Security forces opened fire on supporters of evicted Bolivian President Evo Morales in a central town of Sacaba, killing at least five people, injuring dozens.
Most of the dead and injured Friday in Sacaba near the city of Cochabamba suffered bullet wounds, Guadalberto Lara, director of the town’s Mexico Hospital, told The Associated Press. He called it the worst violence he’s seen in his 30-year career.
Massive repression of anti-coup protestors in Cochabamba, #Bolivia. This is what a dictatorship looks like. https://t.co/USGgc6e6re
— Eva Golinger (@evagolinger) November 15, 2019
#Bolivie On signale que la police a utilisé des gaz lacrymogène contre les producteurs agricoles protestant à #Sacaba (#Cochabamba)
La présidente par interim #JeanineAnez
a annoncé que des groupes armés subversifs avaient été identifiés#Bolivia #EvoMorales pic.twitter.com/XdlYmdJNZ5— Rebecca Rambar (@RebeccaRambar) November 15, 2019
Footage emerging from Cochabamba, Bolivia shows the aftermath of a massacre of indigenous protesters carried out by coup soldiers and police. This will be ignored by western media. pic.twitter.com/phGHgJPsea
— Dan Cohen (@dancohen3000) November 15, 2019
Más imagenrs de la brutal represion en Cochabamba, #Bolivia
Denuncian al menos 4 asesinados por los militares pic.twitter.com/t6B4cNMfMS— PULSO de los pueblos (@PULSOdlp) November 15, 2019
Military and police shoot coca growers in Huayllani as they attempt to march to Cochabamba. State violence in Bolivia pic.twitter.com/HZVNQ9DdRb
— AndeanInfoNet (@AndeanInfoNet) November 15, 2019
#Bolivia 🇧🇴: several #Morales supporters suffered gun shot wounds from the police during clashes outside of #Cochabamba pic.twitter.com/XDLi5U4tHg
— Thomas van Linge (@ThomasVLinge) November 15, 2019
Angry demonstrators and relatives of the victims gathered at the site of the shootings, chanting: “Civil war, now!”
Morales, who was granted asylum in Mexico after his resignation Sunday, said on Twitter that a “massacre” had occurred and he described Bolivia’s government led by interim President Jeanine Anez as a dictatorship.
Protesters said police fired when demonstrators, including many coca leaf growers who backed Bolivia’s first indigenous president, tried to cross a military checkpoint. Emeterio Colque Sanchez, a 23-year-old university student, said he saw the dead bodies of several protesters and about two-dozen people rushed to hospitals, many covered in blood.
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“Security forces” is a government euphemism for “dissenter/protester suppressors” ! Damn the violence!