Former candidate Pumari calls for insults: they threw tomatoes at him

Courtesy of El Potosí newspaper

(CNN Spanish) -

Tomatoes, oranges and even coins were launched this Wednesday against the former candidate for the vice presidency of Bolivia by the Creemos alliance, Marco Pumari, who a day before had made an invitation so that his critics on social networks could address “ his insults and aggressions in a personal way ”.

"I make this invitation so that you have the possibility of concretizing the threats that you have made during all this time towards me, for the decision to have taken the candidacy and go to the elections on October 18," said Pumari this Tuesday in a video posted on their social networks.

Dozens of people attended the call on Wednesday, which took place in the Plaza de Armas 10 de Noviembre in Potosí, in an act that led to some clashes between followers and detractors of the former candidate.

In videos recorded by the Bolivian medium El Potosí, people are heard shouting "sold" and "out."

The throwing of objects in the direction of the former candidate is also observed, and the return of the objects by his supporters.

Some attendees called Pumari a "masista" and blamed him for being responsible for the Movement for Socialism (MAS) to return to power, according to state media ABI.

Pumari was a running mate of Luis Fernando Camacho in the Creemos alliance.

According to the preliminary calculations of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal of Bolivia (TSE), they were not favored in the presidential elections on Sunday.

“Here I want to show my face, they have indicated that I want to escape, I am not going to do it.

I will be here because I have not committed any crime, "he told the media on Wednesday.

He added that he had received threats against his family.

In one part of the videos, Pumari is seen being escorted by two women, apparently civilians, and dodging the objects thrown at him and then entering a building.

Shortly after, members of the Police Operations Tactical Unit (UTOP) arrive to protect access to Pumari.

Minutes later the situation calmed down.

According to a UTOP commander, there were no injuries.

The calculation of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal of Bolivia was close to 90% until this Wednesday and gave an advantage to the candidate of the Movement for Socialism (MAS), Luis Arce, with 54.5% of the votes.

His main rival, the candidate of the Citizen Community party, Carlos Mesa, had 29.2% of the preferences.

The Camacho-Pumari binomial, from the Creemos party, has so far 14.1% of the votes computed.

With this difference in the percentages, the MAS would obtain the victory in a single round.

The TSE has not yet made the results official, but the interim president Jeanine Áñez congratulated Luis Arce, who is backed by former president Evo Morales.

Marco Pumari