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Bolivia police officer blown up by pro-Morales demonstrators: govt
A Bolivian policeman taken hostage by demonstrators was blown up with explosives, the government said Thursday, marking a dramatic escalation in the state's standoff with backers of ex-president Evo Morales.
The officer's death brings to four the number of police killed in clashes with Morales protesters, who began blocking roads 11 days ago over his disqualification from August presidential elections.
Deputy Interior Minister Jhonny Aguilera told reporters officer Christian Calle was "kidnapped by a mob" and killed after protesters inserted dynamite in his body and detonated it.
The grisly attack took place in Llallagua, a mining town in the country's southwest, where three officers deployed to clear a roadblock were shot dead on Wednesday.
The police moved in after local residents, complaining of food and water shortages, had themselves tried to dismantle the barricades, triggering clashes that left 17 injured.
Elsewhere, in the central Cochabamba region, a farmer was killed while handling explosives, Interior Minister Roberto Rios said.
In all, 54 people have been injured in clashes in Llallagua and Cochabamba, the health ministry said.
The wounded include several officers.
Rios blasted the "unacceptable levels of violence" against the police, saying they were being killed by protesters "armed with big rifles."
Morales's lawyer Nelson Cox gave a toll of three killed among the protesters and said two had been shot dead.
Supporters of Morales, who led the Andean country from 2006 to 2019, began blocking key roads in the center and south of the country on June 2 over the refusal by electoral authorities to register his candidacy in August 17 elections.
The protests have since grown into a wider revolt against President Luis Arce, marked by calls for his resignation over his handling of a severe economic crisis.
Aguilera announced the military will be sent to Llallagua to "guarantee a state of calm and of peace."
Morales, 65, has been barred by the Constitutional Court from seeking re-election but nevertheless attempted, in vain, to register as a candidate last month.
The government accuses him of trying to sabotage the election by calling for blockades to sow chaos.
The protesters' goal "is to encircle La Paz to force it into submission through hunger," President Arce said Wednesday as he announced a joint police and military operation against the blockades.
On Monday, the attorney general said Morales was under investigation for "terrorism" for allegedly inciting the protests.
Bolivia's first Indigenous president has been holed up his stronghold of Cochabamba since October to avoid arrest on charges of trafficking a minor.
The charges relate to Morales's alleged sexual relationship with a 15-year-old with whom he is accused of fathering a child while in office. He denies the charges.
Morales retains a large following in the South American country, particularly among Indigenous communities.
P.A. Mendes--JDB
