Since Monday, a total of 43 people have been detained, according to the agency and officials, as protesters attempt to gather in the capital’s Plaza de Armas, where the presidency and legislature are located.

Thousands of mostly Indigenous demonstrators arrived in La Paz on Monday, after a four-day march from the town of Patacamaya to protest against President Luis Arce and economic conditions in the South American country.

Inflation in Bolivia was 9.9 percent in 2024, the highest in 16 years, according to official data, while the nation has also been hit by shortages of fuel and foreign currency.

Morales has not joined the latest protests, as he remains holed up in his traditional stronghold in the center of the country, evading an arrest warrant over an alleged relationship with a minor.

A former coca farmer, Morales broke ground as Bolivia’s first Indigenous leader, but lost support after trying to cling onto power for a third term.

He was forced to resign amid deadly protests over alleged election fraud and fled the country for a time, but is now seeking to replace Arce as his party’s leader ahead of elections in August, despite being ruled ineligible to become president again.

Morales says the charges of statutory rape, which he denies, were brought by the government of former-ally-turned-rival Arce to rule him out of politics.

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© Agence France-Presse