Strike in Bolivia aggravates polarization between socialist government and opponents

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – President Luis Arce started a crusade to urge his base to confront the indefinite strike, which today reaches its 4th day and has paralyzed 7 regions of the country.

The polarization that has been growing for years has been exacerbated by the strike, as seen on Wednesday in La Paz. The capital was the scene of a massive march in opposition to the so-called “mother law,” which coincided with another massive mobilization of pro-government militants against what they consider attempts to destabilize Arce’s government.

The organizers of the march against the reform changed the meeting place to prevent confrontation with Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) militants, who called to meet at the same place.

The opposition mobilization was the first massive demonstration in La Paz within the national strike against the mentioned law called by informal traders, transport workers and civilians and that in other cities has been taking place since Monday.

These strike days have been marked by police excesses – with over 100 arrests – and by the intervention of pro-government sectors to counter the blockades – violent clashes in the streets between pro-government and opposition – as well as attacks on journalists by the security forces and demonstrators.

The pro-government march reached Abaroa square, with tension at some points along the way due to heated arguments with people who booed and criticized them.

Bolivia remains mired in a dispute between the ruling party, which claims that Evo Morales was overthrown in 2019 by a “coup d’état,” and its detractors, who argue that the crisis was the result of fraud in favor of the ex-president in the failed 2019 general elections, later annulled.

The denunciations of “coup d’état” attempts were a constant during the Morales administration before any conflict that could get out of control, and now the Arce administration assures that the mobilizations against the law seek to destabilize the Executive and stage a “second coup.”

In Cochabamba and Santa Cruz, where the strike was partially carried out on Wednesday, there were also afternoon marches, while Arce had meetings with La Paz farmers and Oruro miners who support his government.

Arce affirms that the protests of civic and opposition sectors are in fact a “pretext” to deflect the trials initiated over the 2019 crisis, which he claims was a “coup d’état.” In La Paz, the president told farmers that the right-wing “deceives” and “lies” because “it has no arguments” and that it seeks “impunity for what happened 2 years ago. The president warned that in the event of repealing the law, the opposition “will look for” another law to target and “everything will be challenged.”

Arce was joined by his vice-president David Choquehuanca, who encouraged his base to rise up against the strike. “We have to rise up throughout the country to defend our democracy, our natural resources, our legitimately elected government,” Choquehuanca said.

The leader’s words have caught on among his followers. “Like in 2019, we took to the streets to defend democracy, now we are more united than ever, more prepared, we will not allow another coup (…) We will defend our democratically elected brothers Luis Arce and (vice president) David Choquehuanca with tooth and nail and with our lives,” said Fredy Rojas, one of the participants in yesterday’s pro-government march in La Paz.

With information from Lavanguardia