Military intervention suggested amid 'extreme violence' in Bolivia's most populous region

The government of Santa Cruz, Bolivia's most populous region, has urged the national government to implement a "joint military intervention" in response to an "extreme wave of violence." The plea comes after a series of violent incidents, including multiple murders, ambushes targeting police officers, and a recent prison escape.

Jorge Santistevan, the Security Secretary for the Santa Cruz Governorate, stated that these recent events reveal the presence of highly capable criminal organizations that operate above law enforcement and the state itself. He formally recommended that the national government, under the current state of exception, authorize an immediate joint military intervention and provide support to security forces to dismantle large-scale criminal groups if necessary.

Santistevan further requested that military forces be permitted to use their standard-issue weapons without fear of criminal prosecution, ensuring an effective intervention rather than a merely symbolic one. He stressed that these incidents are not isolated but represent actions that compromise not only Santa Cruz but the entire country.

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It is our duty to convene and recommend to the national government that, given the validity of the state of exception, it apply (...) the immediate joint military intervention, support for the forces of order to counteract and dismantle, if necessary, large-scale criminal groups.

The request follows closely on the heels of several high-profile violent acts. A foreign citizen was shot dead in downtown Santa Cruz by two alleged hitmen. Earlier, two Brazilian inmates escaped from the Palmasola prison, one of the country's most populous and conflict-ridden facilities, during a power outage. The police have released the identities of the escapees, who were detained for murder and alleged arms trafficking, respectively, and have launched a search operation.

Additionally, a Brazilian citizen was shot dead in San Ignacio de Velasco, Santa Cruz, over the weekend, with police suspecting a score-settling incident. The previous week, four people were murdered at a ranch in San Matías by assailants who later ambushed intelligence agents investigating the crime. One police officer was killed, and his body was taken by the attackers, later found abandoned on a clandestine airstrip. The Bolivian government has linked the San Matías events to Brazilian criminal organizations like the First Capital Command (PCC) and Comando Vermelho (CV), who are reportedly engaged in a dispute over drug trafficking routes along Bolivia's border with Brazil, fueling the violence in the region.

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authorize the military force to use its service weapons exempt from criminal responsibility for an effective and not merely decorative or disguised intervention.