Vandalism takes over the streets of Santa Cruz during the first hours of the civic stoppage.

A vehicle belonging to the Civic Committee, with number plate 648, ran over the petty trader Miguel Perez Condori. Youth from the youth union kick down doors, looted shops, beat up owners, smashed windows and slashed tyres.

Santa Cruz, August 28 (ABI) – The stoppage, which was announced as peaceful by the president of the Civic Comittee, Branco Marinkovic, remained only in words, after youth from the Cruceñistas Youth Union erupted into violence in the early hours of Tuesday against small shop owners and businesses and proceed to loot products from the stalls of petty traders.

Close to 5.30 in the morning, members of the youth union, in pickup trucks and taxis with number plates belonging to the civic committee, arrived at the food market and, aiming to force people to comply with the stoppage, kicked down doors of the shop, stealing products such as meat, soft drinks, as well as seats and other equipment, hitting the shop owners.

Following this acts of vandalism, carried out by members of the Youth Union, the petty traders organized themselves to defend their work spaces and confront the youth.

Afterwards, the members of the youth union escaped in their vehicles, and on their way, ran down the petty trader Miguel Perez Condori, who had a vegetable stand in the food market.

The vehicle that hit Perez Condori had the number plate 648, authorized for circulation of the civic committee and is now located in the installations of the Pro Santa Cruz Committee, with its windscreen wipers broken.

Peaceful stoppage

At 7.30am, the president of the civic committee, Branco Marinkovic, during the official opening of the stoppage, mentioned that this action was totally peaceful.

At the same time he called on all citizens to comply with the stoppage and to not come out onto the streets, in order to avoid confrontations.

Translated from ABI