Evo Morales

Rest Rest. The first day of the march led by former Bolivian President Evo Morales left thirteen people injured, including three police officers, said Minister of Government Eduardo Del Castillo. The incident occurred amid clashes between supporters of Morales — who will march almost 200 kilometers over a week to get from Oruro to La Paz, the Bolivian capital — and supporters of President Luis Arce.

During a press conference held in the late afternoon, Minister Del Castillo blamed the former president for the riots that occurred on Tuesday. “It was a day of violence organized by Evo Morales,” said Del Castillo.

The march — which pits two factions of the ruling party, the Movement Towards Socialism, MAS, against each other, seeking to control it, one aligned with Morales and the other with Arce, his political heir, now turned rival — left on Tuesday from the small town of Caracollo, in the Oruro region, about 190 kilometers from La Paz, where it intends to arrive in the next few days. In the late afternoon it arrived in Panduro, where the protesters will spend the night to resume the march on Wednesday morning.

After starting the so-called “March to save Bolivia,” Morales said that he is marching so that the MAS is respected. “They don’t just want to disqualify me,” Morales said, while accusing the president of wanting to “regulate political rights.”

A few kilometres after their departure, a group of supporters of Arce stood on the road to stop the march. On the road, they burned a doll representing Evo Morales while many protesters remained in the mountains, waiting for more Morales supporters to arrive and prevent them from passing.

However, Morales’ supporters outnumbered their opponents and threw stones at them amid tear gas in a confusing moment. The Morales-aligned group surrounded them and managed to advance while Arce’s supporters retreated.

Minister Del Castillo denied that the police had used tear gas to repel the protesters and claimed that the police were attacked by Morales’ supporters.

In a statement, the Bolivian police reported that police officers “were violently attacked with slingshots and stones without any cause and with the aim of provoking the security forces, resulting in several police officers being injured, as well as police vehicles (vans and Coaster-type buses, which belong to all Bolivians) with considerable material damage.”

“Morales has already had his chance, he has led us to this economic crisis. It is his fault that we are in this situation and now he claims to defend the people; it is unacceptable,” Rolando Flores, a pro-Arce miner, told AP.

Arce wrote on his Facebook account: “Destroying, threatening, blocking and spreading hatred will always be easier for those who do not believe in democracy, for those who believe themselves to be saviors of scenarios of uncertainty that they themselves seek to promote.”

Morales (2006-2019) called for the march against the deterioration of the economy and to pressure the government and the Supreme Electoral Tribunal to accept his candidacy for the 2025 presidential elections by the divided ruling party.

“We are suffering from hunger… This is not how you govern,” Felix Torres, a peasant representative from the highland region of Oruro, told The Associated Press. He added that Morales is the hope for a return to economic prosperity.

“Arce, traitor. Where is the money? Evo Bolivia wants you back,” shouted Morales supporters who carried Bolivian flags, but from the MAS.

The dispute between Morales and Arce —both leaders of different factions of the MAS— began when the former president announced his candidacy for the presidency next year. Arce, who has not yet confirmed his candidacy, accused Morales of seeking to “impose” his candidacy “by fair means or foul.”

The president is facing a complicated economic crisis that began last year with the lack of dollars in an economy in which this currency is important because the productive sectors, merchants and artisans use it to import their inputs and merchandise. The government also uses dollars to import gasoline and diesel and sell them at a subsidized price.

Bolivia will spend 1.2 billion dollars this year on importing gasoline and diesel at international prices, which it will then sell at half the cost, according to official reports. To finance these purchases, the government has resorted to international currency reserves, which has worsened the shortage of dollars, which in turn has influenced the increase in prices for the basic basket of goods.

Gas production, which had driven the Bolivian economy until 2014, has entered into crisis due to the depletion of wells and the lack of new discoveries caused by a drop in investments.

PeaceFormer Bolivian President Evo Morales (2006-2019), leader of the ruling Movement Towards Socialism (MAS), unexpectedly announced on Wednesday his decision to abandon the march he was leading, arguing that the government is “demonizing” his political figure by seeking re-election in the 2025 presidential elections.

“Since Evo is being demonized, penalized and criminalized so much, I have decided after this day to withdraw from the march,” said the former Bolivian president to his followers, who are heading to the town of Lahuachaca, in the Andean Altiplano, 128 kilometers from the city of La Paz.

Morales’ announcement comes amid growing criticism and accusations from officials in the government of Bolivian President Luis Arce, who accuse the politician of fomenting violence by seeking to shorten the current presidential term and enable his candidacy at any cost to return to power through re-election.

Morales began a walk on Tuesday from the Altiplano region to La Paz, in defense of the respect of his right to participate in the 2025 presidential elections.

The march covers some 190 kilometers and is accompanied by supporters from related sectors such as farmers, indigenous people and miners.

Initially, the anti-government march included economic demands, but it has been transformed into a political stage to promote Morales’ candidacy for next year’s elections, which has generated rejection from the Executive.

Tensions between the two political parties increased after several ministers in Arce’s cabinet accused Morales of orchestrating an attempted coup.

President Arce’s government stressed that the recent blockades and protests promoted by the former president not only affect the country’s political stability, but also its economic stability.

The Minister of Economy and Public Finance, Marcelo Montenegro, warned that the Bolivian economy has weakened due to internal conflicts, in addition to the global context.

Meanwhile, Vice President David Choquehuanca was blunt in stating on Wednesday that “if you violate the Constitution (…) you are violating the legal system and democratic institutions, which constitutes a crime that is punishable by law.”