Spanish
Entre Ríos/La Paz,.- A mob stoned and booed presidential candidate Andrónico Rodríguez this Sunday after he cast his vote in the political and union stronghold of former President Evo Morales, where he is considered a "traitor" for distancing himself from the former ruler and running on his own in these general elections.
Rodríguez went to vote at the José Carrasco school, in the municipality of Entre Ríos located in the Cochabamba Tropics, the stronghold of Morales (2006-2019) in the central region of Cochabamba, with a delay due to a minor explosion near that electoral precinct beforehand.
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When the also-president of the Senate was about to speak with the journalists covering the vote, the people in the room began to throw stones at him, as EFE confirmed. Faced with the attack, the candidate made no further statements and left the polling station quickly, at whose doors a vehicle was waiting for him, which was also hit by stones, while the crowd shouted "traitor" at him. The stones also hit some journalists and photographers who were at the scene. The atmosphere in Entre Ríos is tense, as before Rodríguez went to vote there was an explosion near the precinct. Rodríguez later offered a press conference at the headquarters of the coca leaf producers' union to which he belongs, where he considered that what happened "is not a natural or spontaneous reaction" of his "brothers" and "comrades" from Entre Ríos. "They are organized groups that, intolerantly, have been waiting since very early in the morning, expecting that at any moment I enter and they generate a whole conflict to prevent me from casting my vote," he said. In his opinion, the objective of that "small group" that attacked him was to prevent him from entering the electoral precinct, although he stated that he was able to vote "with complete normality". The senator pointed out that what happened will remain in the conscience of those who "want to organize this type of conflict or convulsion" and defended that his candidacy is "to defend the brothers of the Six Federations of the Tropic of Cochabamba", the largest union of coca growers in the country, and also "representing the popular movement". Rodríguez, 36, is the best-positioned left-wing candidate in the polls, in third or fourth place, below opponents Samuel Doria Medina, from the Unidad alliance, and former President Jorge Tuto Quiroga (2001-2002), from the Libre alliance, who could compete in an unprecedented second round. The candidate of the Popular alliance was considered the political heir of Evo Morales, but decided to run on his own and the former president called him a "traitor". Morales is not participating in these elections due to a constitutional provision that prevents him from running again because he has already governed the country for three terms, and he also does not have a political party, so he is promoting null votes. The campaign for the null vote was intense in the Cochabamba Tropics and the people in Entre Ríos warned that if that option is not the majority in that area, they will burn the ballot boxes. More than 7.5 million people are called to the polls in Bolivian territory to elect the president, vice president, and parliamentarians of the Legislative Branch, and another 369,308 citizens will vote abroad. The elections are taking place amidst a severe economic crisis, marked by a lack of dollars, fuel shortages, and the worst inflation in decades.
