A semblance of order returned to Sucre Monday after four people died in a weekend of violent protests over the constitutional reforms sought by leftist President Evo Morales. Residents removed barricades erected during the weekend clashes that sent the regional governor and the police force fleeing the colonial city of 350,000.
In the absence of a police presence, citizens groups patroled the streets of Sucre, while in New York, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appealed for calm.
And 70 of 120 prisoners who had fled from a Sucre prison returned voluntarily, according to prison services director Daysy Aguilar. With officers out of town, inmates were running the prison, said Aguilar.
Authorities said security forces pulled out of the city over the weekend in a bid to contain the violence.
Regional Governor David Sanchez said protesters had looted his house and set fire to his belongings on Sunday. The Chuquisaca department governor is "recovering from shock," his spokesman said on Monday. A member of the governing Movement Toward Socialism, Sanchez has come under sharp criticism for staying away from the city during the unrest.
One protester died early Monday after being injured in clashes with police, local officials said. The protests took a violent turn late Saturday when a 29-year-old protester died of a gunshot wound. Another demonstrator and a police officer also were killed in the violence.
In New York, the UN chief urged all sides to refrain from violence. "In order to strengthen democracy and respect for human rights in Bolivia, the secretary general urges all political and social actors to remain calm, to abstain from using violence and to seek a consensus on the pressing issues affecting the Bolivian people," his press office said in a statement.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the US government deplored the violence and urged the Morales administration and the opposition "to show restraint and tolerance during this critical period. "An environment that encourages inclusion and open debate is vital to the success of any democratic reform process," the spokesman said.
The protests came as some 150 pro-government delegates to a Constituent Assembly on Saturday approved the outlines of a new draft constitution the opposition rejects.
Opposition lawmakers have boycotted the assembly, accusing Morales of trying to grab more power.
| Once again, if you boycott the proceedings, the other side gets what they want without trying. |
The protesters also want the legislative and executive branches to be moved from La Paz to Sucre. Sucre was the symbolic center for the independence movement against Spain in 1809 and lost its central role as the sole capital in the 19th century to La Paz after a civil war.
Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president, claims the protests were orchestrated by wealthy capitalists. Like the constitutional changes sought by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez -- often seen as Morales's mentor -- the reforms would allow the president to seek reelection as often as he wishes.
Morales has said he would put the draft constitution to a referendum, but did not set a date for the vote.