Bolivian mayor drenched in red paint, paraded through streets

Amid ongoing violent demonstrations against the re-election of Bolivian President Evo Morales, masked protesters on Wednesday kidnapped the mayor of a small town in central Bolivia. The mob reportedly yelled “Murderer!” as they pushed her down and forcibly cut her hair, doused her in red paint, and then paraded her through the streets.

Patricia Arce, the mayor of Vinto, was pulled from the municipality’s headquarters and eventually rescued by police on motorcycles. The protesters torched the building after they abducted her.

A video that has made the rounds on social media shows Arce kneeling, covered in red paint, saying, “I’m not going to shut up. And if they want to kill me, may they kill me.”

The attack was part of ongoing countrywide protests asserting the election of Morales on October 20 was fraudulent. At least three people have died so far, according to news reports.

Today, Morales tweeted his support for Arce, who is a member of his ruling Movement for Socialism party: “All my solidarity with our sister, mayor of Vento, Patricia Arce, who was kidnapped and cruelly harassed for expressing and defending her ideals and the principles of the poorest.”

Earlier in the day of the assault, violence had broken out between opposition and pro-Morales protesters when “word spread that at least one person, a 20-year-old man, had been pummeled to death,” The New York Times reported. Protesters believed the mayor had “bused in thousands of Morales supporters to break the blockade” of a bridge.

The violence against Arce is also a form of gender-based and ethnic violence, women’s organizations said. Arce is indigenous, and Morales is the country’s first indigenous president. Bolivia’s vice president asserted that these humiliating events were aimed at a woman politician in particular.

“For these people, being a woman is a crime, being humble is a crime, having a skirt is a crime, said Vice President Alvaro Garcia, according to Agence France-Press.

“This has never happened in our democracy. That is called fascism: attacking women, assaulting them for their ethnic status. What Bolivia is facing is a fascist wave.”

In July, the country declared widespread and increasing gender-based violence a national emergency, saying it would implement a 10-point “emergency plan.” Officials recorded 73 murders of women by men because of their gender since January, the Thompson Reuters Foundation reported.

“In terms of the femicide rate, Bolivia is in the top rankings,” said Tania Sanchez, head of the Plurinational Service for Women and Ending Patriarchy at Bolivia’s justice ministry.

AFP said Arce’s office told local media the mayor “is recovering” from her ordeal.