A motorcyclist rides through a blocked street during an indefinite strike in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. Photo: Aizar Raldes AFP.
Criminal complaints were registered concerning blockades preventing the passage of ambulances and of hemodialysis, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy patients.
This Wednesday, Bolivian Minister of Health Jeyson Auza condemned violent protests by supporters of Santa Cruz de la Sierra Governor Luis Fernando Camacho that have interrupted ambulance services, placing the health of patients at risk and threatening health personnel. The Bolivian Ombudsman’s Office released a statement lamenting, “the atmosphere of belligerence and violence in which the residents of the municipality of La Guardia (Santa Cruz) were submerged on Tuesday,” and called for peace.
Auza additionally said, in statements collected by Ahora el Pueblo, that Camacho’s intention is to “set Santa Cruz on fire.” The jurisdiction of Santa Cruz is where a so-called indefinite strike is taking place. The strike is an action that the government of Bolivia considers tantamount to an possible coup d’état. The Ombudsman also condemned the belligerence between those who support and reject the indefinite strike, as well as the clashes between civilians and police.
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Camacha, added Auza, “has shown that his interest (in maintaining the strike and disruption in Santa Cruz de La Sierra) is merely political and the only thing he seeks is to destabilize a government elected by the people.”
“As minister of health, I hold him responsible,” said Auza. “I hold Luis Fernando Camacho and the Unión Juvenil Cruceñista responsible for this situation.”
Auza described that the governor’s actions as “sowing irreparable damage to the health of the Bolivian people. The government has reiterated on many occasions that dialogue is the only way to resolve conflicts. Ministers in the region have proposed scenarios for conversation and have been open to dialogue, but Mr. Camacho has systematically dynamited the possibility of dialogue, and the only thing he seeks is to set Santa Cruz on fire.”
Criminal actions against health and safety of Bolivians
Auza described the “insane acts of Luis Fernando Camacho” as crimes against the health and life of the Santa Cruz and Bolivian people, and warned that he is filing criminal complaints against authors of the strike.
Auza the showed videos in which demonstrators blocked roads, preventing the passage of ambulances and threatening health personnel. “Even in armed conflicts,” he said, “health personnel and the transit of ambulances carrying patients are to be respected, preventing their passage as is happening today in Santa Cruz is a deplorable act, it is an act comparable to a crime against humanity.”
“Restricting the sacred right that the people have to healthcare is a vile, despicable act,” said the minister. The blockades prevent people from reaching hemodialysis centers, radiotherapy units, or chemotherapy treatments, Auza emphasized.
Ombudsman denounces 11 days of violence
In a report from Ahora El Pueblo, the Bolivian Ombudsman’s Office has stated that “already 11 days have passed in which the jurisdiction of Santa Cruz is experiencing moments of anguish and insecurity, moments that have escalated in violence despite agreements to return to dialogue by national, departmental, and civic authorities from Santa Cruz.”
They also reported that, through his delegation in Santa Cruz, a investigation was carried out at the scene of the events and he was able to verify that there are people injured after the clashes.
The Ombudsman once again called for pacification and to lower the levels of disruption to halt the climate of violence. He demanded that those involved to restart the dialogue to reach solutions. He also asked the police to carry out their work within the framework of national and international human rights standards and to respond with proportional force.
(Ultimas Noticias) by Victor Castellanos
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/FV/SL
