This archive report was first published on 9 November 2019.
La Paz, Bolivia - November 9, 2019
Police units in Bolivia's main city La Paz have joined anti-government protests, presenting a serious threat to President Evo Morales' power after last month's disputed elections.
Local media reported that the mutinies had spread to at least four other cities, with state television broadcasting images of police marching with protesters in one of those major cities.
President Morales has so far not confronted the spreading police rebellion, instead attempting to minimize its scale and importance. On Friday, the country's defense minister stated that the Armed Forces would remain in their barracks and no military action would be taken against the mutinied police officers.
Uniformed police mixed with anti-government protesters outside the Presidential Palace in La Paz, with some police guards abandoning their posts at several ministerial buildings and mutinied officers taking over the old presidential palace, hanging national flags from its walls.
The mutinies marked an escalation of Bolivia's post-election unrest, which has claimed the lives of three people. Protesters have clashed with security forces across the country and burned public buildings.
Former President Carlos Mesa blamed President Morales for the unrest, stating that the government was
