Published 20.20
Police and anti-government protesters clashed in eastern Bolivia on Saturday.
The riot erupted when riot police, backed by military vehicles, tried to clear a protest blockade of a road in the city of San Julián in the department of Santa Cruz with tear gas.
The protesters threw stones and burned tires in an attempt to stop the police, says AFP’s reporter on the spot. Two police officers had to be taken to hospital with gunshot wounds, according to the region’s police.
The South American country has been paralyzed by protests for several weeks, with demands for the centrist president Rodrigo Paz to resign.
Paz took office in November promising to solve the country’s worst economic crisis in decades. But he has failed to meet the calls of many residents for wage increases, economic stability and a halt to privatisation.
