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La Paz (CNN) - A simple haircut can make Alfredo Mamani feel that things are returning to normal. This school teacher is glad to have this moment after three weeks of tension in Bolivia that led to the change of his government.
Last month, a disputed presidential election ended in national protests that paralyzed this South American nation. The demonstrations ended this week, with the resignation of former President Evo Morales at the suggestion of the military and with Senator Jeanine Áñez declaring herself interim president of the country. But while Morales' followers accuse the nation of orchestrating a coup d'etat, a political crisis could be developing in Bolivia.
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Thousands of people have taken the streets of La Paz during the three days since Añez took office. Some protests resulted in clashes with police and soldiers patrolling the perimeter of the National Assembly. Tear gases, motorcycles and riot vehicles were deployed to disperse the crowds that require Áñez to return Morales to his post. This Wednesday, planes of the Bolivian Air Force flew over the demonstrations.
Áñez's rise to power was necessary to avoid a vacuum in the country's government, says Mamani. “We were drifting, we didn't know where we were going,” he explained, while the barber Ronald Vargas cuts his black hair.
But Vargas shakes his head to express his disagreement. He believes that Evo Morales should have continued as president, instead of fleeing to Mexico, where he received political asylum. "He should have stayed at least until new elections were held and he could hand over power to a new president," he says.
Opinions such as these reflect the conflictive mood in La Paz, the government headquarters of Bolivia, where public workers strive to clean up the debris that blocked the streets and eliminate the burn marks left by the fires caused during the protests.
In the Plaza Mayor of San Francisco, throughout the historic center of the capital, street vendors and other stores re-open their doors to customers who walk along Paseo El Prado, a main avenue where civic groups and those who are Morales's favor marched during the last weeks.
Alicia Valenciana, who calls herself chola - the name used by indigenous women farmers in Bolivia - says she believes that Evo Morales was falsely accused of fraud, but still appreciates a change of leadership after almost 14 years in The charge. “Our president left the country intact; I do not still. Now we have to wait for what the new leadership brings, ”he said.
Although the legacy of the controversial former president will ultimately be decided by historians, even those who struggled to see him leave power admitted that he transformed the country.
Karla Huanca Laurenti points to a mural that represents Morales' face, on a soccer field. “He did some good things,” acknowledges the tourist student while traveling through the city on the cable car, a system that connects several points in La Paz and was built during the Morales government.
As the first indigenous president, Evo Morales helped change the country's political system to recognize the autonomy of rural indigenous communities, implemented social programs that helped the growth of the middle class, reduced illiteracy and built a road system that facilitated travel between the provinces
While Laurenti says she is happy because the blockades ended and Morales was out of power, she worries that the situation is far from normal now. "There are still many angry because he left and now they are protesting," he says.
Supporters of former Bolivian president Evo Morales protest against the interim government in La Paz on November 15, 2019. (Credit: RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP via Getty Images)
Those protests are being organized just north of La Paz, in the city of El Alto, where Morales is still popular. Just outside the cable car station, a group of street food vendors say the president took them out of poverty. One of them, Segundina Cruz, says that the public health clinics established under the Morales government made it possible for her two children to receive medical care that she could not otherwise afford.
In other parts of El Alto, groups of between 20 and 30 indigenous people march through the streets asking Áñez to resign. They claim that it does not represent real people, while waving the wiphala, the flag of indigenous peoples.
But not all cry for the return of Morales. The group of street vendors outside the cable car stations, disappointed by the end of the country's first indigenous presidency, says it is time for new blood to lead Bolivia. "We voted for Evo because it was new," says one woman, who preferred not to be named. “Now is the time for new people, not the same as always. There are many young people who should take charge now, ”he insisted.
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The issue of old and entrenched leadership is shared by people on both sides of the debate, who complain that none of the candidates on the October 20 vote, nor the civic leaders who pressed for Morales's departure, really represent to all of Bolivia. Which is an obvious problem: none of the people I spoke with could name a single public figure who could be the next president
Evo MoralesJeanine ÁñezProtestsProtests in Bolivia