Supporters of Bolivia’s ex-leader Morales clash with police in push to secure his candidacy

Hundreds of supporters of ex-President Evo Morales marched toward Bolivia’s top electoral court on Friday to push for their leftist leader’s candidacy in presidential elections later this year, a rally that descended into street clashes as police tried to clear out a group of demonstrators.

Hundreds of supporters of ex-President Evo Morales marched toward Bolivia’s top electoral court on Friday to push for their leftist leader’s candidacy in presidential elections later this year, a rally that descended into street clashes as police tried to clear out a group of demonstrators. The confrontations come in response to a ruling by Bolivia’s Constitutional Court that blocks Morales, the nation’s first Indigenous president who governed from 2006 until his ouster in 2019, from running again in Aug. 17 elections. The turmoil escalates political tensions as Bolivia undergoes its worst economic crisis in four decades. As the march arrived in Bolivia’s capital of La Paz, protesters seeking to register Morales’ candidacy surged toward the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, chanting, “Comrades, what do we want? For Evo to come back!” Security forces barricading a road to the court held them back. Police reported that the clashes between rock-throwing protesters and tear gas-lobbing police forces injured two officers, a journalist and a local merchant. “They’re using firecrackers and rocks that are hurting our forces,” said police Commander Juan Russo. “This is not a peaceful march.”