By Daniel Ramos
LA PAZ (Reuters) -Bolivian President Luis Arce accused followers of his former mentor-turned-rival, Evo Morales, of being behind an armed takeover of military posts and holding soldiers hostage on Friday, ramping up tensions in the already restive Andean nation.
Arce said the groups had forced their way into three military posts outside the central Bolivian city of Cochabamba, home to many supporters of ex-President Morales, after shooting at and launching dynamite at police.
The groups have also broken into each post’s armory, Arce said, calling the act “criminal” and accusing the attackers of treason.
Bolivia’s military urged those responsible for the takeover to “immediately and peacefully” abandon each post.
Morales, in a press conference later on Friday, called for a dialogue with the government. Without taking responsibility for the assault on the military posts, Morales said he would launch a hunger strike until talks between the two sides began.
“The lives of my instructors and soldiers are in danger,” warned an unnamed military official in a recording broadcast on local media.
Televised images showed a row of uniformed soldiers with their hands behind their backs, possibly tied, surrounded by members of the armed group.
Arce urged solidarity, saying that many of the soldiers were working class and Indigenous, much like their captors.
ROAD BLOCKADES
Earlier this week, police and military had attempted to clear a weeks-long highway blockade by Morales supporters strangling traffic between Cochabamba and Oruro.
Protesters retaliated by launching dynamite at them from nearby hills, with police then launching tear gas.
Morales’ followers set up road blockades in mid-October in support of him, pressuring for a criminal investigation into the former president for alleged abuse of a minor to be dropped. Morales has argued the investigation is politically motivated.
Since then, the disruptions in transport have cost the impoverished South American economy more than $1.7 billion, Arce said on Wednesday.
The two leftist leaders, both with roots in Bolivia’s ruling socialist party, have gone from close allies to bitter rivals in recent months as they jockey for position ahead of next year’s presidential election.
(Reporting by Daniel Ramos and Monica Machicao in La Paz; Writing by Kylie Madry; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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