The day before, the president of Bolivia, Luis Arce Catacora, paid tribute in the municipality of Sapahaqui to the birth of the indigenous heroine Bartolina Sisa, together with vice-president David Choquehuanca.
In the ceremony, he warned that “there are latent risks” in the country because the right-wing “raises its head”.
In this sense, he urged to defend the people’s government and guarantee democracy, economic reactivation, and the protection of natural resources.
“Undoubtedly today, there are risks, that coup right wing of before is raising its head again”, denounced Arce in a clear allusion to the Santa Cruz oligarchy, led by Governor Fernando Camacho, who uses the Population and Housing Census to encourage mobilizations in Santa Cruz, as already happened on July 25 and August 8 and 9.
Camacho, who, despite meeting with the Technical Commission of the National Statistics Institute (INE) and agreeing that the census process is a technical matter and that its date of completion will be assumed from that perspective, threatened with a new 72-hour strike if the government does not respond to two requirements.
Camacho’s ultimatum, rejected by the National Executive, set until August 26 for INE to deliver the documentation requested by the Gabriel Rene Moreno Autonomous University and, until September 3, the information on the conclusions of the departmental technical tables of the National Statistics Institute (INE).
Because of these threats, the Unity Pact and the Bolivian Workers Central (COB) called for the “great national march” for this August 25, a gesture that Arce defined this Wednesday as wise.
Wearing a poncho and a hat, typical of western Bolivia, the head of state said that if “we want more works, more bridges, more industries, and more income, we must consolidate economic stability, protect our democracy and take care of our natural resources”.
“That is why (the great march) has been called for tomorrow, sisters and brothers (…) we are sure that you will also be there because we trust the Bolivian people, we trust to be there in San Francisco supporting the government that the Bolivian people have elected, the government of the people and for the people,” said the head of state.
Arce and Choquehuanca won the elections on October 18, 2020, with the support of 3,394,052 votes (55.11%), surpassing with more than 1.6 million votes the second political force, Comunidad Ciudadana, which obtained 1,775,953 votes (28.83%).
Since he assumed the Presidency on November 8, 2020, Arce implemented a set of measures that reactivated the national economy, which declined by the Coup d’Etat of 2019 and even led to a decrease of 12% in 2020.
As a result of the measures taken, in 2021, the country registered a growth of 6.11% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which are all the goods and services generated by the nation.
The president urged to guarantee democratic stability to continue with this recovery path.
“Let us guarantee democracy, let us guarantee economic stability, and let us guarantee the natural resources for the use of ourselves, the Bolivians,” emphasized Arce.
The dignitary also denounced that “there are foreign interests in our natural resources, there are some private interests in our natural resources;” therefore, he insisted that “our work, our obligation will always be to protect all this for the good of the entire population”.
“Today, as we commemorate one more year of the birth of our sister Bartolina, we ratify our commitment to struggle”, he assured.
With information from Correo del Alba