“Evistas” seize military unit in Villa Tunari, enter armory, and hold hostages | “Evistas” toman unidad militar en Villa Tunari, entran a sala con armas y hay rehenes

By Fernando Chavez, Vision 360:

Crisis

It has been reported that the mobilized group entered the Cacique Maraza Regiment violently.

El grupo de militares que se encontraban en el recinto militar. Foto: Captura de video

The group of soldiers inside the military facility. Photo: Video screenshot

Around two thousand coca growers loyal to leader and former president Evo Morales violently took over the Cacique Maraza Regiment in District 8 of Villa Tunari on Friday. They even entered the military facility’s armory and took at least 20 people hostage, including both soldiers and civilians.

A report from Red Uno indicates that the coca growers took a group of soldiers, both men and women, as hostages and managed to enter a room containing military weaponry.

The armory of the Cacique Maraza Regiment, where the coca growers entered.

The incident occurred at eight in the morning this Friday when the “evistas” learned that military and police forces had started to clear the blockades in the Pirque Parotani area, the “headquarters” of the mobilized supporters of their leader, Morales.

“They’ve cut off our water and electricity, and they’ve taken us as hostages; we demand a solution, that they stop intervening in the blockades of Parotani and other areas, as the lives of my instructors and soldiers are in danger,” said a soldier who was allowed to record a message addressed to senior military command.

Minutes before news broke of the military barracks being taken, the second secretary of the “evista” faction of the Confederación Sindical Única de Trabajadores Campesinos de Bolivia (CSUTCB), Humberto Claros, had warned that several military units would be taken as soon as the clearing operations began in Pirque Parotani, including the Army’s Ninth Division, located in Lauca Ñ.

“If the military and police intervention in Pirque Parotani happens, they will definitely take not only the Ninth Division but also other military units in Santa Cruz and the Chimoré area. They will seize them, and the government needs to know this,” he warned in statements to Radio Panamericana.

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