Beaten, painted and barefoot: The resurgence of the Bolivian mayor attacked in 2019 and now an elected senator

On November 6, 2019, around noon and after 17 days of mobilizations throughout the Bolivian territory due to allegations of fraud in the now canceled elections of October 20 that would keep Evo Morales, the mayor of Vinto, Cochabamba, in power, Patricia Arce heard screams outside the municipality before a mob entered the building to burn it down. In the midst of being beaten and shoved, Arce was surrounded on the street by protesters who forced her to walk barefoot for about seven kilometers after cutting her hair, taking her cell phone and bathing her in red paint.

The people accused the mayor of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) of collaborating with groups related to the former president and from that moment the ordeal began for the leader who she was rescued from the scene on a police motorcycle, while they demanded his resignation from office after also setting fire to the party headquarters.

Almost a year later, not only will the MAS return to power led by Luis Arce and David Choquehuanca, but also the former mayor was elected senator for Cochabamba, in the Sunday elections in Bolivia and will be one of the 20 women who will dominate the Upper House for the next period 2020-2025. However, during this period she denounces a political persecution from which at least a dozen criminal investigations have emerged, which included the arrest of her and her five children during the pandemic.

In conversation with Third From Bolivia, the senator-elect maintains that “I have more than seventeen criminal proceedings and none have been successful. It is a shame that the authorities acted in this way and under the guise of fraud when there was a coup in Bolivia ”.

How do you remember the attack you experienced in the 2019 protests?

That November 6, 2019, marked my life because I was the victim of a series of abuses, abuses and rapes. Paramilitary groups commanded by the Police and the Army came to my municipality to set it on fire. They took me out of the place and beat me, they threw gasoline and red paint on me, they cut my hair and made me walk barefoot for more than seven kilometers. It cannot fit a mind that they can do that with a woman, with a person just like them. It has been very hard and really to this day it is difficult to overcome.

In the previous hours, were there signs of violence or was it unexpected?

It was very unexpected because we had worked all day, there were no problems and just that day they told me that some bikers were going. I had asked for police protection and the police never came and they did not give me the corresponding protection. After that crucial day for me, we have had a whole year of political and judicial persecution, without respect for the family or my children. They accused us of violating the (sanitary) decree for celebrating the birthday of one of my children. They entered my house and took us accused of attacking our health and consuming alcoholic beverages. Two breathalyzer tests came back negative, but we were still locked up in a police cell for two nights. My underage son was taken to a center for offenders and made to sleep with young offenders who have committed a series of abuses. With me they exceeded many limits.

Do you believe that there is cruelty against you?

Throughout this year, there has been cruelty and the Minister of Government (Arturo Murillo) has said it verbatim in all the media that he takes care of me, that he is not going to rest until he finishes with me. Political persecution is really due to the fact of thinking differently, of being a woman, of having ideas that are not related to them. It is not only against me, I represent women and no woman should go through this. I have more than seventeen criminal proceedings and none have been successful. It is a shame that the authorities acted in this way and in the name of fraud when there was a coup in Bolivia.

How would you describe the year of mandate of the interim President, Jeanine Áñez?

This period belongs to the coup government because it has nothing temporary. We evaluate it as an authoritarian, corrupt government that simply exudes revenge and hatred, because that is what we have been through. To be a woman you have to have principles and many values, because a woman cannot act the way Mrs. Jeanine Áñez and her entire political environment have done.

You were mayor of Vinto, how did your candidacy for the Senate come about?

We did not seek the position, the social organizations are the ones that put the authorities in and they saw that I could go to the Senate. It is a very great responsibility, because once again the people of Bolivia trust their authorities, they trust the process of change. We must continue working to be able to rebuild our country that they have destroyed in such a short time. In a pandemic they have stolen, we did not have respirators, we did not have masks. The population did not have bread to put in their mouths. The municipal governments have had a decrease in resources.

How did you experience Sunday’s electoral victory at the polls?

The people are wise. They have seen and appreciated how we have gone, because it is not simply to say that we have left because we have left. I always said that the best campaign leaders were Mrs. Jeanine Áñez and Mr. Arturo Murillo with so much violence, pride, abuse, discrimination and hatred towards people that we come from a humble class.

Where were you when you found out you won the seat?

We were here in our municipality. We did not expect such a resounding victory. We knew we were going to win in the first round, but not with such a large majority because people have really suffered this year. And that means that in the 14 years (of the MAS government) we have done things well. We did not do 100%, but there are issues that we will have to modify and redirect. The people are once again giving us the confidence and responsibility with which we have to go to work as we have always done, obeying and listening to the people.

How do you see the winning combination of Luis Arce and David Choquehuanca?

I know them personally and I am very hopeful. “Lucho” Arce is the best economist we have had in Bolivia. He is the architect of the Bolivian economic miracle and that gives us a guarantee to get ahead. We know very well that he is a humble person and comes from the town, just like us. David Choquehuanca is the unit of indigenous peoples. We are not going to seek revenge, but the unity of the country-city. We are going to work from the Plurinational Legislative Assembly (ALP) to be able to restore trust, economic, social and political stability to our beloved Bolivia.

What role do you think former President Evo Morales should have in his eventual return to Bolivia?

He is our leader and head of the MAS process, that is why we respect him, but we know very well that now the President and Vice President are Luis Arce and David Choquehuanca, and those who have to govern are them. We know that (Evo) is very respectful and will surely return to Bolivia, but he will do so in order to be able to submit to justice and defend himself from all the criminal proceedings he has against him.

Do you think that the mobilizations of 2019 can be repeated?

I think that the mask and all the farce of Mr. (Luis) Almagro (Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS)) no longer makes sense in our country. The person responsible for the coup we have suffered is Almagro and he has to answer for everything that has happened in my country. We are going to demand that there be someone responsible for all this and that the corresponding investigations be carried out on the mobilizations.