LA PAZ, Bolivia: Renewed clashes rocked Bolivia’s capital Wednesday as the woman who claimed the presidency, a second-tier lawmaker thrust into the post because of a power vacuum, faced challenges to her leadership from supporters of the ousted Evo Morales.
A day after Jeanine Añez assumed power, violent clashes broke out between rock-throwing Morales’ backers and police in riot gear, who fired volleys of tear gas to disperse the large crowd of protesters as fighter jets flew low overhead in a show of force.
Opposition was also building in Congress, where lawmakers loyal to Morales were mounting a challenge to Añez’s legitimacy by trying to hold new sessions that would undermine her claim to the presidency. The sessions — dismissed as invalid by Añez’s faction — added to the political uncertainty following the resignation of Morales, the nation’s first indigenous leader, after nearly 14 years in power.
In the streets, angry demonstrators tore off corrugated sheets of metal and wooden planks from construction sites to use as weapons, and some set off sticks of dynamite. Many along flooded the streets of the capital and its sister city of El Alto, a Morales stronghold, waving the multicolored indigenous flag and chanting, “Now, civil war!”
“We don’t want any dictators. This lady has stepped on us — that’s why we’re so mad,” said Paulina Luchampe. “We’re going to fight with our brothers and sisters until Evo Morales is back. We ask for his return. He needs to put the house in order.”
The 60-year-old Morales, who arrived in Mexico on Tuesday under a grant of asylum, has vowed to remain active in politics and said he would be willing to go back home. “If the people ask me, we are willing to return,” he said at news conference Wednesday in Mexico City.
According to the constitution, an interim president has 90 days to organize an election, and the disputed accession of Añez, who until Tuesday was second vice president of the Senate, was an example of the long list of obstacles she faces. Morales’ backers, who hold a two-thirds majority in Congress, boycotted the session she called Tuesday night to formalize her claim to the presidency, preventing a quorum.
She claimed power anyway, saying the constitution did not specifically require congressional approval. “My commitment is to return democracy and tranquility to the country,” she said. “They can never again steal our vote.”
Bolivia’s top constitutional court issued a statement late Tuesday laying out the legal justification for Añez taking the presidency — without mentioning her by name.
But other legal experts challenged the legal technicalities that led to her claim, saying at least some of the steps required Congress to meet.
The lingering questions could affect her ability to govern.
Eduardo Gamarra, a Bolivian political scientist at Florida International University, said the constitution clearly states that Añez didn’t need a congressional vote to assume the presidency. Even so, “the next two months are going to be extraordinarily difficult for President Añez,” he said.
“It doesn’t seem likely” that Morales’ party will accept Añez as president, said Jennifer Cyr, an associate professor of political science and Latin American studies at the University of Arizona. “So the question of what happens next remains — still quite unclear and extremely worrying.”
She will need to form a new electoral court, find non-partisan staff for the electoral tribunal and get Congress, which is controlled by Morales’ Movement for Socialism Party, to vote on a new election.
Morales resigned Sunday following weeks of violent protests fed by allegations of electoral fraud in the Oct. 20 election, which he claimed to have won. An Organization of American States audit reported widespread irregularities in the vote count and called for a new election.
But his resignation came only after Gen. Williams Kaliman, the armed forces commander, urged him to step down “for the good of Bolivia” — a move that Morales and his backers have branded a coup d’etat.
Ten people have died since the protests began, Bolivia’s prosecutor office said Wednesday.
Añez swore in a new Cabinet as well as new commanders-in-chief for all branches of the military Wednesday, replacing Kaliman, who had been a Morales loyalist, with Gen. Carlos Orellana. The move was seen as an effort to build an alliance with the military, although it was uncertain how much support she could count on from other Bolivian power centers.
Still, she received a boost of international support Wednesday.
Michael G. Kozak of the US State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs welcomed her as “interim constitutional president,” saying on Twitter: “We look forward to working with her & Bolivia’s other civilian authorities as they arrange free & fair elections as soon as possible, in accordance w/ Bolivia’s constitution.”
Brazil, which is one of Bolivia’s top trading partners, also congratulated her on her “constitutional” assumption of the presidency and her determination to work for peace and hold elections soon. Colombia and Guatemala also recognized her as interim president.
While Argentine President Mauricio Macri had not commented on the issue, Argentine lawmakers in both houses of Congress condemned what they called a coup.
