The president of Bolivia, Rodrigo Paz, assured this Monday that the blockade promoted by unions and social organizations demanding his resignation could be lifted "in the coming days" peacefully, while denouncing destabilization maneuvers through social networks.
"I am sure that in the coming days, short days, the suffering, especially of the La Paz Department, God willing, will end," he stated from Cochabamba, in the center of the country, during an official event in which he called for national reconciliation and the defense of the democratic system.
Paz defended that the solution to the crisis must be built on broad consensus and understanding between the different social and political sectors. "It has to be about big agreements, it has to be about reconciliation, about how all Bolivians are going to work," he maintained after the presentation of the Tax Relief Law.
The head of state reiterated his commitment to dialogue and pacification, although he admitted that the path requires patience in a context of high social and political tension. He also differentiated between those who make legitimate claims and those groups that, as he warned, try to profit from the conflict to generate greater instability.
"We must know who is really claiming in a correct and honorable way and who is trying to harm democracy," he stressed.
Along these lines, he denounced the existence of campaigns aimed at intensifying confrontation through messages disseminated on social networks and other media, which, according to his words, would have an external origin and seek to erode democratic institutions.
He also highlighted that, despite the ongoing "fiscal adjustment," funds for health and education have been preserved and the creation of positions in both areas has increased.
The president reiterated that the Executive does not contemplate privatizing companies or public services and defended that the economic decisions adopted seek to reactivate activity, alleviate the burden on small taxpayers, and strengthen the productive capacities of the different regions.
The statements were made during the promulgation of the tax relief law, a regulation that, according to the Government, will benefit more than 230,000 families and allow the regularization of nearly one million tax accounts.
At the close of his speech, the president urged institutions, organizations, and elected authorities to support initiatives for pacification and reconciliation. "The violent cannot defeat us. This is a moment of transformation for the country," he concluded.
Temporary Suspension of Arrest Warrants
In parallel, the president of the Departmental Court of Justice (TDJ) of La Paz, Margot Pérez, clarified that the arrest warrants for terrorism against the top leader of the Bolivian Workers' Confederation (COB), Mario Argollo, and the leader of the Túpac Katari Departmental Federation of Peasant Workers of La Paz, Vicente Salazar, were not annulled, but provisionally suspended due to a lack of substantiation in the Public Ministry's request.
The annulment of these arrest warrants was one of the central demands of the organizing bodies to sit down and negotiate with the Government. However, both entities, meeting in an assembly on Sunday, opted to continue with the protests.
Pérez specified that the judicial resolution only orders the Prosecutor's Office to correct and adequately justify the precautionary measure. "The justice operators who reviewed this writ of habeas corpus considered that the Public Ministry must substantiate and motivate this decision in order to maintain measures such as the arrest warrant," she explained.
Once the Public Ministry addresses the observations made by the Constitutional Court, it will be in a position to request the execution of the measures again.
Recall Referendum Proposal
Amidst the climate of confrontation, opposition deputy from Unidad, Carlos Alarcón, proposed the call for an extraordinary recall referendum for the president, the vice president, and the members of the Legislative Assembly as an alternative way to address the political and social crisis the country is going through.
According to him, the standoff between the Government and the mobilized sectors has left Bolivia in a "dead end," and he warned that violence cannot become a tool to replace authorities. "We cannot allow violence to depose and overthrow governments, even if it disguises itself as early elections," he insisted. "Authority invested by the vote should only be revoked by the vote," he added.
The protests, which have been ongoing for four weeks, have caused supply problems of food, fuel, and medical supplies to La Paz and the neighboring city of El Alto. The mobilized reject the right-wing policies of President Rodrigo Paz and demand his removal from office through an indefinite road blockade, with more than 90 cutting points registered.