The 24-hour strike called by the Pro Santa Cruz Civic Committee in rejection of the arrest of Governor Luis Fernando Camacho has ended with violence by members of the Unión Juvenil Cruceñista (UJC), with destruction and burning of public buildings and vehicles.
For more than seven hours, UJC shock groups tried to take over the Santa Cruz Police Departmental Command. Armed with sticks, stones and firecrackers, they attacked police officers without achieving their objective, according to ABI agency.
The protesters allegedly set up barricades with tires and threw metal objects and stones, injuring some police officers.
Previously, at least ten state buildings had been seized and attacked, even taking hostage an official of the National Tax Service (SIN), who was released hours later with evident signs of violence on his body, according to the agency.
Meanwhile, the Bolivian Ombudsman, Pedro Callisaya, has defended the end of the confrontations in the city of Santa Cruz, calling for peaceful coexistence among Bolivians.
«The violent events that have occurred in recent days in the city of Santa Cruz create a scenario of violation of human rights. It is necessary that tolerance and peaceful coexistence among Bolivians prevail,» said Callisaya in a message on the social network Twitter.
Luis Fernando Camacho is one of the main opposition figures to the president of Bolivia, Luis Arce, as well as governor of Santa Cruz, the richest region of the country and historically opposed to the governments of the Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS), scene in the last month of new protests and blockades, this time to oppose the government’s census law.
His arrest is motivated by his role in the violent demonstrations and protests that occurred after the opposition, supported by the Armed Forces, pressured Morales to renounce his victory in the October 2019 elections, whose results were also questioned by the Organization of American States (OAS).
After his arrest, there have been protests in Santa Cruz, including road and airport blockades. Likewise, other opposition representatives have demanded his release, while warning the Government that they will not «give up» and that they will continue fighting «to the last consequences».
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
