Bolivian police and supporters of former president Evo Morales clashed Tuesday, injuring over 30 people, according to the authorities.
Mairana, a town in the centre, was the scene of the violence. Since October 14, demonstrators have been blocking highways in support of Morales in an effort to stop his arrest.
According to Health Minister Maria Rene Castro, 29 individuals were injured, including two police officers.
Mairana is part of the Santa Cruz department’s police chief, who informed reporters that some protesters attacked the police.
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.
He says the charges were fabricated in an attempt to keep him from taking office again. His followers, who are primarily Indigenous, claim that President Luis Arce, a former ally who is now a political competitor, is persecuting him in court.
They are also demonstrating against the South American nation’s skyrocketing food and fuel costs.
The standoff between Morales and Arce escalated dramatically on Sunday after Morales accused state agents of trying to assassinate him while driving near the central city of 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.
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