Añez said on Twitter that she has also reached out to Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó and asked him to send an ambassador to La Paz. The current ambassador reports to President Nicolás Maduro, who has rejected her claim to the presidency saying it lacked the necessary quorum.
From the start, Añez has tried to set herself apart from Morales. Wearing the presidential sash of office, she greeted supporters at an old presidential palace Tuesday night instead of the modern 26-story presidential office with a heliport that was built by Morales — a project his foes called one of his excesses.
She also carried a Bible, which had been banned by Morales from the presidential palace after he reformed the constitution and recognized the Andean earth deity Pachamama instead of the Roman Catholic Church.
Morales, a one-time llama shepherd from the Bolivian highlands and former coca growers’ union leader, helped lift millions out poverty as president, increasing social rights and presiding over stability and high economic growth in South America’s poorest country.
But even many supporters eventually grew weary of his long tenure in power — as well as his insistence on running for a fourth term despite a public referendum that upheld term limits. Bolivia’s high court, which critics contend was stacked in his favor, threw out the limits. Añez said Wednesday she would seek to have the 2016 court ruling overturned to keep Morales from running in the next election.
Clashes rock Bolivia as new interim leader challenged
Clashes rock Bolivia as new interim leader challenged
- A day after Jeanine Añez assumed power, violent clashes broke out between rock-throwing Morales’ backers and police in riot gear
- In the streets, angry demonstrators tore off corrugated sheets of metal and wooden planks from construction sites to use as weapons
Iran’s Paris-based opposition head says time for Khamenei to go, after US hits nuclear sites
“Now Khamenei must go. The Iranian people welcome the end of the war and seek peace and freedom,” she said in a statement, following unprecedented US strikes that President Donald Trump said had “obliterated” its key nuclear facilities.
“Khamenei is responsible for an unpatriotic project that, in addition to costing countless lives, has cost the Iranian people at least $2 trillion— and now, it has all gone up in smoke.”
Saudi Arabia voices ‘great concern’ over US strikes on Iran, leads calls for restraint, de-escalation
- UN chief says US attacks a ‘direct threat to international peace and security’
- Other countries began reacting Sunday with calls for diplomacy and words of caution
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia expressed on Sunday its “great concern” following US attacks on Iranian nuclear sites, according to a statement by the foreign ministry on X.
The Saudi ministry statement “affirmed its condemnation and denunciation of violating the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran, expressing the need to exert all efforts to exercise restraint, de-escalate, and avoid escalation.”
The kingdom also called on the international community to boost efforts in such “highly sensitive circumstances” to reach a political solution to end the crisis.
#بيان | تتابع المملكة العربية السعودية بقلق بالغ تطورات الأحداث في الجمهورية الإسلامية الإيرانية الشقيقة المتمثلة في استهداف المنشآت النووية الإيرانية من قبل الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية. pic.twitter.com/BYsi3akvmm
— وزارة الخارجية (@KSAMOFA) June 22, 2025
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres meanwhile slammed US President Donald Trump’s decision to order US military strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities as a “dangerous escalation.”
“I am gravely alarmed by the use of force by the United States against Iran today. This is a dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge – and a direct threat to international peace and security,” he said in a statement.
“There is a growing risk that this conflict could rapidly get out of control – with catastrophic consequences for civilians, the region, and the world,” he said.
READ: Transcript of Trump’s speech on US strikes on Iran
Guterres called on member states to de-escalate and to uphold their obligations under the UN Charter and other rules of international law.
“At this perilous hour, it is critical to avoid a spiral of chaos. There is no military solution. The only path forward is diplomacy. The only hope is peace,” he said.
Other countries began reacting Sunday with calls for diplomacy and words of caution:
Qatar
Qatar’s foreign ministry, in a statement on X, said that Doha “regrets the deterioration of the situation with the bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities.”
The ministry warned that “the escalation the region is witnessing can have disastrous consequences on a regional and international scale.
“The state of Qatar calls for restraint and the urgent return to diplomacy and negotiations to resolve the crisis.”
