May 24, 2008 violence in Sucre


The May 24, 2008 violence in Sucre, Bolivia, consisted of clashes, hostage-taking, assaults, and alleged public humiliation against primarily indigenous rural leaders and their supporters. The events arose from an announced visit from Bolivian President Evo Morales, during which he was scheduled to preside over the donation of ambulances to rural municipalities of Chuquisaca, the department of which Sucre is the capital.
Prior to the planned visit, the civic movement led by the Inter-Institutional Committee and the Chuquisaca Civic Committee demanded that Morales apologize to the families of three Sucre residents who were killed in November 2007 clashes outside the final meetings of the Bolivian Constituent Assembly. These organizations planned disruptive protests of Morales visit. However, under pressure from the protests, Morales decided on May 24 not to attend the presentation.
Participants in the civic movement protests then engaged in street clashes with peasants that came to Sucre to counter the local protestors. During the afternoon, several dozen indigenous peasants were marched by civic movement protesters to Sucre's central square, the Plaza 25 de Mayo. There they were punched, threatened, forced to strip off their shirts and kneel, subjected to alleged racist insults, and supposedly publicly humiliated in various ways.
The incident heightened political and racial tensions in Bolivia, then in the midst of a political conflict between Morales and the CONALDE group of governors. On the second anniversary of the violence, May 24, 2010, the first public draft of Bolivia's Law Against Racism was presented. In May 2011, Bolivia's Law 139 established May 24 as Bolivia's National Day against Racism and All Forms of Discrimination.

Trial

A large number of officials in the Inter-Institutional Committee and Sucre's municipal government were indicted for conspiring in the violence in April and May 2010. Former Inter-Institutional Committee president Jaime Barrón, who had recently been elected mayor, was suspended by the City Council and later resigned in the wake of the indictments., however the trials advanced slowly. An initial trial, held in Sucre, was dissolved in August 2012 after two of the presiding judges resigned from the case. A second trial was then held in the town of Padilla.
The trial of fourteen people accused of orchestrating or participating in the May 24 violence ended in March 2016. Prosecutor Lisandro Álvarez sought 15 year sentences for the defendants, and the victims asked for 30 years. The verdicts and sentences issued by judge Hoffman Padilla Blacutt were as shown below. All sentences will be discounted for time already served in jail. On November 11, 2016, the Departmental Tribunal of Justice ruled on an appeal by the defendants, extending these sentences in 10 of the 13 cases.
AccusedPosition in May 2008VerdictSentence by Judge PadillaSentence by Departmental Tribunal
Jaime BarrónPresident, Inter-Institutional CommitteeGuilty of criminal conspiracy 6 years imprisonment7 years, 6 months imprisonment
Jhon CavaFormer president, Civic CommitteeGuilty of criminal conspiracy6 years imprisonment7 years, 6 months imprisonment
Savina CuéllarCandidate for Prefect, Inter-Institutional Committee Alliance PartyGuilty of criminal conspiracy6 years imprisonment7 years, 6 months imprisonment
Fidel HerreraMunicipal Council MemberGuilty of criminal conspiracy6 years imprisonment7 years, 6 months imprisonment
Aydeé NavaMayor of SucreGuilty of criminal conspiracy6 years imprisonment7 years, 6 months imprisonment
Epifania TerrazasGuilty of criminal conspiracy6 years imprisonment7 years, 6 months imprisonment
Jamill PillcoStudent leader, San Francisco Xavier UniversityGuilty of criminal conspiracy6 years imprisonment7 years, 6 months imprisonment
Juan Antonio JesúsGuilty of criminal conspiracy6 years imprisonment7 years, 6 months imprisonment
Álvaro RíosGuilty of criminal conspiracy6 years imprisonment7 years, 6 months imprisonment
Franz QuispeUniversity leaderGuilty of criminal conspiracy
Acquitted of attempted homicide		6 years imprisonment7 years, 6 months imprisonment
Cristian FloresGuilty of serious assault 6 years, 3 months, 3 days imprisonmentConfirmed existing sentence
Juan C. ZambranaGuilty of serious assault6 years, 3 months, 3 days imprisonmentConfirmed existing sentence
Flavio Huallpa FloresGuilty of fabricating, selling, or possessing explosives.3 years
Rodrigo AnzaldoAcquitted.