denature violence

An urgent task today in Bolivia is, without a doubt, to distort violence. At the rate we are going, and given the clear commitment of the central government, we are facing the imminent risk of falling into a dangerous and disastrous escalation of violence. The latest events recorded in different cities of the country demonstrate this.

It no longer matters if it is the seat of government or a forgotten and distant community: in one and the other acts of violence marked by confrontation between civilians are being repeated and, what is even worse, provoked, encouraged and carried out by trained shock groups to hit, harass and kill that operate with total impunity, under the protection of the police forces.

I say groups trained for violence, because it is increasingly clear that these do not act in the heat of an unexpected conflict, nor do they arise spontaneously and unusually. This is evidenced by the actions of these groups seen in Las Londras, during the 36 days of strike and now in the Kim family properties, all of them in the department of Santa Cruz. Or those already registered before in the capital of La Paz, be it in the conflict between cocaleros from Yungas and those moved by the MAS or in the attack on the march of neighbors mobilized by the demands of the doctors and, later, by the 2023 Census. Or those denounced in Potosí, regarding the defense of Cerro Rico, as has been well documented by the newspaper El Potosí.

In all of them, the movement of groups of hooded or chinstrapped men stands out, with sticks or machetes in hand, when not dynamite or heavy-caliber weapons, who move with a dexterity characteristic of military training.

In almost all cases, with a perverse yapa such as torture, both physical and mental, carried out without any kind of qualms, in full view and with the patience of those called by law to combat them, among others, the Police and the Public Ministry, only to name the most responsible.
We have just seen it once again in recent days in the events recorded precisely on the Kim family property and surroundings, in the Lomas de Arena Park area, in the municipality of La Guardia.

That these violent groups act favored by the inaction of the Police or even more seriously, with their encouragement and effective support, is irrefutable proof that they do so with the consent of the central government. A complicity that breaks all limits and that already configures the violation of what is established in the Constitution and other laws and norms that emanate from it. Not to mention basic rules such as those read in the mission and vision proclaimed by the Police on its institutional website: “Defense of society, preservation of public order and compliance with laws in Bolivian territory, as a mission; and consolidate a humanized, professional, scientific, specialized and transparent institution of service to the people, guaranteeing a safe Bolivia and living well…”, as a vision.

It is even more difficult to deny the direct responsibility of the regime in the violent actions of these shock groups, if one considers that the Police, the entity called upon to put a stop to them and does not do so, depends on the Ministry of the Interior and this on the will and the order of the president of Bolivia.

Even worse if we recall what was seen in the 48-hour strike that Santa Cruz carried out at the beginning of last August: two ministers personally led the shock groups mobilized to try to counter the protest in the capital of Santa Cruz. This is not counting the statements made by more than one representative or leader of the MAS both against the protest in Santa Cruz, as well as against others carried out in the rest of the country. The evidence leads to reaffirm: the Government encourages violence.

Why does he do it, is it only out of an effort to ensure his permanence ad infinitum in central power? Once again, the facts denounced around these last conflicts give rise to pointing out another major interest, such as the protection of drug trafficking, the one most interested in achieving the exact opposite of what was stated at the beginning of this reflection: distorting violence to not repeat traumatic experiences like those of Mexico and Colombia, to cite a couple of examples.