The Bolivian Minister of Planning, Sergio Cusicanqui, announced on Thursday that on November 4, the inauguration of the technical table that will decide the date of the Census will take place, in an attempt to quell the protests that are taking place in the city of Santa Cruz.
«Tomorrow will be the inauguration around 18.00 hours (local time) and we hope to have the presence of the main authorities (…) and to work for time and matter on the definition of the date of the census day», detailed Cusicanqui, as reported by Telesur.
In this sense, he specified that governors, mayors, municipal associations, rectors of public universities, as well as indigenous communities and international organizations have been summoned.
Shortly before, the presidential spokesman, Jorge Richter, has indicated that he expects the leaders of the civic strike in Santa Cruz «to be part of the solution and not of the conflict» in the dialogue that will be inaugurated this Friday in Trinidad, Beni, and that will be extended «the necessary time until consolidating in a technical way the date of the census», according to ABI agency.
The so-called «civic movement» of Bolivia began last Saturday an indefinite national strike to demand the celebration of the Census in 2023, instead of 2024 as proposed by the Bolivian government, since this registration conditions the distribution of aid among the regions of the country.
The protests are concentrated in the city of Santa Cruz, where the opposition to Luis Arce has the greatest weight and is the economic engine of the country, where one person has lost his life during the mobilizations.
