2019 Potosí-Oruro highway attacks

In October 2019, Bolivian militants of the then ruling political party of the Movement for Socialism (MAS)[1] ambushed a caravan of miners, students and cooperativists who were heading towards the city of La Paz to join the demonstrations against then-president Evo Morales over alleged electoral fraud[2] during the 2019 Bolivian general election.

Events

On October 20, 2019, different sectors throughout the country joined the citizen protests against Evo Morales.[3] On November 10TH, a caravan of miners and cooperatives from Potosí and students from Sucre left to the city of La Paz with the express intention of joining these protests. Aware of this, armed militants of the Movement for socialism (MAS) intercepted the road and attacked the caravan with the use of dynamite and rocks.[4] They also used firearms at the unarmed protesters.[5][6] The perpetrators are believed to be government agents authorized by the MAS.[7] Initially, it was reported that four people were injured. Eyewitnesses told the press that among the weapons the MAS militiamen had, were firearms for military use.[8][9] The protesters captured by the MAS members were also forced to strip naked and declare that they had been paid members of the Pro-Santa Cruz Civic Committee,[10] at that time, part of the opposition of Evo Morales.

Chamber of Deputies President Víctor Borda resigned after protesters set his house in Potosi ablaze and kidnapped his brother as reprisal for the against miners by MAS supporters.[11][12] After Vice President Álvaro García Linera and Senate President Adriana Salvatierra, this left the country without a constitutional leader.[12]

See also

References
  1. "Masistas emboscan a caravana potosina con armas de fuego" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2019-11-11. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  2. "Informe de la OEA sobre Bolivia concluye que hubo "manipulación y parcialidad" en los comicios del 20 de octubre" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2019-12-06. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  3. "Ataque a cooperativistas mineros fue camuflado" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2020-01-06. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  4. "Brave miners from Potosí attacked by masista snipers". Archived from the original on 2020-09-29. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  5. "Emboscada y ataque criminal a mineros potosinos deja dos heridos de bala" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2019-12-06. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  6. "Emboscada y ataque criminal a mineros potosinos deja cuatro heridos de bala" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2019-12-17. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  7. "URGENTE: Una caravana fue atacada y hay tres heridos de bala" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2019-11-12. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  8. "Emboscan a segunda caravana que iba de Potosí a La Paz" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2019-11-10. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  9. "Reportan violento ataque a caravana de mineros en Challapata Pampa" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2020-11-23. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  10. ""Masistas" cometieron vejámenes y agresiones" (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  11. "Víctor Borda renuncia de manera irrevocable a la presidencia de la Cámara de Diputados". Los Tiempos (in Spanish). November 10, 2019. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
  12. Faiola, Anthony; Krygier, Rachelle. "Bolivia's Morales resigns amid scathing election report, rising protests". Washington Post. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
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