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Street battles in Bolivia as Evo Morales leads march to La Paz

Supporters of Evo Morales have clashed with followers of his rival ahead of 2025 election

Pro-government supporters and security forces in Bolivia have clashed with protesters loyal to the former President Evo Morales on Sunday.

Rival groups hurled firecrackers, homemade explosives and stones at each other while police fired tear gas in the city of El Alto. Morales - who was president from 2006 to 2019 - has been leading thousands of supporters in a week-long march to the country's administrative capital La Paz.

He wants to run as the candidate for the ruling Mas party in the country's 2025 presidential elections. But the current president, Luis Arce, also intends to run. Arce's supporters took to the streets to protest against Morales and his followers.

Morales was declared the winner of the 2019 election, but resigned weeks later after protests triggered by reports of irregularities in the vote count, and went into exile.

Updated 5 November 2024: This article previously referred to La Paz as the capital of Bolivia. It has been changed to reflect its status as the administrative capital.