Former Bolivian President Evo Morales said Wednesday protests sweeping the country amount to a broader revolt against what he described as a conservative government aligned with U.S. interests.
The workers, farmers, truckers, Indigenous people and others who have taken to the street in La Paz since early May are also calling for the resignation of center-right president Rodrigo Paz, who accuses Morales of being behind the weeks-long protests.
But the socialist former president and Indigenous icon said it is Bolivians' anger over "a government that is utterly submissive" to the United States that is fueling the unrest.
"I am totally convinced this rebellion is against the neo-liberal model and the neo-colonial state," said Morales, who led Bolivia from 2006 to 2019 and fled to Mexico amid a popular uprising against him after a disputed election. He returned from exile in 2020.
Bolivia's first Indigenous president spoke in a virtual interview from his political stronghold in the coca-growing Chapare region.
