Anti-Morales protesters force state-run media off the air

They say they defend democracy, but they behave as if they were in a dictatorship. Evo Morales

LA PAZ: Opposition demonstrators in Bolivia overran two state-run media outlets and forced them off the air and some police stopped guarding the square where President Evo Morales’ palace is located, as tensions remained high after a disputed election.

Demonstrators burst into the offices of Bolivia TV and Radio Patria Nueva and forced employees to leave, accusing them of serving the interests of Morales, said the director of the latter of the two, Ivan Maldonado.

“We were evicted by force after receiving constant threats from people gathered outside,” Maldonado said on Saturday.

Some 40 employees were seen leaving the building that the two news organisations share in La Paz, walking hand in hand as a crowd of some 300 demonstrators yelled insults.

Morales denounced the seizure of the media outlets.

“They say they defend democracy, but they behave as if they were in a dictatorship,” he tweeted.

A radio station run by a farmers’ union was also seized by protesters, Morales said.

He said opposition militants had also set fire to the home of his sister in the southern city of Oruro as part of what he called an effort to overthrow him.

The homes of the regional governor and that of Chuquisaca province governor were also set on fire.

Morales called earlier in the day for urgent, open-ended dialogue with opposition parties holding seats in the National Assembly, but he pointedly excluded the powerful regional civic committees opposing him.

An opposition leader, former president Carlos Mesa, immediately rejected Morales’ gesture, saying, “We have nothing to negotiate with Evo Morales and his government.”