UN envoy visits as Morales claims massacre
Bolivia’s interim president met with a UN envoy to discuss the country’s crisis yesterday, a day after security forces fired on supporters of former President Evo Morales in a clash that killed eight people and raised fears that violence could escalate.
On leaving the meeting with interim leader Jeanine Anez, UN envoy Jean Arnault said the United Nations is concerned about the violence in Bolivia and hopes it can contribute to an accelerated pacification process leading to elections.
UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet issued a statement earlier in the day calling the deaths ‘‘an extremely dangerous development.’’
‘‘I am really concerned that the situation in Bolivia could spin out of control if the authorities do not handle it sensitively and in accordance with international norms,’’ she said.
Protesters said police fired on Saturday when demonstrators tried to cross a military checkpoint in Sacaba, a town near Cochabamba. Many of the protesters were coca leaf growers loyal to Morales, who had been Bolivia’s first indigenous president before being pressured to step down by Bolivia’s military chief after weeks of widespread protests over a disputed election.
Witnesses to the clash described seeing the bodies of several protesters and dozens of people rushed to hospitals, many covered in blood.
Presidency Minister Jerjes Justiniano told reporters that five people were killed and an estimated 22 injured. He accused protesters of using ‘‘military weapons.’’ Yesterday, Bolivia’s national Ombudsman’s Office raised the death toll to eight.
Police and soldiers broke up fresh blockades of flaming logs and tractors yesterday on the road linking Sacaba to Cochabamba, but there were no immediate reports of deaths.
Fears of escalating violence were stoked when angry demonstrators and relatives of the victims gathered at the site of the shootings late on Saturday chanting, ‘‘Civil war, now!’’
Morales, who was granted asylum in Mexico after his November 10 resignation, said on Twitter that a ‘‘massacre’’ had occurred and he described the interim government led by Anez as a dictatorship.
At least 13 other people died during the earlier unrest that preceded Morales’ departure, according to the Ombudsman’s Office. Several came in clashes between the president’s backers and those who accused him of using vote fraud to win the October 20 presidential election.
On Saturday, Anez said Morales would face possible legal charges for election fraud if he returned home from Mexico City. She also has said Morales would not be allowed to participate in a new presidential election, which is supposed to be held within three months.
The ousted leader, meanwhile, contended this week that he is still president since the country’s legislature has not yet approved his resignation.
Morales stepped down following nationwide protests over suspected vote-rigging in an October 20 election.