MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Evo's supporters stage road blockades in Bolivia

The only purpose of the blockade is to boycott the elections, Minisster Ríos said

Supporters of former President Evo Morales escalated protests Monday with 13 road blockades across Bolivia, primarily in Cochabamba, paralyzing vehicle transit, including over 800 fuel tankers.

 The protests aim to pressure electoral authorities to validate Morales’ presidential candidacy for the August 17, 2025, elections, despite a constitutional court ruling limiting presidents to one reelection, which would automatically exclude the coca growers' leader, who served three terms between 2006 and 2019.

The blockades, which also disrupted highways connecting Santa Cruz and La Paz, are part of broader demands against President Luis Arce Catacora's government, accused of causing an economic crisis with dollar and fuel shortages due to declining gas production. The demonstrators, waving both Bolivian flags and the multicolored indigenous wiphala, demanded Arce’s resignation, labeling him a “traitor.”

Protests involved road closures with earth and stones, stranding buses and trucks, and were described by the government as an attempt to sabotage the elections and push an unconstitutional candidacy.

In Cochabamba, the political stronghold of the former president, nine blockade points were reported on highways connecting the department of Santa Cruz with La Paz, the seat of government.

“The decision of the leaders towards the mobilized people is not only to blockade the cities, but also not to allow the sale of products. The only purpose of the blockade is to boycott the general elections and for the candidacy of a person who is disqualified and has no party, to be put before the entire legal system,” Government (Interior) Minister of Roberto Ríos said.

Morales insists on participating in the elections to seek his fourth term, despite a Plurinational Constitutional Court ruling that reelection in Bolivia is allowed “only once continuously,” without the possibility of a third term.