SANTA CRUZ/LA PAZ, Bolivia, (Reuters) – Protesters in Bolivia’s farming region of Santa Cruz are blocking highways out of the province, threatening to snarl the domestic transport of grains and food, as anger simmers following the arrest of local governor Luis Camacho.
The region, a stronghold of the conservative opposition to socialist President Luis Arce, is in its sixth day of protests that have seen thousands of people take to the streets and nights of clashes with weaponized fireworks and cars burned.
On Tuesday hundreds of women marched to the city police headquarters in support of Camacho, demanding his release.
On the nearby streets were burnt-out vehicles, smoldering fires and blockades from the overnight clashes.
The protests, sparked by the Dec. 28 arrest of Camacho over an alleged coup in 2019, are deepening divides between lowland Santa Cruz and the highland, more indigenous political capital La Paz, which have long butted heads over politics and state funds.
