Bolivia: 9 Corpses in 24 hours Prove Dictatorship’s Violence

Teresa Zubieta, the Ombudsman’s office delegate, holds that 23 people have died amidst the coup d’etat.

16 November 2019

Over the last 24 hours, at least nine Bolivians have died as a result of repressive actions carried out by the security forces that support the coup-based government headed by Senator Jeanine Añez.

“23 people have died since the coup. The most recent victims are four people shot dead in La Paz​​​​​​ and five in Sacaba,” La Paz Ombudsman’ Office delegate Teresa Zubieta told teleSUR.

“They have killed our brothers as if they were animals,” Zubieta said and explained that Añez’s regime is generating “a setback of more than 30 years with respect to the protection of people.”

Judging by the complaints filed before the ​​​​​​​Ombudsman’s office, far-right paramilitary groups have been activated to “repress and intimidate people even when they are simply walking home from work.”​​​​​​​

Coup in Bolivia: The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) condemned the Sacaba massacre. Five dead and dozens injured by the repression. After the murder of five protesters, the IACHR reminded the self-proclaimed president of her “obligation to ensure the right to life and physical integrity of those who protest peacefully” and condemned the “disproportionate use of police and military force.”

As a consequence of the prevailing institutional chaos, however, the figures on human rights violations vary constantly.​​​​​​​

Until Nov. 14, for example, the Ombudsman’s Office maintained that 536 people had been injured and 12 people killed in the midst of intense repression against the people who resist in the streets.

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On the other hand, according to the international news agency EFE, the conflict in Bolivia has left at least 18 dead and more than 500 injured since the presidential elections held on October 20.

Despite the evidence on violence against Bolivians, the governments of the United States, the United Kingdom and Colombia recognized the regime of Jeanina Añez as their direct interlocutor.​​​​​​​

While that was happening, however, the governments of Uruguay, China and Russia have joined the voices that forcefully reject the coup in Bolivia.

Bolivia: repressive forces at the service of Jeanine Añez killed 7 people. Amid the pain, the people shout: “Añez, murderer!”

In the midst of the political crisis, the Senate on Thursday elected the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) Senator Monica Cota as its new president.

She will replace Ariana Salvatierra, who was forced to resign on the weekend in which the right-wing politicians also managed to press for President Evo Morales’ resignation.

By electing a new president, the Senate attempts to rebuild the normal functioning of democratic institutions amid the persecution and repression which the self-proclaimed president Añez is leading.​​​​​​​

Published at https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Bolivia-9-Corpses-in-24-hours-Prove-Dictatorships-Violence-20191116-0001.html

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