In October 2019,

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

n militants of the then ruling political party of the

Movement for Socialism Movement for Socialism – Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples (; MAS or MAS-IPSP), is a socialist political party in Bolivia. Its followers are known as ''Masistas''. In the 2005 Bolivian general election, December 2005 el ...

(MAS) ambushed a caravan of

miners A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face (mining), face; cutt ...

students A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution, or more generally, a person who takes a special interest in a subject. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school ...

and cooperativists who were heading towards the city of

La Paz La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...

to join the demonstrations against then-president Evo Morales over alleged electoral fraud during the 2019 Bolivian general election.

Events

On October 20, 2019, different sectors throughout the country joined the citizen protests against

Evo Morales Juan Evo Morales Ayma (; born 26 October 1959) is a Bolivian politician, trade union organizer, and former cocalero activist who served as the 65th president of Bolivia from 2006 to 2019. Widely regarded as the country's first president to come ...

. On November 10TH, a caravan of miners and cooperatives from

Potosí Potosí, known as Villa Imperial de Potosí in the colonial period, is the capital city and a municipality of the Potosí Department, Department of Potosí in Bolivia. It is one of the list of highest cities in the world, highest cities in the wo ...

and students from

Sucre Sucre (; ) is the ''de jure'' capital city of Bolivia, the capital of the Chuquisaca Department and the sixth most populous city in Bolivia. Located in the south-central part of the country, Sucre lies at an elevation of . This relatively high ...

left to the city of

with the express intention of joining these protests. Aware of this, armed militants of the

Movement for socialism Movement for Socialism – Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples (; MAS or MAS-IPSP), is a socialist political party in Bolivia. Its followers are known as ''Masistas''. In the 2005 Bolivian general election, December 2005 el ...

(MAS) intercepted the road and attacked the caravan with the use of dynamite and rocks. They also used firearms at the unarmed protesters. The perpetrators are believed to be government agents authorized by the MAS. 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. 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, at that time, part of the opposition of Evo Morales.

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

President

Víctor Borda Víctor Ezequiel Borda Belzu (born June 12, 1970) is a Bolivian lawyer and politician. He was President of the Chamber of Deputies of Bolivia from January 2019 until his resignation on November 10, 2019, due to the political crisis in Bolivia. ...

resigned after protesters set his house in Potosi ablaze and kidnapped his brother as reprisal for the against miners by MAS supporters. After Vice President

Álvaro García Linera Álvaro Marcelo García Linera (; born 19 October 1962) is a Bolivian politician, sociologist, Marxist theoretician, and former guerrilla who served as the 38th vice president of Bolivia from 2006 to 2019. A member of the Movement for Soc ...

and Senate President Adriana Salvatierra, this left the country without a constitutional leader.

References

{{reflist Movimiento al Socialismo Democratic socialism in South America 2019 in Bolivia 2019 crimes in Bolivia

Events

See also

References