Evo Morales leads thousands of followers to La Paz to ‘save’ country from his handpicked successor turned rival

The last time Evo Morales led a cross-country march, it was to defend the government of Luis Arce, his old ally from the Movimiento al Socialismo (Mas). Three years later, Bolivia’s former president is leading another such protest – but this time his aim is to “save” the country from the same man, who has become his bitter rival.

Thousands of Morales’s supporters have been making the 190km (120-mile) march from the town of Caracollo to La Paz, the political capital, where they are due to arrive on Monday. Clashes broke out earlier this week as counterprotesters tried to stop them with rocks and tear gas. Roughly 40 people have been injured.