This archive report was first published on 22 November 2019.
On November 22, 2019, thousands of protesters in Bolivia marched in a funeral procession from El Alto to La Paz, carrying flowers and waving the multicolored indigenous flag, to honor the five people killed in a stand-off with security forces near a key fuel plant on Tuesday.
Protesters, demanding 'justice' and the resignation of interim president Jeanine Anez, marched on the capital's San Francisco Square, where scores of heavily-armed police and soldiers had blocked streets near Congress.
As the protesters approached the square, they were met with riot shields and an armored personnel carrier equipped with a machine gun turret, and police fired volleys of tear gas to break up the crowd.
People fled, many trying to escape the gas by cowering in doorways in side streets, but police riding motorcycles pursued them, firing off more tear gas to push the protesters further away from the square.
At least 32 people have been killed in clashes with security forces, and the interim government denies responsibility for the deaths, with protesters accusing the security forces of firing indiscriminately at the Senkata demonstrators.
"They riddled us with bullets," said Rufino Copa, a 42-year-old farmer, describing the security force response to demonstrators as 'bloodthirsty.'
