• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Friday, September 29, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home World

Thousands in Bolivia Defy Quarantine Restrictions in Anti-Government Protest

Staff Writer by Staff Writer
07/15/20
in World
Right-wing Bolivian Senator Jeanine Anez declared herself interim president following a coup that ousted Evo Morales

Right-wing Bolivian Senator Jeanine Anez declared herself interim president following a coup that ousted Evo Morales. Photo: AFP

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Thousands of demonstrators defied quarantine restrictions and marched on the Bolivian capital La Paz on Tuesday to protest against the government of interim President Jeanine Anez.

“The people are expressing their needs, they are expressing their voice in protest,” said Juan Carlos Huarachi, leader of the country’s biggest trade union, Central Obrera Boliviana.

The demonstration, held over worker grievances about health and education policies and massive layoffs, was the biggest since the coronavirus pandemic reached the South American country in March.

“There are many layoffs,” said Huarachi, “because of the fall in the economy.”

Marchers also called for the resignation of Education Minister Victor Hugh Cardenas, as thousands of pupils in rural areas have no access to the internet for virtual classes while schools remain closed.

The teachers unions of the Department of Chuquisaca are leading protests in the city of Sucre, Bolivia. Workers are outraged about the regime's privatization of education, as well as the mismanagement of #Covid19 and other abuses. pic.twitter.com/6H4pqE7sM0

— Kawsachun News (@KawsachunNews) July 14, 2020

“We are asking for free internet because there are children who do not have mobile phones with internet and cannot study,” said Feliciana Quesucala, 46, an indigenous Aymara woman from El Alto.

Around 4,000 people marched into La Paz from the neighboring city of El Alto, both of which are under quarantine due to the pandemic that has infected almost 50,000 people in Bolivia and killed 2,000.

 ‘Elections Now’

“What do we want? Elections now!” chanted the protesters in reference to the September 6 general election that Anez has sought to postpone over COVID-19. Almost all the protesters wore masks.

Anez and five members of her cabinet have contracted the virus, as well as Congress president Eva Copa and other top officials.

In a televised message coinciding with the protest, Anez warned the country it faces “a very difficult moment.”

“We are reaching the peak of the pandemic, but I am sure that united, with all of us collaborating, we will come out ahead,” said Anez, who is in quarantine at her official residence.

Anez and other right-wing presidential candidates, such as former president Jorge Quiroga, have advocated postponing the elections until the pandemic subsides.

According to official forecasts, Bolivia would have some 130,000 infections by election day.

Virus Struggle

Huarachi said a key protester demand was for the government to authorize the use of chlorine dioxide for COVID-19 patients, a treatment that the authorities have already disavowed.

“The government should make the Bolivian people aware of a treatment protocol to combat COVID-19 with the use of chlorine dioxide, ivermectin and traditional medicine, and other drugs that are important. It should be distributing it free of charge to the population,” said Huarachi, a mineworkers’ leader.

A government scientific committee warned in June against the use of chlorine dioxide, a powerful oxidizing agent used as a bleach and disinfectant.

However, doctors in some Bolivian regions are using it to treat COVID-19 patients.

Anez, a 53-year-old conservative, assumed the interim presidency in November after socialist former leader Evo Morales resigned and fled the country following three weeks of unrest over his controversial re-election.

Anez is running third in the opinion polls behind Luis Arce — the candidate of Morales’s Movement for Socialism Party — and centrist former president Carlos Mesa.

ShareTweet
Staff Writer

Staff Writer

AFP with The Globe Post

Related Posts

Bolivia Ex-President Anez Arrested in ‘Coup’ Probe
World

Bolivia Ex-President Anez Arrested in ‘Coup’ Probe

by Staff Writer
March 13, 2021
Former Bolivian President Evo Morales
World

Morales Says Will Return to Bolivia After Ally’s Election Victory

by Staff Writer
October 19, 2020
People take to the streets of Santa Cruz to celebrate the resignation of Bolivian President Evo Morales on November 10 after weeks of protests
World

Deadly Pandemic and Postponed Elections: Bolivia’s Explosive Cocktail

by Staff Writer
July 31, 2020
Fourth Night of Anti-Government Protests in Bulgaria
World

Fourth Night of Anti-Government Protests in Bulgaria

by Staff Writer
July 13, 2020
Power Vacuum in Bolivia After Morales Deposed in Coup
Featured

MIT Researchers Find No Evidence of Fraud in Bolivia’s October Election

by Bryan Bowman
March 2, 2020
Bolivian Lawfare: Interim Gov. Targets Opposition Ahead of Election
Featured

Bolivian Lawfare: Interim Gov. Targets Opposition Ahead of Election

by Bryan Bowman
January 31, 2020
Next Post
Researchers rush to find a COVID-19 vaccines as global cases continue to rise.

Russia Reports Success in COVID-19 Vaccine Trial

Protestor in Puerto Rico, where the nation angry over corruption and the release of insulting text chats

Can’t We Just Sell the World’s Oldest Colony and Solve Puerto Rico’s Political Status?

Please login to join discussion

Recommended

Joe Biden

The ‘Polycrisis’ Challenge: Biden’s Vision for Global Problem-Solving

September 26, 2023
Air France flights

Niger Bans French Aircraft From Its Airspace: Aviation Authority 

September 25, 2023
Chinese President Xi Jinping

China Announces ‘Strategic Partnership’ With Syria

September 22, 2023
Man holding up a colored LGBT flag

France Sets Up Embassy Fund to Defend LGBTQ Rights

September 19, 2023
US Authorities Seize Artworks Allegedly Stolen by Nazis

US Authorities Seize Artworks Allegedly Stolen by Nazis

September 19, 2023
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a news conference

Japan PM to Replace Foreign and Defense Ministers: Reports

September 12, 2023

Opinion

Joe Biden

The ‘Polycrisis’ Challenge: Biden’s Vision for Global Problem-Solving

September 26, 2023
Pro-Trump protester in front of Capitol Hill.

The Ominous (and Irresponsible) Chatter of a Civil War 

September 4, 2023
A bamboo-based design raises family homes safely above water levels to cope with raising water levels in Bangladesh.

The West Owes Climate Refugees Reparations Now

August 14, 2023
President Donald Trump in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House.

Boxing Day Comes to South Florida

July 5, 2023
‘Deaths of Despair:’ Why Are US Suicides on the Rise?

An Inspired Choice to Lead the CDC

June 13, 2023
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks at the Republican Jewish Coalition Annual Leadership Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada, on November 19, 2022.

Florida Man Channels Benito Mussolini

June 13, 2023
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post