Thousands of protestors from the city of El Alto and the rural provinces are assembled in the Plaza San Francisco of La Paz. A woman wearing the pollera, a skirt worn by indigenous women of rural origin, is being filmed by the crew of a popular alternative radio station.
Firm, determined, and angry, she says, “I feel hurt and heartbroken. We cannot surrender now because our wiphala [the flag of indigenous self-determination that was burnt by the organizers of the civic-military coup in Bolivia] has been insulted. We ask Camacho to leave. Otherwise, we will kick him out because El Alto is always on its feet, never on its knees. If he does not leave now, he will leave in his coffin.”
After threatening the self-declared President Jeanine Añez of dire consequences if she continued in office, the indigenous woman went on to say “We do not fear death. We have to die of something sooner or later. We are ready to die for the fatherland.” By the time she completed her interview, the Ponchos rojos, members of a militant indigenous organization from rural La Paz joined the protestors in the Plaza chanting “Civil war! Civil war!”
