Bolivian city of Santa Cruz decides to hold street protests

Thousands of opponents from the city of Santa Cruz, the economic engine of boliviandecided this Sunday to continue their street protests that are 23 days old, after the leftist government called for 2024 a population census that the protesters asked to advance.

A council convened by the civic committee, a right-wing civil-business conglomerate, asked several hundred thousand protesters to approve or reject out loud “maintain the stoppage until within these 72 hours [el miércoles] All detained citizens are released.

Look: Strike and crisis in Bolivia | What happens in Santa Cruz and why the strike would be radicalized

Amongst the tricolor flags of Bolivia and the white and green ones of Santa Cruz, the crowd approved with a “yes” the statement read by the president of the committee, the civil leader Rómulo Calvo.

It is estimated that there are twenty opponents detained in clashes with groups loyal to the leftist president, Luis Arce.

Santa Cruz calls the blockades of streets, avenues and interdepartmental roads that have isolated the most populated region of Bolivia from the rest of the departments and from its roads with Brazil and Argentina as a “strike”.

The civic committee did not detail what steps they will take after Wednesday.

The opposition region spoke out after the leftist president, Luis Arce, rejected on Friday night to advance a population census to 2023, ratifying it for 2024.

Santa Cruz has been demanding that the census be carried out in 2023 to update its legislative representation and the amount of state funds it receives, considering that there is a greater number of inhabitants than the latest official statistics.

Their protests have had this end.

Without openly accepting the presidential decree, the popular assembly only limited itself to demanding from the government the correspondence of the results of the census with the distribution of state economic resources for the entire country, as well as a new reallocation of seats in Parliament, before the presidential elections in mid-2025.

In Bolivia, the 130 deputies are distributed according to population data and Santa Cruz argues that having more inhabitants means more seats in the Lower House.

Santa Cruz, the economic engine of Bolivia, recorded four deaths and more than 170 injuries in 23 days of protests, according to data from the Executive.

The government has also said that for every day of protests, the region loses between $35 million and $40 million.

Planning Minister Sergio Cusicanqui said earlier that the allocation of public funds will be available six months after the census and that the redistribution of parliamentary seats is the responsibility of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.

Source: Elcomercio

Ronald Payne

I, Ronald Payne, am a journalist and author who dedicated his life to telling the stories that need to be said. I have over 7 years of experience as a reporter and editor, covering everything from politics to business to crime.