بيان | دولة قطر تأسف للتدهور الذي بلغته الأمور بقصف المنشآت النووية الإيرانية#الخارجية_القطرية pic.twitter.com/rzJ2NTLV0j
— الخارجية القطرية (@MofaQatar_AR) June 22, 2025
Oman
A spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry expressed deep concern and condemnation regarding the escalation resulting from the direct airstrikes conducted by the United States on sites in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
A spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry expressed deep concern and condemnation regarding the escalation resulting from the direct airstrikes conducted by the United States on sites in the Islamic Republic of Iran. pic.twitter.com/vXBy9nMpqV
— وزارة الخارجية (@FMofOman) June 22, 2025
Lebanon
Lebanese president Joseph Aoun, in statement released by the Lebanese Presidency on X, meanwhile said: “Lebanon, its leadership, parties, and people, are aware today, more than ever before, that it has paid a heavy price for the wars that erupted on its land and in the region. It is unwilling to pay more, and there is no national interest in doing so, especially since the cost of these wars was and will be greater than its ability to bear.”
الرئيس عون:
— Lebanese Presidency (@LBpresidency) June 22, 2025
- لبنان قيادة وأحزاباً وشعباً، مدرك اليوم، اكثر من اي وقت مضى، انه دفع غالياً ثمن الحروب التي نشبت على أرضه وفي المنطقة، وهو غير راغب في دفع المزيد ولا مصلحة وطنية في ذلك، لاسيما وان كلفة هذه الحروب كانت وستكون اكبر من قدرته على الاحتمال.
- قصف المنشآت النووية…
“The bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities raises fears of an escalation of tensions that could threaten security and stability in more than one region and country.
“The President of the Republic calls for restraint and the launch of constructive and serious negotiations to restore stability to the countries of the region and avoid further killing and destruction,” the statement added.
UK
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called on Iran to “return to the negotiating table” over its nuclear ambitions after the US carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
“Iran can never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon and the US has taken action to alleviate that threat,” Starmer said on X, adding that “stability in the region is a priority”.
“We call on Iran to return to the negotiating table and reach a diplomatic solution to end this crisis.”
Iraq
Iraq warned on Sunday that the US attacks on its neighbor Iran’s nuclear facilities threaten peace and stability in the Middle East.
Iraq “expresses its deep concern and strong condemnation of the targeting of nuclear facilities” in Iran, government spokesperson Basim Alawadi said. “This military escalation constitutes a grave threat to peace and security in the Middle East and poses serious risks to regional stability,” he added.
New Zealand
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters urged “all parties to return to talks.”
He wouldn’t tell reporters Sunday whether New Zealand supported President Trump’s actions, saying they had only just happened.
The three-time foreign minister said the crisis is “the most serious I’ve ever dealt with” and that “critical further escalation is avoided.”
“Diplomacy will deliver a more enduring resolution than further military action,” he said.
China
A flash commentary from China’s government-run media asked whether the US is repeating “its Iraq mistake in Iran.”
The online piece by CGTN, the foreign-language arm of the state broadcaster, said the US strikes mark a dangerous turning point.
“History has repeatedly shown that military interventions in the Middle East often produce unintended consequences, including prolonged conflicts and regional destabilization,” it said, citing the American invasion of Iraq in 2003.
It said a measured, diplomatic approach that prioritizes dialogue over military confrontation offers the best hope for stability in the Middle East.
Japan
Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is expected to hold a meeting with key ministers Sunday afternoon to discuss the impact from the US attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, according to Japan’s NHK television.
Japan’s largest-circulation newspaper Yomiuri is distributing an extra edition on the attack in Tokyo.
South Korea
South Korea’s presidential office said it would hold an emergency meeting Sunday to discuss the security and economic ramifications of the US strikes and potential South Korean responses.
Australia
Australia, which shuttered its embassy in Tehran and evacuated staff Friday, continued to push for a diplomatic end to the conflict.
“We have been clear that Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile program has been a threat to international peace and security,” a government official said in a written statement. “We note the US President’s statement that now is the time for peace.”
“The security situation in the region is highly volatile. We continue to call for de-escalation, dialogue and diplomacy.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was predictably all praises for Trump’s decision.
“Your bold decision to target Iran’s nuclear facilities, with the awesome and righteous might of the United States, will change history,” he said in a video message directed at the American president.
Netanyahu said the US “has done what no other country on earth could do.”
Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon also thanked Trump for his “historic decision to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Today, President Trump proved that ‘Never Again’ is not just a slogan — it’s a policy.”
