Supporters of ousted Bolivian leader Evo Morales marched into the capital La Paz on Thursday carrying coffins of people killed in clashes with the military and police, drawing attention to the human cost of the crisis gripping the South American nation, Trend reports citing Reuters.
Security forces fired tear gas to disperse the crowds after demonstrators placed one protester’s coffin and an effigy of interim President Jeanine Anez on top of an armored military vehicle and tried to enter the square where the presidential palace is located, a Reuters witness said.
Anez, a former Senator who took office in a power vacuum last week, has grappled with a wave of protests against her as she has tried to move the landlocked South American country past Morales’ nearly 14-year leftist rule.
At least 29 people have been killed in clashes since he resigned on Nov. 10 under pressure from protesters, civic leaders and security forces, after an international audit found serious irregularities in the vote-count of the Oct. 20 election that gave Morales an outright victory and fourth straight term.