Bolivia’s opposition stages strike, Morales calls it a ‘coup’
AFP,23RD OCTOBER, 2019 - Bolivia’s opposition launched a general strike Wednesday amid protests and disturbances over disputed election results that pointed to another term for President Evo Morales, who likened the stoppage to a right wing coup.
Speaking to reporters, Morales also said he will take measures to “defend” democracy and is confident he will be declared the winner of Sunday’s election with no need for a runoff.
Clashes broke out between rival demonstrators Wednesday in the eastern city of Santa Cruz, the country’s largest and an opposition bastion.
Offices in the city housing
Bolivia’s electoral authority were set on fire overnight, and security forces clashed with demonstrators in La Paz and elsewhere.
Morales, a former coca farmer and Latin America’s longest serving leader, is seeking a fourth straight term. The opposition has reported fraud in the counting of votes from the weekend election.
“A coup is under way. I want the people of Bolivia to know.
Until now, humbly, we have put up with it in order to avoid violence and we have not entered into confrontation,” Morales said in his first public remarks since the election, referring to the strike and violent anti-government protests that broke out after the election.
Partial results released Sunday night suggested Morales would face off in a second round with his main rival, the centrist Carlos Mesa.
But things changed dramatically Monday when the electoral commission released new results that practically gave the win to Morales, drawing opposition complaints of fraud and triggering rioting in some cities.