On Tuesday, hundreds of vehicles lined the motorways in Santa Cruz, a farming region of Bolivia, as hard-hit local businessmen demanded a return to normalcy and protesters blocked exits from the area following the arrest of the local governor. Since right-wing local leader Luis Camacho was detained on December 28 on "terrorist" accusations relating to an alleged 2019 coup against then-president Evo Morales, protests have engulfed the lowland region.
 

Protesters demanding Camacho's release have blocked highways out of the region with tires, branches and stones, leaving long lines of standstill traffic, Reuters witnessed. The blockades threaten deliveries of grains and food around the country. Truckers and business leaders in the region, a bastion of the conservative opposition to the socialist government of Luis Arce, said the protests were hurting and called for order.
 

"The population is upset about the imprisonment of a right-wing governor and wants his freedom, but we are paying and suffering with this situation," said Luiz Hebert Godoy, a Brazilian truck driver transporting Bolivian gas. Leaders of the largest business associations in Santa Cruz called on the national authorities to comply with the rule of law and treat the region "with respect", but also appealed to the protesters to lift the blockades.

 

"If we cannot work because we're always suffering new interruptions, sieges, strikes or blockades, we lose strength," said Fernando Hurtado, president the region's industrial chamber Cainco, in a video message alongside other business head. Another source at a local business group said it would be hard for the region to maintain long protests and road blockades, with many still reeling from a lengthy strike last October and November. "Nobody can afford to suffer more," the person said.
 

In Santa Cruz city, protesters have clashed nightly on the streets, burning cars and tires and offloading fireworks. Others have held peaceful marches. Police have responded by using tear gas. Smaller marches have happened in highland city La Paz. "We are a peaceful people, we want peace, we want to work under normal conditions," said Gabriela Arias, protesting for Camacho's release in a women's march in Santa Cruz.
 

Others blame Camacho for the nation's turmoil in 2019 as a result of fatal protests that ultimately forced leftist icon Morales to quit. As a prominent local citizen, Camacho had organised some of the protests.