Santa Cruz residents begin civic strike at Cristo Redentor with blockade of highway to the north

With the intonation of the Hymn to Santa Cruz, at the feet of Christ the Redeemer (second ring), the president of the Pro Santa Cruz Civic Committee, Fernando Larach, started the 24-hour strikein the early hours of this Friday, September 6. The measure is in rejection of the results of the 2024 census, presented by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

“The protest must be national, because we have all been victims of a robbery,” said Larach. upon his arrival at the mythical Cristo Santa Cruz. The civic leader, together with members of his board and members of the Unión Juvenil Cruceñista, walked from the Committee’s facilities to the Cristo roundabout to begin the strike against the INE data.

Larach added that the mandate of the Assembly of the Cruceñidad is being fulfilled. He recommended that citizens stay at home; however, he left the door open for people who want to go out and block the protest, but in a peaceful manner and with tolerance for health personnel, the press, people who need emergency medical attention, in addition to police personnel, public services, urban cleaning, firefighters and others who play a role in favor of society on this day of strike.

“The Civic Committee, the Gabriel René Moreno Autonomous University and the Governor’s Office are working on technical meetings to scientifically demonstrate that the census was stolen,” Larach reiterated.

After the inauguration of the strike day, A volunteer group led by the Youth Union began a caravan along the second ring road. The idea is to raise awareness among the population so that they comply with the measure.

While the start of the strike was being inaugurated at Cristo, on the bridge in front of Viru Viru Airport, Members of the Provincial Civic Committee blocked the highway north of Santa Cruz. They placed a large Santa Cruz flag from end to end on the road.

“We have four protest points. “In the Roboré area, in San Ignacio de Velasco and in La Guardia,” Farah Galeb, vice president of the Provincial Women’s Civic Committee, told EL DEBER.

The leader indicated that Marcelo Méndez, president of the Provincial Civic Committee, was also present at that place, supporting the measure adopted by the Assembly of the Santa Cruz community.

“We ask the population to comply peacefully. The census was fake and we want to be counted in a transparent manner,” said Galeb, early this Friday morning. The strike will become more radical as the hours go by.