April 8, 2023, 10:04 AM
April 8, 2023, 10:04 AM
Hours of tension have been going on since Thursday in the town of Colchani, in Potosí, as some residents of this region took over three hotels located on the shore of the Uyuni salt flats and they threaten to burn them if the owners do not pay a “royalty”.
According to the report of the newspaper El Potosí, several vehicles were retained at the entrance of this tourist area by some residents of colchaniwhich have initiated pressure measures demanding a payment of up to $us 15,000 per year from the owners of these lodging establishments.
According to the report of this medium, this payment has no legal basis. The charge is not new because the situation has existed since the first salt Hotel, on the initiative of the late businessman Juan Quezada (+), in 1998. Then this place was moved to the shore of the Uyuni salt flat in 2004.
There are three hotels that have been taken over: Luna Salada, Cristal Camaña and Hotel Colque.
They are all built on the banks of the salt flat, which is a fiscal reserve, but the residents assure that they are community land, so they demand a payment that has even taken the name of “royalty”.
According to the note from El Potosí, the leaders charged $8,000 a year, but now they demand 15,000. The money was given to them in their own hands and its use is unknown.
When the drivers of the vehicles ask them to let the tourists pass, the blockers react hostilely and refuse. The lobbyists have announced that if the demanded sum is not paid, they will burn down the hotels.
“We have the right to protest (…) we are going to be more radical,” threatened one of the blockers, according to video images broadcast by El Potosí.
In 2021, three domes of a Swiss tourism company were burned by residents of southeast Potosí after it was reported that the company was going to operate with a license from the Oruro Governorate in Potosí territory.
Residents of three communities: Uyuni, Tahua and Llica arrived at the place and there was a threat of confrontation.
WATCH THE VIDEO (Source: El Potosí)
