The announcement comes a day after three protesters were killed and dozens wounded in clashes with security forces near the capital La Paz, taking the death toll to at least 27 over the past month.
ADVERTISEMENT
Bolivia president says will call elections in coming hours
Bolivia's interim President Jeanine Anez said Wednesday she will call elections in the coming hours, after deadly unrest following the resignation of Evo Morales in the wake of the disputed October 20 ballot.
Bolivian interim president Jeanine Anez says she will soon announce elections
"God willing, today, in the morning, we will call elections as the entire country is demanding," Anez told reporters.
Unrest in Bolivia first erupted after Morales -- the country's first indigenous president -- was accused of rigging the results of last month's polls to gain reelection.
He resigned and fled to Mexico after losing the support of the security forces.
ADVERTISEMENT
Anez, the 52-year-old former deputy speaker of the Senate, declared herself the country's interim president last week, filling a vacuum left by Morales' departure and the resignations of several ministers.
Since Morales stepped down, his supporters have demonstrated daily in the streets of La Paz and in some provincial cities to demand Anez's departure.
The deadliest clashes occurred Friday in the central city of Cochabamba -- a stronghold for Morales -- where nine people were killed in a confrontation with the army and police.
Hand-in-hand with the protests have been blockades of the main roads leading from agricultural regions to La Paz and other major cities.
Agricultural produce like meat, chicken and eggs was running short in high-altitude La Paz.
ADVERTISEMENT
Tuesday's violence happened as security forces lifted a siege on a fuel plant in El Alto that had caused severe shortages in the nearby capital.
A spokesman for the ombudsman's office said two of those killed Tuesday had been hit by gunfire, including a 31-year old man.
The army said in a statement that "agitators and vandals" had attacked and partially destroyed the Senkata fuel plant, "using high-powered explosives."
A convoy of around 50 fuel tankers was able to leave the Senkata plant for the first time in more than a week after police and military forces using armored vehicles secured the route to neighboring La Paz.
Morales supporters erected barricades around the El Alto plant last week to protest what they said was a coup by Anez.
ADVERTISEMENT
Many businesses in El Alto remained closed Wednesday morning, an AFP reporter said.
bur-amj/jm
JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!
ADVERTISEMENT
Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:
Email: eyewitness@pulse.com.gh
Recommended articles
Woman who claims to have been taken to another world by dwarfs shares experience
Organised Labour threatens to strike May 2 over Tier-2 pension arrears
Nana Addo assures he will prioritize the welfare of cocoa farmers
Truck driver arrested for allegedly causing train accident on Tema-Mpakadan railway line
Kia driver who caused accident involving Ghana’s new train reports himself to Police
No passenger injured in accident involving Ghana’s newly imported train – Railways Minister
NAGRAT gives govt one-week deadline to address unpaid pensions affecting 700,000 workers
Inside story of how Ghana’s new train got involved in accident on a test run
![What's causing the rain and flood in Dubai? [AP]](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg'%20width%3D'300'%20height%3D'172'%20data-ring-placeholder%3D'1'%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E "What's causing the rain and flood in Dubai? [AP]")