Morales
