Widespread protests continued Monday in Bolivia's paralyzed administrative capital, La Paz, over alleged electoral fraud in the country's election that awarded President Evo Morales a fourth term in office.
Demonstrators blocked roads and manned barricades across wide swaths of the mostly-shuttered city. AFP reports confrontations between rival groups sparked fisticuffs and stone throwing in one neighborhood, prompting police to fire tear gas to quell the unrest.
Protests began after Bolivia's Supreme Electoral Tribunal suspended the publication of results from the country's Oct. 20 presidential election. Before the pause, partial results showed Morales likely heading to a runoff with former president Carlos Mesa. When reporting resumed a day later, Morales' percentage of the vote had increased above a critical threshold.
According to official results, Morales won 47% of the vote to Mesa's 35.5%, just above the 10-point lead needed to avoid a runoff and claim another five-year term as president.
Opposition lawmakers have called for a general strike and continued protests until a runoff vote is held.
On Sunday, the Bolivian government said it planned to allow the Organization of American States to audit the vote tabulation. Morales has said he would go to a second-round election if irregularities are found.
Meanwhile, government officials and opposition figures are pointing fingers at each other for the unrest.
La Paz mayor Luis Revilla, a Mesa ally, blamed "whatever type of violence is being generated" on pro-Morales “shock groups."
The president has called the protests an attempted coup. Vice President Alvaro Garcia called Mesa "a bad loser."
