The Fort Worth Press - Bolivia's president demands end to roadblocks

USD -
AED 3.672972
AFN 67.001088
ALL 90.597668
AMD 386.285883
ANG 1.798884
AOA 911.999985
ARS 988.754602
AUD 1.52141
AWG 1.8025
AZN 1.699859
BAM 1.803495
BBD 2.015326
BDT 119.279253
BGN 1.801347
BHD 0.376939
BIF 2899.573063
BMD 1
BND 1.321198
BOB 6.897633
BRL 5.764101
BSD 0.998096
BTN 83.931466
BWP 13.344091
BYN 3.266509
BYR 19600
BZD 2.011905
CAD 1.391705
CDF 2907.999683
CHF 0.866095
CLF 0.034858
CLP 961.839696
CNY 7.121799
CNH 7.119295
COP 4414.28
CRC 511.406599
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 101.680145
CZK 23.396027
DJF 177.741507
DKK 6.874401
DOP 60.103646
DZD 133.36529
EGP 48.740602
ERN 15
ETB 122.371872
EUR 0.92158
FJD 2.277989
FKP 0.765169
GBP 0.772305
GEL 2.744961
GGP 0.765169
GHS 16.270299
GIP 0.765169
GMD 69.503594
GNF 8607.970787
GTQ 7.714652
GYD 208.828601
HKD 7.771385
HNL 25.182118
HRK 6.88903
HTG 131.354487
HUF 376.041012
IDR 15702.85
ILS 3.70183
IMP 0.765169
INR 84.08185
IQD 1307.599384
IRR 42092.499066
ISK 136.850325
JEP 0.765169
JMD 158.014127
JOD 0.709299
JPY 153.228503
KES 128.760051
KGS 85.800677
KHR 4052.67089
KMF 453.600492
KPW 899.999774
KRW 1380.169901
KWD 0.30659
KYD 0.831781
KZT 487.765518
LAK 21899.06218
LBP 89231.393227
LKR 292.448567
LRD 191.645535
LSL 17.567847
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.817122
MAD 9.839639
MDL 17.911714
MGA 4586.656831
MKD 56.716046
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3398.000028
MOP 7.990096
MRU 39.686111
MUR 46.109814
MVR 15.349975
MWK 1730.739084
MXN 20.177402
MYR 4.378798
MZN 63.9023
NAD 17.567766
NGN 1641.739851
NIO 36.727449
NOK 10.967585
NPR 134.287111
NZD 1.673455
OMR 0.385015
PAB 0.998128
PEN 3.764282
PGK 3.999225
PHP 58.239497
PKR 277.277459
PLN 4.012649
PYG 7898.085648
QAR 3.639792
RON 4.585001
RSD 107.868028
RUB 97.024147
RWF 1358.279697
SAR 3.755774
SBD 8.316332
SCR 13.596025
SDG 601.498008
SEK 10.684996
SGD 1.322855
SHP 0.765169
SLE 22.650236
SLL 20969.496802
SOS 570.422146
SRD 34.367033
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.73362
SYP 2512.530268
SZL 17.563499
THB 33.769894
TJS 10.620326
TMT 3.51
TND 3.099785
TOP 2.342102
TRY 34.288097
TTD 6.773143
TWD 31.972504
TZS 2719.999949
UAH 41.186039
UGX 3658.142988
UYU 40.925103
UZS 12750.477209
VEF 3622552.534434
VES 42.509082
VND 25300
VUV 118.722039
WST 2.801184
XAF 604.866916
XAG 0.029645
XAU 0.000367
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.750242
XOF 604.866916
XPF 109.974825
YER 250.324967
ZAR 17.666655
ZMK 9001.204253
ZMW 26.575929
ZWL 321.999592
  • SCS

    0.0200

    12.23

    +0.16%

  • NGG

    -0.0500

    65.07

    -0.08%

  • RBGPF

    -0.0800

    60.92

    -0.13%

  • CMSC

    0.0200

    24.59

    +0.08%

  • GSK

    -1.1600

    37.01

    -3.13%

  • RIO

    -0.6800

    65.9

    -1.03%

  • CMSD

    -0.0100

    24.83

    -0.04%

  • AZN

    -2.3900

    72.83

    -3.28%

  • JRI

    0.0700

    13.05

    +0.54%

  • BCC

    2.7300

    134.37

    +2.03%

  • BCE

    -0.2200

    32.24

    -0.68%

  • RELX

    -1.0000

    46.91

    -2.13%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0300

    7.22

    -0.42%

  • VOD

    0.1100

    9.39

    +1.17%

  • BTI

    -0.1000

    34.36

    -0.29%

  • BP

    -0.3400

    29.02

    -1.17%

Bolivia's president demands end to roadblocks
Bolivia's president demands end to roadblocks / Photo: © AFP/File

Bolivia's president demands end to roadblocks

Bolivian President Luis Arce on Wednesday demanded an immediate end to more than two weeks of roadblocks set up by supporters of ex-president Evo Morales around the country.

Text size:

In an address to the nation, Arce said there could be "no dialogue" unless the roadblocks were lifted, saying the pressure tactics used by Morales's supporters to try to prevent his arrest on rape charges were strangling the economy.

He warned that if his appeal went unheeded the government "will exercise its constitutional powers to safeguard the interests of the Bolivian people."

Arce did not say whether he was considering using the military to clear the roads or declaring a state of emergency, as demanded by some Bolivians to end the unrest.

Morales said he interpreted the remarks as a threat.

"Instead of calling for dialogue to resolve the conflict (...) Arce launches threats against the mobilized people. Any act of violence will be his sole responsibility," he wrote on X.

Morales, who governed Bolivia from 2006 to 2019, is under investigation for rape, human trafficking and smuggling over his alleged relationship with a 15-year-old girl in 2015.

Bolivia's first Indigenous president claims the charges were trumped-up to try to prevent him returning to power.

His supporters have blocked roads around the country, particularly in his central political stronghold of Cochabamba, and clashed repeatedly with police who try to clear them.

Arce said 61 police officers and nine civilians had been injured in the clashes.

The protests have aggravated widespread shortages of fuel and basic goods and caused spiraling prices -- one of the protesters' key grievances -- to further rocket.

Arce estimated the cost of the roadblocks at over $1.7 billion dollars and said they were "having terrible effects on families" and were "strangling the economy, preventing the normal supply of fuel and increasing food prices."

The standoff between Morales and Arce escalated dramatically on Sunday after Morales accused state agents of trying to assassinate him while driving near Cochabamba.

A video posted on social media showed the pick-up truck in which he was travelling riddled with bullet holes and the driver with blood on his head.

The government says police fired on his vehicle after it ran a checkpoint and police came under gunfire from a vehicle in Morales's convoy.

G.Dominguez--TFWP