Bolivia had on Tuesday a second day of confrontations in the streets due to the strike called by organizations of the opposition to President Luis Arce before the controversial law 1386, also known as “mother law” .
After the protests ended on Monday with more than a hundred detainees , this Tuesday the presence of protesters in the streets of several cities in the country was less.
However, again there were confrontations in marches and blockades between opponents, supporters of the ruling party and the police.
The organizers of the strike reject the so-called National Strategy Against the Legitimization of Illicit Profits and the Financing of Terrorism, called “mother law” , which was approved ada in August.
I read 1386 causes controversy in Bolivia specifically within the transport, health and informal economy sectors due to the content that provides for adjustments in the Code Penalty and measures against informality.
Its detractors consider that with it the government seeks to “impose” a “ economic and financial totalitarianism ”Against the Bolivian people, giving discretionary powers to the government.
Of the seven articles in the questioned law, three generate concern. One of them opens the possibility of making adjustments “by decree” to a strategy that is detailed in an annex of 53 pages.
“The strike will last as long as it has to last,” said the vice president of the Committee for Santa Cruz, Fernando Larach, the institution that led the mobilizations against Evo Morales in 2019.
For her part, the Vice Minister of Communication of Bolivia, Gabriela Alcón, accused that it was a “strike without arguments” and added that all demands are being addressed by the government.
Some sectors that reject the law, such as transporters and merchants, did not join the strike of activities called “indefinitely”.
The most numerous protests and blockades were seen in the regions of Santa Cruz, Cochabamba, La Paz, Tarija, Potosí, Oruro and Beni.
To counteract unemployment, the government of President Arce – who on Monday completed one year in power – deployed the police and warned that there will be sanctions against health workers who suspend their work in the midst of the fourth wave of the pandemic in the country.
The Vice Minister of Internal Affairs of Bolivia, Nelson Cox, reported that on Monday there were 125 detained throughout the country.
Since the civic strike From the past 11 of October and the mobilizations of the day 21, the union leaders had already warned with taking new measures of force if the government did not listen to them or completely repealed the “mother law.”
“The Police do nothing when the masistas they blockade, but when the true people are in the streets in a brutal way they have grabbed and gassed us, ”said a protester in Cochabamba at Tuesday’s protest.
Pro-government sectors have rejected this measure that they consider seeks to “destabilize” the government and warned that they will do the same to defend “democracy” and the Arce government.
According to Vice Minister Cox, several detainees had sharp weapons and tear gas in their possession.
“We regret that there were blocking points with belligerent attitudes, there is a level of violence in people who have been in blocking points,” said Cox.
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