The President of Bolivia, Luis Arce, reiterated this Sunday the value of unity to defeat the right-wing coup and warned the organizers of the citizens’ strike in Santa Cruz Department (East) against the Movement towards Socialism (MAS) and organizations social groups will take to the streets to defend what they won in the elections.
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During a peasant rally in Chuquisaca (south) to mark the 40th anniversary of the Unified Federation of Workers of the Original Peoples of that department, Arce claimed that the right intends to lead the nation again and bring it back to the moments of death in the 2019 coup.
He expressed that the coup leaders are trying to divide the country and win with destabilizing maneuvers, something they failed to achieve in the October 2020 polls, when Arce and his running mate, Vice President David Choquehuanca, got 55.11 percent of the vote.
Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Glorious Single Federation of Workers of Native Peoples of #Chuquisaca – FUTPOCH, in the parish of Padilla, from where we send a great message of unity to the country and the world.
Long live FUTPOCH!
Congratulations! pic.twitter.com/le76IIACd0— Luis Alberto Arce Catacora (Lucho Arce) (@LuchoXBolivia)
November 13, 2022
The head of state denounced the fact that the so-called civic groups of the department of Santa Cruz (East) are conspiring again and are planning a new destabilization and assured that “they have no popular support”.
He recalled that the population of the South American country “voted at the polls for a government of the people and for the people” with a majority of feeling. He stressed that MAS and the social sectors remain more united than ever to resist any attack on democracy and institutionality.
In recent days, the indefinite strike promoted by Luis Fernando Camacho, Rómulo Calvo and other leaders of the Santa Cruz oligarchy has taken on a more violent and racist character.
Shock groups intent on using force to enforce this pressure measure attacked a peaceful march of workers in downtown Santa Cruz de la Sierra last Friday demanding an end to the strike.
In addition, they looted and set fire to the peasant headquarters, and then destroyed the departmental-level premises of the Central Obrera. There have also been reports of the evictions of Ayoreo indigenous communities and the burning of their homes.
In a message to the nation last Friday, Arce made it clear that the right is using the issue of the census and housing census as a pretext for these destabilizing acts.