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While writing an article on major forms of political violence / property destruction in Bolivia's 2019 political crisis, I'm struck by the scale of arson on October 21–23.Permalink On twitter.com
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The wave of arsons began on October 21, after a 24-hour pause in the rapid count of votes. At that moment, there were no final results, but opponents of the government feared that the count would towards Evo Morales winning re-election in the first round.Permalink On twitter.com
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Whatever rage they might have felt at electoral authorities, protesters might have felt that ballots themselves either contained votes that weren't counted fairly or evidence of the fraud they suspected. Instead, they helped to burn ballots or whole electoral offices.Permalink On twitter.com
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In Potosí, police basically ceded control over the Departmental Electoral Tribunal headquarters to the opposition Civic Committe of Potosí (Comcipo). Under their watch, it burned down. Smoke was still rising six days later.Permalink On twitter.com
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Similarly in Sucre, an evidently massive crowd entered the TED. The fire began with electoral materials and consumed the entire building, including seven vehicles and the Civil Registry office. correodelsur.com/seguridad/20211021_se-cumplen-dos-anos-de-la-quema-del-ted-como-avanza-el-proceso.htmlOn twitter.com
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In Tarija, where the opposition candidate Carlos Mesa won a plurality, protesters focused on the national tax office for complete destruction, but also burned ballots outside the TED. elperiodico-digital.com/2019/10/22/minuto-a-minuto-manifestantes-toman-las-oficinas-de-impuestos-internos-de-tarija/Permalink On twitter.com
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Protests were held below the level of arson in La Paz, Cochabamba, and Santa Cruz on October 21, and held back from serious arson in Cobija, Pando, and Trinidad, Beni.Permalink On twitter.com
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On the next day, October 22, however, young protesters set fire to the Departmental Electoral Tribunal complexes in Santa Cruz and Trinidad, Beni. Police battled protesters within the Beni TED for seven hours. paginasiete.bo/nacional/2019/10/23/incendian-los-tribunales-departamentales-de-santa-cruz-beni-235266.html lostiempos.com/actualidad/pais/20191023/queman-tribunales-electorales-beni-santa-cruzPermalink On twitter.com
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At the Santa Cruz TED, a university student march set fires. Damage was extensive and documents in the electoral and civil registry archives continued to burn into the next morning. eldeber.com.bo/santa-cruz/danos-por-el-incendio-en-el-ted-y-el-sereci-alcanza-los-us-65-millones_10147Permalink On twitter.com
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It's testimony to the well-established role of property destruction in Bolivian protest that these events were primarily discussed as "popular fury" in the press (here, Página Siete).Permalink On twitter.com
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Still, it takes considerable effort to truly destroy a building by fire, and considerable chutzpah to burn ballots during a disputed election.Permalink On twitter.com
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These fires marked the beginning of an exceptionally destructive month of protest and confrontations, and set the tone for a wider-than-normal use of arson in Bolivian politics.Permalink On twitter.com
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Ultimately both sides would take up this risky and potentially lethal tool. And shift targets from public offices to the private homes of political figures.Permalink On twitter.com
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As I'm writing this week, this use of fire as a political weapon had major precedents during the 2006-08 political crisis.Permalink On twitter.com
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Ultimately, these were collective political acts that had scores or hundreds of participants. Serious judicial and/or political accountability for them is unlikely to come through the same kind of prosecutions that are targeting orchestrators of killing during the 2019 crisis.Permalink On twitter.com