Bolivia govt struggles with police, native protests

LA PAZ — Tensions mounted in Bolivia as President Evo Morales’s government struggled to reach a deal with striking police and indigenous protestors prepared to march on the capital La Paz.

Despite the resumption of negotiations, hundreds of uniformed police demonstrated for a sixth day in front of the gates of the heavily-guarded palace, where Morales was working in the morning, a palace official told AFP.

At the same time, public workers aligned with Morales gathered at a square in the outskirts of La Paz in a rally for the president.

"I wish that they didn’t call for this act of public support because regrettably there are going to be confrontations and the situation is going to get worse," warned Guadalupe Cardenas, leader of a police wives’ group.

The situation in the capital was due to become even more volatile on Wednesday with the arrival of 1,000 indigenous natives, completing a long march from the Amazon to protest a highway through their ancestral homeland.

The natives had delayed their entry into La Paz to fend off accusations from the Morales government that they were only coming in to back the police mutiny, which has been officially portrayed as a budding "coup d’etat."

"Tomorrow (Wednesday), from nine in the morning, we will take up the road again heading for the seat of government," said indigenous leader Bertha Bejarano at their encampment 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) north of the capital.
(...)

to be continued there

#golpe #bolivia #morales #democracy