Comrade Evo is the Mas president and that will be his role … But I will lead the government. Morales caused anger last year, even in Mas, for ignoring a referendum and seeking a fourth term in an attempt to extend his 14 years in power. Jim Shultz, the founder of the Bolivia-focused Democracy Center, said that was not necessarily how things would turn out. This article is more than 1 year old. Tom Phillips Latin America correspondent. Carwil Bjork-James, assistant professor of anthropology at Vanderbilt University.
During this turbulent transition period, key decisions about the future of the country appear to have been taken by individuals with no form of democratic mandate, such as Arturo Murillo and former president Jorge Quiroga, Bjork-James pointed out. For many, justice for the human rights abuses that took place during the crisis is at least as important as establishing whether the events formally constitute a coup.
On November 15, the army and police opened fire on a group of pro-MAS coca growers as they marched through the town of Sacaba, killing 10 protesters. The brutality was nominally directed against protesters blockading a gas plant, but many of the injured appear to have been bystanders.
Yosimar Choque Flores was walking to the bank to deal with urgent paperwork that day, but he never made it past the gas plant. The military were shooting.
The bullet severed an artery and a nerve, leaving him unable to move his hand, and therefore, unable to work. A day I work is a day I earn… I have two beautiful daughters to support. Before, I could get by But multiple human rights investigations have found that events in both Senkata and Sacaba can be classified as massacres, also highlighting killings of protesters in El Pedregal, the use of torture, the rise of right-wing para-state motorbike gangs , and a surge in racist and sexist attacks against Indigenous people.
The reports acknowledge abuses directed at anti-MAS protesters, too. During a confrontation in the highland town of Vila Vila, anti-MAS protesters were stripped, beaten, and doused in gasoline. Investigators found that the local government had supported the blockade and should have at least assumed the possibility of violence. Bolivia has only prosecuted a few of the officials responsible for human rights violations committed under authoritarian governments between and , partly because the armed forces have at times refused to share information about abuses.
The interim government adopted policies threatening free speech, including an overly broad provision in a Covid decree that would have allowed prosecution of government critics. In response to public outcry, the government revoked the provision in May He was detained in April and, as of September, awaited trial behind bars. Women and girls remain at high risk of violence, despite a law establishing comprehensive measures to prevent and prosecute gender-based violence.
The Attorney General's Office reported femicides in , and 86 between January and September It reported more than 20, cases of violence against women from January through August Under Bolivian law, abortion is not a crime when a pregnancy results from rape or is necessary to protect the life or health of a pregnant woman or girl. The interim government assented to a recommendation by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to establish an Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts to investigate acts of violence and human rights violations in Bolivia between September 1 and December 31, The group started its work in November , after Arce became president.
Human Rights Watch. World Report Donate Now. Bolivia Events of People visit a makeshift memorial on February 2, at the site where protestors were killed in Sacaba, Bolivia, on November 15, Available In: Available In. Kenneth Roth Executive Director. Lockdown in Chains. Rethinking Asylum on a Warming Planet. Protecting Rights, Saving Lives Human Rights Watch defends the rights of people in 90 countries worldwide, spotlighting abuses and bringing perpetrators to justice.
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