Berliner Boersenzeitung - Morales supporters storm Bolivia military barracks, take hostages

EUR -
AED 3.983558
AFN 72.664539
ALL 98.20548
AMD 419.901554
ANG 1.95495
AOA 988.561973
ARS 1072.737548
AUD 1.653261
AWG 1.954882
AZN 1.848023
BAM 1.952028
BBD 2.190239
BDT 129.623717
BGN 1.956486
BHD 0.40878
BIF 3141.910619
BMD 1.084539
BND 1.436105
BOB 7.522707
BRL 6.365206
BSD 1.084739
BTN 91.23182
BWP 14.501447
BYN 3.549792
BYR 21256.972087
BZD 2.186525
CAD 1.512938
CDF 3131.611746
CHF 0.943445
CLF 0.037777
CLP 1042.37293
CNY 7.724853
CNH 7.721156
COP 4800.691929
CRC 556.243147
CUC 1.084539
CUP 28.740294
CVE 110.569218
CZK 25.361524
DJF 192.744767
DKK 7.466516
DOP 65.517451
DZD 144.495396
EGP 53.005822
ERN 16.268091
ETB 131.283918
FJD 2.467371
FKP 0.829856
GBP 0.838778
GEL 2.966259
GGP 0.829856
GHS 17.732642
GIP 0.829856
GMD 77.548743
GNF 9360.659879
GTQ 8.380922
GYD 226.839009
HKD 8.43506
HNL 27.168133
HRK 7.471425
HTG 142.747466
HUF 408.752472
IDR 17194.287524
ILS 4.069761
IMP 0.829856
INR 91.20331
IQD 1420.746604
IRR 45650.978505
ISK 149.070358
JEP 0.829856
JMD 171.937772
JOD 0.769051
JPY 165.961683
KES 139.905962
KGS 93.0576
KHR 4424.9211
KMF 492.218619
KPW 976.085208
KRW 1497.15282
KWD 0.332585
KYD 0.903949
KZT 530.487191
LAK 23778.526553
LBP 97191.695365
LKR 317.761608
LRD 208.17775
LSL 19.109998
LTL 3.202363
LVL 0.656027
LYD 5.227893
MAD 10.466218
MDL 19.416393
MGA 5005.149671
MKD 61.311388
MMK 3522.541641
MNT 3685.264885
MOP 8.68939
MRU 43.397886
MUR 49.737387
MVR 16.713162
MWK 1881.67622
MXN 21.995585
MYR 4.74866
MZN 69.313322
NAD 19.109993
NGN 1782.343291
NIO 39.857231
NOK 11.921756
NPR 145.965938
NZD 1.818782
OMR 0.417542
PAB 1.084829
PEN 4.093598
PGK 4.238109
PHP 63.299183
PKR 300.963695
PLN 4.367755
PYG 8569.441645
QAR 3.94827
RON 4.975763
RSD 117.156325
RUB 106.173172
RWF 1478.227192
SAR 4.071592
SBD 9.023296
SCR 15.3141
SDG 652.354431
SEK 11.496817
SGD 1.438212
SHP 0.829856
SLE 24.673673
SLL 22742.245316
SOS 619.27236
SRD 37.541372
STD 22447.775742
SVC 9.490662
SYP 2724.93805
SZL 19.109985
THB 36.831358
TJS 11.530686
TMT 3.795888
TND 3.355606
TOP 2.540104
TRY 37.232025
TTD 7.353029
TWD 34.636976
TZS 2922.834025
UAH 44.831175
UGX 3971.326381
USD 1.084539
UYU 44.923197
UZS 13909.218067
VEF 3928800.923958
VES 46.421967
VND 27438.846623
VUV 128.758728
WST 3.037994
XAF 654.688955
XAG 0.032152
XAU 0.000399
XCD 2.931022
XDR 0.815313
XOF 653.438883
XPF 119.331742
YER 271.514831
ZAR 19.142386
ZMK 9762.159867
ZMW 29.097715
ZWL 349.221242
  • CMSC

