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Five Killed as Political Violence Keeps Grip on Bolivia As Violence Grips Bolivia, Congress Moves Toward New Elections
(about 11 hours later)
EL ALTO, Bolivia — At least five people were killed in clashes outside a major fuel depot in Bolivia that had been blockaded for days by supporters of the ousted president, Evo Morales, as the political violence that has rocked the country for weeks inched closer to its seat of power. EL ALTO, Bolivia — As Bolivia was gripped by chaos this week, with the military opening fire on protesters who have been blocking food and fuel from reaching the capital, La Paz, political leaders scrambled to find a way to call new elections and chart a path out of the turmoil.
A New York Times reporter saw the bodies of five young men with gunshot wounds in a church in El Alto, a working-class city outside La Paz, the country’s de facto capital. Eight people were killed, a human rights official said, in the clashes outside a major fuel depot in El Alto, a working-class city in the mountains outside La Paz that had been blockaded for days by supporters of the ousted president, Evo Morales.
Witnesses said the men died when a military unit guarding the Senkata gasoline plant opened fire on protesters who had surrounded it for over a week. Mr. Morales was driven from office earlier this month after 14 years in office, following a disputed election in which he claimed to be the winner. He fled the country and took asylum in Mexico, having lost the allegiance of the military and police.
The Senkata plant has become a battleground in the struggle between Bolivia’s interim government and supporters of Mr. Morales, who was ousted on Nov. 10. But Mr. Morales, the country’s first Indigenous president, still has legions of supporters among the country’s Indigenous groups and among rural coca growers, who have taken to the streets to call for his return.
By blocking tankers from leaving the plant, Mr. Morales’s supporters were able to cut off La Paz’s main source of gasoline and food, causing acute shortages in the administrative capital. “There is no reason for me to be out of Bolivia,” he said on Wednesday at a news conference in Mexico City.
Bolivia’s armed forces said in a statement on Tuesday that violence had flared outside Senkata after the military temporarily broke the protesters’ siege in an effort to lead a convoy of gasoline trucks from the plant to La Paz. Protesters responded by storming the plant and breaching its walls with dynamite, before being repelled by soldiers. He argued that he is currently the president, as well as the president-elect, but he said he did not object to a new election, provided that it was organized under a new law approved by congress.
“If the solution is new elections, I don’t oppose it,” he said. “They are welcome.”
Eva Copa, the president of the Bolivian Senate and a member of Mr. Morales’s leftist party, which holds a two-thirds majority in the congress, said that the previous election would be annulled as part of a bill that would appoint a new election commission and fast-track a new vote.
“This is a clear signal to show the country that we as two-thirds have all the will to advance and provide a route for these elections,” Ms. Copa told reporters in La Paz.
Later Wednesday, Jeanine Añez, an opposition senator who has become the country’s interim leader, announced that she would send her own bill to hold a new election to the Bolivian congress. Her bill would also annul the disputed Oct. 20 vote, and speed up the establishment of a new electoral authority that would set a timetable for elections.
The country has grown increasingly desperate for a solution.
In El Alto late Tuesday night, witnesses said, a military unit guarding the Senkata gasoline plant opened fire on protesters who had surrounded the plant for over a week. By blocking tankers from leaving the plant, Mr. Morales’s supporters were able to cut off La Paz’s main source of gasoline and food, causing acute shortages. At least eight people were reported killed.
In El Alto, inside the church of San Francisco de Asís, the bloodied bodies of five young men with gunshot wounds lay on pews, covered with Bolivian flags on which lay the large-caliber bullets that were said to have killed the men. Hundreds of residents gathered to pay their respects.
Family members of at least two of the dead said they had merely walking to work when they were shot by soldiers.
Bolivia’s armed forces said in a statement on Tuesday that violence had flared outside Senkata after the military temporarily broke the protesters’ siege in an effort to lead a convoy of gasoline trucks from the plant to La Paz. Protesters responded by storming the plant and breaching its walls with dynamite, before being repelled by soldiers, witnesses said.
Bolivia’s new defense minister, Fernando López, told reporters on Tuesday that “not one bullet” had been fired by the military at Senkata, an account that was contradicted by a dozen witnesses who had gathered at the church that night.Bolivia’s new defense minister, Fernando López, told reporters on Tuesday that “not one bullet” had been fired by the military at Senkata, an account that was contradicted by a dozen witnesses who had gathered at the church that night.
Family members of at least two of the dead men said they were merely walking to work when they were shot by the soldiers. Residents directed their anger at Ms. Añez, who last week signed a decree shielding security forces from criminal prosecution when maintaining public order.
Hundreds of residents gathered to pay their respects to the victims, whose bloodied bodies lay on pews in San Francisco de Asis Church, covered with Bolivian flags and topped with the large-caliber bullets that killed them.
The residents directed their anger at the interim president, Jeanine Añez, who last week signed a decree shielding security forces from criminal prosecution when maintaining public order.
“This is their decree, right here,” Jessica Quispe said between sobs while touching the body of her brother Ronald. “He was just going to work.”“This is their decree, right here,” Jessica Quispe said between sobs while touching the body of her brother Ronald. “He was just going to work.”
A few hundred feet away, dozens of heavily armed soldiers and armored vehicles guarded the perimeter of the fuel plant, as military helicopters circled overhead.A few hundred feet away, dozens of heavily armed soldiers and armored vehicles guarded the perimeter of the fuel plant, as military helicopters circled overhead.
The deaths sparked unrest in large parts of El Alto, a traditional stronghold of Mr. Morales on a frigid plateau above La Paz. Protesters on Tuesday sealed off roads with barbed wire and burned debris. They also pulled down pedestrian overpasses onto the highway to block tanker trucks from reaching the plant. The deaths set off unrest in large parts of El Alto, a traditional stronghold of Mr. Morales on a frigid plateau above La Paz. Protesters on Tuesday sealed off roads with barbed wire and burned debris. They pulled down pedestrian overpasses onto the highway to block tanker trucks from reaching the plant. On Wednesday, mourners marched through El Alto.
Fuel shortages have crippled the administrative capital in the valley below. Hundreds of La Paz’s public minibus drivers blocked off main access points to the city to demand gasoline.Fuel shortages have crippled the administrative capital in the valley below. Hundreds of La Paz’s public minibus drivers blocked off main access points to the city to demand gasoline.
As the crisis deepened, representatives of Mr. Morales and the interim government met Tuesday for the latest talks aimed at holding new elections.
In El Alto, residents said the new outbreak of violence merely strengthened their resolve to resist Ms. Añez’s government.In El Alto, residents said the new outbreak of violence merely strengthened their resolve to resist Ms. Añez’s government.
In an interview published by The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, Mr. Morales said he would be prepared to return to Bolivia to finish his term and help organize new elections with new candidates. Anatoly Kurmanaev reported from El Alto, and Elisabeth Malkin from Mexico City.
The proposal is likely to be rejected out of hand by the new government and his opponents, but could strike a chord with some moderate Bolivians who are growing increasingly weary of the economic paralysis and unrest that followed his downfall.