Bolivia: Police mutinies, President Evo Morales denounces coup d'état "in progress"

Police units in three Bolivian cities mutinied against President Evo Morales on Friday (November 8th), after seventeen days of violent protests against the Bolivian president's reelection.

The mutinies took place in the city of Cochabamba (center) first, then in Sucre (south, constitutional capital of Bolivia) and in Santa Cruz, rich region in the east of Bolivia, and bastion of opposition . Scenes of fraternization between police and opposition protesters were observed in the capital.

Following these events, Evo Morales denounced a coup d'etat "in progress", a rebellion against which the power however excludes, for now, to send the army.

"Sisters and brothers, our democracy is in danger because of the current coup d'etat that violent groups have launched against the constitutional order," the left-wing indigenous president said on Twitter, after a meeting with several ministers and the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, General Williams Kaliman. "We denounce before the international community this attack against the rule of law."

Hermanas y hermanos, nuestra democracia está in riesgo por el golpe de Estado that han puesto in march grupos violos that atentan contra el orden constitucional. Denunciamos ante the comunidad internacional este atentado contra el Estado de Derecho.

"I call on our people to take peaceable care of democracy and the CPE (Political Constitution of the State) to preserve peace and life as supreme assets above all political interests", he adds.

For Minister of Defense Javier Zavaleta, there is no question, for now, that the army intervenes against the mutineers. "No military operation will be conducted at the moment, it is totally excluded," he said.

"People are with you"

"We mutinied ourselves," said a policeman, his face concealed in front of the journalists at the headquarters of the Tactical Police Operations Unit (UTOP) in Cochabamba. "We will be on the side of the people, not with the generals," added one of his colleagues, also masked.

Broadcast live on television, footage showed about 20 officers climbing to the top of the police headquarters building, waving the Bolivian flag, while dozens of young opponents were cheering them from the street.

The demonstrators blew up firecrackers in a festive atmosphere and hoisted a Bolivian flag (red, yellow and green) on the flagpole, singing the national anthem.

To these mutinies were added parades during which dozens of police marched Friday night alongside opposition demonstrators, shouting slogans hostile to the re-elected president, on the main artery of La Paz.

"Police friends, people are with you", sang the crowd. Local TV stations also showed images of demonstrators shaking police hands in the center of the capital, a contrast with the previous three nights when the two sides clashed.

"I cried with emotion, Great Police"

The most visible and radical regional leader of the Bolivian opposition, Luis Fernando Camacho last Saturday asked the military and the police to join the opposition in this crisis triggered by the controversial re-election of Evo Morales in the elections of October 20th.

The latter took part in a rally in the southern part of La Paz on Friday afternoon when news of the mutiny in Cochabamba spread. The crowd began to applaud and sing.

"I cried with emotion, Great Police," tweeted Luis Fernando Camacho soon after. "Thank you for being with your people, may God bless you".

Llore de emoción, ¡Grande nuestra Policia! Confirmado el amotinamiento in # Potosí, #SantaCruz, #Tarija, #Sucre y #Cochabamba. Gracias por estar con su pueblo, Dios los los bendiga! #BoliviaUnida

In the streets of the Obrajes region, south of La Paz, police mutinies were celebrated as if the Bolivian national football team had won, an AFP journalist said.

At 60, Evo Morales has been in power since 2006. He was re-elected on October 20 for a fourth term until 2025, but the opposition denounced a "fraud". The wave of protests that erupted the day after the vote left three dead and 200 wounded.

With AFP