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"Nothing to negotiate": protesters occupy state broadcasters in Bolivia

2019-11-10T08:22:56.622Z


The pressure on Bolivia's leader Morales is rising: After renewed demonstrations protesters have occupied the headquarters of two state broadcasters. Meanwhile, the opposition rejected a call for dialogue.



In the dispute over the outcome of the presidential election in Bolivia, protesters have occupied the headquarters of two state broadcasters. Employees of Bolivia TV and Radio Patria Nueva left the station building in the capital, La Paz, on Saturday with the boos of hundreds of demonstrators.

The opposition has meanwhile rejected a call from incumbent Evo Morales to dialogue. His rival in the presidential election, Carlos Mesa, said with regard to Morales and his government that there was "nothing to negotiate". Another opposition party rejected the offer of talks. The influential citizen committees, which organize the protests significantly, the president previously expressly excluded from his offer.

After filling the station building, Morales criticized demonstrators claiming to protect democracy "but they act like dictators". Arson attacks were carried out on his sister's home in Oruro and on the governor's residences in Oruro and Chuquisaca. It is a "fascist coup plan," wrote Morales on Twitter.

Denunciamos y condenamos ante la comunidad internacional y pueblo boliviano que el plan de golpe fascista ejecuta actos violentos con grupos irregulares que incendiaron la casa de gobernadores de Chuquisaca y Oruro y de mi hermana en esa ciudad. Preservemos la paz y la democracia

- Evo Morales Ayma (@evoespueblo) November 10, 2019

The riots continued in the night of Sunday. Protesters blocked, according to media reports, a toll station on the highway between La Paz and the adjacent Oet El Alto, a stronghold of the Morales supporters. The private television station Unitel said its facility had been destroyed by protesters.

In the South American country, there have been massive protests for weeks against the official result of the presidential election announced by the Electoral Commission, which left the left-leaning incumbent Morales narrowly out of the game. The opposition and many citizens suspect electoral fraud. So far, three people were killed in the protests and around 200 others were injured. (Read more about the backgrounds here.)

On Friday, units of the elite police unit Utop had sided with the demonstrators in Cochabamba, Sucre and Santa Cruz. During the night of Saturday, according to local media reports, this uprising spread to other police units. In La Paz, the Utop units retreated to their headquarters at the Plaza Murillo's presidential palace, which they had guarded over the past few weeks. An AFP reporter observed only a few policemen on the field.

Opposition politicians called on the army to follow the example of the police and deny Morales allegiance. Meanwhile, Defense Minister Javier Zavaleta emphasized that there were no plans to use military force against the insurgent police.

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2019-11-10

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