Tensions between the government of President Rodrigo Paz and his Vice President Edmand Lara intensified this Tuesday after the former police officer described himself as a “constructive opposition figure”. Within Bolivia’s executive branch, he will make new accusations against the president and parliament, warning that he will only leave office if citizens revoke his mandate.
In a new video broadcast by TikTok, Lara said that Paz “set him aside” and made up his mind “Govern for the Rich” and “Surround Yourself with Corrupt People”He set a goal of “fighting government corruption and denouncing any official who crosses the line from good to the line of evil.”
“There are people who say that I am no longer part of the government and that I am the opposition. Well, how right they are, I am the opposition, but a constructive opposition,” said Lara, who is very active on TikTok.
The vice president indicated that he would support “what is right” and denounce “what is wrong.”and that if in two years “the people want to revoke his mandate,” he will have no “fear” and leave power.
“If we stay for five years, Rodrigo Paz will have to endure me for five years because of the corruption that he discovers, the corruption that I denounce. I will not remain silent,” he added in his message.
The President has been in constant meetings with various sectors of society since Friday, given their opposition to the removal of the fuel subsidyfixed by decree since Wednesday.
“I don’t do TikToks, I act. “I do things because they chose me to make decisions.”Paz assured the day before at one of these meetings in an apparent reference to Lara.
Lara’s latest comments add to a chain of attacks launched against both the president and parliament in recent days.
The evening before, Lara said in another video that Paz was “corrupt” and “skilled at deception.”“, and also attacked the ministers, calling them “idiots” (sic) for “causing social upheaval” with the decree ordering the withdrawal of fuel subsidies.
In another video, the Bolivian vice president assured that the deputies and senators “gather among criminals, and among criminals they do a lot and their vote is the majority” in parliament, where he disagreed with a statement against the decree over the weekend.
Aside from that, Lara accused parliamentarians of approving loans in exchange for quotas in institutions such as customs, tax and personal identity services, although he did not provide any evidence.
Some MPs called for his retraction, but the vice president confirmed his statements and claimed to have evidence, prompting MPs from the ruling party and the opposition to announce the opening of criminal proceedings against him for comments that were classified as “Offensive” and viewed as an insult to the institutionality of the legislature.
The relationship between Paz and Lara has remained tense since the duo won the second round of voting last October.
A first critical point occurred in November, when Lara declared on his TikTok account that he was “no longer part” of the government and called Paz a “liar.”
After the surprise election victory, the vice president assured that he was “the guarantor” of the new government and that “if Rodrigo Paz follows the path of evil, I will be the first to denounce him.”
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