    -0.0200

    24.53

    -0.08%

  • BCC

    1.1800

    134.21

    +0.88%

  • AZN

    0.2700

    71.42

    +0.38%

  • CMSD

    0.1500

    24.81

    +0.6%

  • GSK

    0.1200

    36.88

    +0.33%

  • NGG

    0.6700

    64.26

    +1.04%

  • RIO

    0.4400

    65.33

    +0.67%

  • RBGPF

    -1.4000

    59.6

    -2.35%

  • JRI

    -0.0300

    13.05

    -0.23%

  • SCS

    0.1100

    12.14

    +0.91%

  • RYCEF

    0.2200

    7.08

    +3.11%

  • RELX

    0.8600

    47.08

    +1.83%

  • BCE

    -0.1600

    32.1

    -0.5%

  • BTI

    0.0900

    35.07

    +0.26%

  • VOD

    0.0800

    9.35

    +0.86%

  • BP

    -0.1300

    29.23

    -0.44%

Morales supporters storm Bolivia military barracks, take hostages
Morales supporters storm Bolivia military barracks, take hostages / Photo: AIZAR RALDES - AFP/File

Morales supporters storm Bolivia military barracks, take hostages

Supporters of Bolivia's ex-president Evo Morales stormed a barracks in central Chapare province and took around 20 soldiers hostage, military sources said Friday, marking a dramatic escalation in their standoff with the state.

Text size:

The hostage situation comes nearly three weeks after backers of Morales -- the country's first Indigenous leader -- began blocking roads to prevent his arrest on what he calls trumped-up rape charges aimed at thwarting his political comeback.

Morales, 65, was in office from 2006 to 2019, when he resigned under a cloud after elections marked by fraud.

Bolivia's armed forces said Friday in a statement that "irregular armed groups" had "kidnapped military personnel" and seized weapons and ammunition in Chapare.

A military source told AFP on condition of anonymity that "about 20" soldiers were taken hostage.

In a video broadcast by Bolivian media, 16 soldiers were seen surrounded by protesters holding pointed sticks aloft.

"The Cacique Maraza Regiment has been taken over by Tipnis activists. They have cut off our water, electricity and are keeping us hostage," a uniformed man is heard saying in the video.

Tipnis is an Indigenous stronghold of Morales.

- 'Persecution' and price hikes -

Despite being barred from running again, Morales wants to challenge his former-ally-turned-rival President Luis Arce for the nomination of the left-wing MAS party in the country's August 2025 elections.

Days after he led a march of thousands of mainly Indigenous Bolivians on the capital La Paz to protest Arce's policies, prosecutors announced he was under investigation for rape, human trafficking and human smuggling over his alleged relationship with a 15-year-old girl in 2015.

Morales, who is accused of fathering a daughter with the girl, has called the accusations "a lie."

On Wednesday, Arce demanded an "immediate" end to the roadblocks and said the government would "exercise its constitutional powers to safeguard the interests of the Bolivian people" if the protesters did not comply.

His warning was interpreted by some Bolivians as a threat to use the military to end the blockade, which has caused widespread food and fuel shortages and prompted prices of basic goods to skyrocket.

Chapare is where Morales claimed he was the victim of an assassination attempt last week that he blamed on state agents.

In a video he shared on social media, he is seen travelling in a pick-up truck riddled with bullet holes near the city of Cochabamba.

The government said police fired on the vehicle after coming under fire from Morales's convoy at a checkpoint set up to combat drug trafficking in Chapare, one of the country's main coca-growing regions.

Coca is the raw material for cocaine.

Morales, a former coca grower, was extremely popular until he tried to bypass the constitution and seek a fourth term.

His supporters initially demanded an end to what they called his "judicial persecution." but the protest movement has snowballed into a wider anti-government revolt marked by calls for Arce to resign.

Morales' supporters, who have vowed not to budge from the barricades, blame Arce for a sharp rise in food and fuel prices and shortages that pre-date the protests.

At least 61 police officers and nine civilians have been injured in clashes between the protesters and security forces in recent days.

Arce has estimated the economic cost of the blockades at more than $1.7 billion.

(H.Schneide--BBZ)