According to the newspaper, hundreds of armed supporters of President Evo Morales, who resigned on Sunday, took to the streets in protest, marching toward the national capital.
#URGENT A big group of pro-Morales supporters is marching into the city of La Paz yelling “Now yes! Civil War!”,we fear for our safety as these groups are armed with guns and declaring war. #Bolivia #BoliviaProtests #BoliviaNoHayGolpe #BoliviaLibre #EvoMorales pic.twitter.com/a4yCiWstO2
— Bitterfck (@Bitterfck1) November 11, 2019
El Alto de La Paz, Bolivia 🇧🇴... Al grito de "Guerra Civil", el pueblo se prepara para defender su dignidad... 💪 pic.twitter.com/5cctOKyrPs
— Mirna Magali (@MirnaMagali3) November 11, 2019
The protesters actually completely destroyed the police station in the city of El Alto, adjacent to La Paz, it said. Some local shops have been closed.
The video posted on social media shows how a crowd of armed people runs from El Alto to La Paz.
Opposition politician Carlos Mesa asked the police for protection, believing that his house could be attacked.
Muchas personas me alertan indicando que una turba violenta se dirige a mi domicilio para destruirlo. Solicito a la Policía Nacional que evite esa locura.
— Carlos D. Mesa Gisbert (@carlosdmesag) November 11, 2019
Earlier in the day, Bolivian Armed Forces Commander Williams Kaliman said that army units would participate in police operations against 'groups of vandals'.
"The military command ordered the start of joint operations with the Bolivian police to avoid bloodshed", Kaliman told reporters.
Kaliman stressed that the army would never open fire on civilians, and again called on the country's people to return to peace.
Protests in the country sparked after Morales secured a new term in a hotly-contested presidential election. Peaceful rallies quickly morphed into unrest following a heavy-handed police response and incidents of arson and looting.
