Llallagua, Bolivia - massive march of over 7,000 people in Llallagua in protest against food prices leads to looting stores

boliviaweekly

24 Jan 2011 - A massive march of over 7,000 people in Llallagua (Northern Potosi) to protest the rise in basic food prices has lead to the looting of over 30 food stores by angry protestors. Thousands of rural farmers belonging to the Chullpa and Sicoya indigenous groups looted LLallagua´s largest food stores on Linares street. The police were far outnumbered and did not intervene. Journalists report rock throwing, broken glass and twisted metal doors in the streets. Several injuries have been reported including a person beaten by the protestors and several others injured for trying to film and photograph the protestors. Neighbors and locals asked for government intervention, ¨Please, we want president Morales to come and solve this problem, they supposedly called for a peaceful march but there´s been vandalism,¨ said a neighbor. Another shop owner wept and said that the police refused to come help her, ¨My store is empty, we´ve lost all of our capital, they took TVs, computers, what are we going to do? They won´t return anything.¨ By 11AM things appeared to have returned to calm but the ayllus and various criminals infiltrating them returned and sticks and rocks to continue looting what remained in the stores. Small business owners tried to defend their stores but were defeated by the protestors. The business owners are calling for the police and military t intervene.