STORY: Former Bolivian President Evo Morales started a march to the capital on Tuesday, in protest at what he says is economic stagnation under President Luis Arce’s government.
He was joined by Senate President Andronico Rodriguez and a group of miners, peasants, workers, and indigenous people.
The march soon turned violent, when opponents tried to block the road during the journey to La Paz.
Marchers were seen facing off with officials and miners who attempted to halt their progress.
A day earlier, Indigenous Bolivians had set up highway blockades, disrupting major transport routes in protest against the government.
Morales says he started the march to ‘save Bolivia’.
“Salaries have lost their purchasing power; workers know this very well. I feel, sisters and brothers, that some authorities have never suffered what the people suffer. They will never know how the people live; that is our difference.”
Tensions between Morales and Arce have grown since late 2021 over differing views on running the government and potential leadership changes in the dominant Movement to Socialism party.
In a televised speech on Sunday, Arce accused Morales of trying to cut his term short and staging an ‘attempted coup.’