*Estelle Shaya translated and summarized this document in coordination with Carolina Gálvez and Kathryn Ledebur.

Following the October 2019 presidential election, Santa Cruz had one of the strongest strikes in Bolivia supporting fraud allegations and rejecting electoral results. This three-week protest led by civic leaders, para-state groups like the Santa Cruz Youth Union, and MAS opponents, exceeded the right to protest by limiting the free movement of people through blockades and illegally searching and detaining citizens. Two people died in clashes between right wing protestors and pro-MAS civilians as these groups organized to support or break the blockades. The mainstream press and Civic Committee supporters blamed MAS for the killings. However, the legal system never identified who was actually responsible for these deaths. The police detained and imprisoned dozens, without sufficient evidence, and penalized medical professionals for providing medical assistance. The state prosecutors focused on a political narrative that a MAS government-supported guerrilla group caused the deaths, rather than investigating those responsible for violence and casualties.[1]

[1]AIN is preparing an English summary of the July 23, 2021, Interamerican Human Rights Commission Independent Interdisciplinary Expert Group (GIEI) report.[1] The GIEI’s mandate was to investigate violence and human rights violations in Bolivia from September 1, 2019, to December 31, 2019.[1]  AIN will publish this summary by section and eventually release a complete breakdown of the report. These are not direct translations. AIN condensed information into timelines, tables, victim narratives, and bullet points, remaining true to the original content of the GIEI report. The corresponding pages of the original report are cited for each section. All photos, maps, and footnotes explaining organizations mentioned in the text are AIN additions and not included in the official GIEI report.