Bolivian Senate's Leader Attacked By Police and Coup Supporters

The legitimate President of the Senate, Adriana Salvatierra, was violently assaulted by the police as she was trying to enter the Senate on Wednesday in order to comply with the constitutional rule that automatically proclaims the head of the upper chamber the Interim President when the President steps down, after Evo Morales was forced to resign on Sunday.

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In a press conference that followed the attack, Salvatierra told reporters that she was ready to open the parliament session and assume the presidency of the Plurinational State of Bolivia as mandated by law.

"After the attack, we can observe that we have no guarantee for us to fulfill our legislative mandate," she said from her office at the Legislative Assembly in La Paz, as she suffers from minor injuries from the attack.

She recalled that ousted President Evo Morales's instructions were very clear about avoiding violence and clashes between supporters and opponents of the socialist party.

She lamented the violence of the attack by security forces and condemned the radicalization growing across the country, after Morales' resignation left a political vacuum that the conservative opposition was quick to fill.

On Tuesday, opposition Senator Jeanine Áñez declared herself president of Bolivia.

However, she made the move without meeting with the constitutional requirements, as the Parliament did not reach the legal quorum since the lawmakers of the Movement to Socialism (MAS), who represent the majority in Congress, could not attend the session due to a lack of guarantees for their security.