Opponents of Arce hold town meetings in various parts of Bolivia

At least since the Arce Catacora regime decided to kidnap the governor of Santa Cruz and opposition leader, Luis Fernando Camacho, for a coup d’état that did not happen, but a monumental and shameless fraud perpetrated by Evo Morales, Bolivia lives in fear that the deterioration not only in the economic sphere but also in the judicial and democratic institutional spheres, is unbearable.

Faced with this fear, the country has been witnessing a citizenry that takes to the streets to speak out and demonstrate peacefully against the increasing abuses of the rule of law and the permanent violation of the fundamental rights of citizens and authorities carefully selected in a show of power and permanent mockery of all opponents.

The latest demonstration, undoubtedly remarkable, took place last Wednesday night.

It was the ‘Cabildo Nacional por la Justicia, Democracia y Libertad’, a series of spontaneously organized rallies in different cities simultaneously.

All these rallies have presented statements with different points in number and content, but the same in spirit.

Among the points to highlight, for example, the last meeting of the department of Santa Cruz – which, although massive, has not surpassed the meeting of November 13 -, has had a great impact at a national level.

Several objectives have been raised and approved there.

For example, to demand the release within a maximum of 30 days of all those who have been unjustly arrested and imprisoned, such as former president Jeanine Añez, but above all Camacho, its highest authority, who has been imprisoned in the maximum security prison of Chonchocoro in the high plains of La Paz since December 28.

If the Arce regime did not pay due attention to this citizen demand, the collection of signatures from the citizens would be organized to allow a referendum to revoke his mandate until next May.

It was also proposed to collect signatures for another referendum to introduce partial reforms to the Political Constitution of the State, so that, in turn, the judicial system would be reformed.

Of course, the spirit of these proposals is correct, adequate, and desirable. However, it does not cease to represent a danger.

For example, the questions that arise before the approval of these initiatives are very important:

What happens if Arce wins the referendum?

What happens if he loses it and Choquehuanca assumes the mandate but does not call elections, or worse still, does so without being able to prevent Morales’ candidacy?

Who would be the only candidate of the opposition that has also demanded the cabildo?

Will the challenge be assumed with the same electoral roll of 2019?

Another element to highlight is the fact that Tarija’s meeting was the only one that vindicated the idea of reviewing the relationship of its department with the State.

It is not that Santa Cruz had forgotten, but rather that it was an objective raised and approved already in the aforementioned cabildo of November 13, after the 36-day continuous strike demanding the realization of a population and housing census.

Although, it would not have been superfluous to remember it in some way.

The interesting thing, however, about what happened on Wednesday night, is that each town council has contributed different ideas on how they assume the challenge of channeling respect for democracy, the rule of law, and freedom in the country.

The Cochabamba town council, for example, reached five resolutions, among which stand out to ratify the existence of the electoral fraud of 2019 and, consequently, to reopen the trial of those responsible and demand the closing of the processes for the false coup d’état I and II; and to demand the realization of an audit of the electoral roll in charge of an independent international entity.

Undoubtedly, all the demands of the citizen assemblies in different departments have managed to consolidate the path to follow to recover the country, which, as it was accused, is in a very advanced state of deterioration in all areas.

It only remains to hope that these initiatives and demands are channeled in the most appropriate way possible by a preferably new and credible political class, which already has the fundamental bases to build a new proposal and a clear project for the country.

With information from LGI