LA PAZ, Feb 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Health workers in Bolivia have taken to the streets against a controversial law in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and an ongoing doctors’ strike.
As Bolivian newspaper La Razon reported, they were supported by the National Committee for the Defence of Democracy (Conade) in their march to the seat of government in La Paz.
Conade was part of the protests that led to the resignation of then-president Evo Morales in November 2019.
The government of Morales’ successor, Luis Arce, continues to reject the doctors’ demands.
Doctors initially went on strike from last Friday until this Sunday, demanding the law be repealed. However, emergency cases and patients who are believe to have Covid-19 are expected to still be treated.
The leftist Arce government has passed an emergency health law without agreeing on its content with the National Health Council, which brings together doctors and other health workers.
The doctors are particularly opposed to an article that they see as restricting their right to demonstrate and strike.
In Bolivia, a country of about 11 million people, more than 244,000 people have been infected with the coronavirus; about 11,500 of them have died. — NNN-AGENCIES