The President of Bolivia, Luis Arce, announced Friday that he has set the date for the Population Census for March 23, 2024, one month earlier than initially planned, calling for «peace» in the city of Santa Cruz.
In a televised message, Arce made a review of the whole process of socialization and technical agreement to define the date of the Census between departmental and municipal authorities and the 11 public universities, with the accompaniment of experts from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Latin American and Caribbean Demographic Center (Celade), reported ABI.
«We can no longer continue to delay, especially when leaders who represent a part of Santa Cruz, not all, maintain the position of not reaching agreements. In democracy, different positions coexist, but democracy also means making decisions for the benefit of the majorities», said the Bolivian president.
In this sense, the national census of population and housing will be carried out on March 23, 2024 and on the basis of the preliminary results, the distribution of tax co-participation resources will be made in September 2024, one month earlier than initially proposed at the dialogue tables.
In Santa Cruz, 22 days of protests have been taking place, asking the Government to hold the Census in 2023 in order to bring forward the collection of benefits to Bolivian citizens, as reported by the above mentioned agency. In that city, where the economic engine of the country is located, the opposition to Luis Arce has greater weight.
After failing to reach an agreement with the Inter-Institutional Committee leading the protests in Santa Cruz, the Executive announced the composition of a technical table with representatives of international organizations to define the date of the Census and thus quell the demonstrations.
After Arce’s new decision, he called for the return of calm and normality in Santa Cruz, where a civic strike marked by violence is taking place.
«I call on all the democratic currents of our country, and those that exist within the Inter-Institutional Committee, to close the way to violence and attempts to break the constitutional order that some of its fractions are carrying out», he demanded.
The so-called «civic movement» of Bolivia began last Saturday an indefinite national strike to demand the celebration of the Census in 2023, instead of 2024 as proposed by the Bolivian Government, since this registry conditions the distribution of aid among the regions of the country.