In Washington, Congressional Republicans — and at least one Democrat — immediately praised Trump after he announced his fateful attack order.
“Well done, President Trump,” Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina posted on X. Texas Sen. John Cornyn called it a “courageous and correct decision.” Alabama Sen. Katie Britt called the bombings “strong and surgical.”
Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin posted: “America first, always.”
The Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, Roger Wicker of Mississippi, said Trump “has made a deliberate — and correct — decision to eliminate the existential threat posed by the Iranian regime.”
Wicker posted on X that “we now have very serious choices ahead to provide security for our citizens and our allies.”
The quick endorsements of stepped up US involvement in Iran came after Trump had publicly mulled the strikes for days and many congressional Republicans had cautiously said they thought he would make the right decision. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Saturday evening that “as we take action tonight to ensure a nuclear weapon remains out of reach for Iran, I stand with President Trump and pray for the American troops and personnel in harm’s way.”
Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, were briefed ahead of the strikes on Saturday, according to people familiar with the situation and granted anonymity to discuss it.
Johnson said in a statement that the military operations “should serve as a clear reminder to our adversaries and allies that President Trump means what he says.”
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rick Crawford, R-Arkansas, said he had also been in touch with the White House and “I am grateful to the US servicemembers who carried out these precise and successful strikes.”
Breaking from many of his Democratic colleagues, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, an outspoken supporter of Israel, also praised the attacks on Iran. “As I’ve long maintained, this was the correct move by @POTUS,” he posted. “Iran is the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism and cannot have nuclear capabilities.”
Both parties have seen splits in recent days over the prospect of striking Iran. Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican and a longtime opponent of US involvement in foreign wars, posted on X after Trump announced the attacks that “This is not Constitutional.”
Many Democrats have maintained that Congress should have a say. The Senate was scheduled to vote as soon as this week on a resolution by Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine requiring congressional approval before the US declared war on Iran or took specific military action.
Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House intelligence panel, posted on X after Trump’s announcement: “According to the Constitution we are both sworn to defend, my attention to this matter comes BEFORE bombs fall. Full stop.”
Japan spots Chinese ships near disputed isles for record 216 straight days
- The Tokyo-administered islands, known as the Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan, have long been a sore point between the neighbors
TOKYO: Japan spotted Chinese vessels sailing near disputed islets in the East China Sea for a record 216 consecutive days, Tokyo’s coast guard said Sunday.
The Tokyo-administered islands, known as the Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan, have long been a sore point between the neighbors.
On Sunday, Japan said it observed four Chinese coast guard vessels sailing in the “contiguous” zone, referring to a 12-nautical-mile band that extends beyond Japan’s territorial waters.
Last year, Chinese vessels sailed near the Tokyo-administered island chain a record 355 times, including for a period of 215 consecutive days, a Japanese coast guard spokesman told AFP.
Japanese officials regularly protest the presence of the Chinese coast guard and other vessels in the waters surrounding the remote, disputed islands.
Relations between Japan and China were strained by Tokyo’s decision to “nationalize” some of the islands in 2012.
On Friday, Japan’s coast guard and its US and Filipino counterparts staged joint training drills off Japan’s southwest shore — the second time the countries’ coast guards have held training drills together, and the first in Japan.
Territorial disputes with China have pushed Japan to forge deeper ties with the Philippines and the United States.
Earlier this month, Tokyo and Beijing traded barbs over close encounters between their military planes over the Pacific high seas.
UN watchdog says no increase in radiation off sites that the US hit
- The UN nuclear watchdog says there's 'no increase in off-site radiation levels' after US strikes on Iran nuclear sites.
TEL AVIV: The International Atomic Energy Agency said Sunday that there has been “no increase in off-site radiation levels” after US airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
The UN nuclear watchdog sent the message via the social platform X on Sunday.
“The IAEA can confirm that no increase in off-site radiation levels has been reported as of this time,” it said. The “IAEA will provide further assessments on situation in Iran as more information becomes available.”
Surging travel in Europe spikes concerns over tourism’s drawbacks
- Despite popular backlash against the crowds, some tourism officials believe they can be managed with the right infrastructure in place
MADRID: Suitcases rattle against cobblestones. Selfie-snappers jostle for the same shot. Ice cream shops are everywhere. Europe has been called the world’s museum, but its record numbers of visitors have also made it ground zero for concerns about overtourism.
Last year, 747 million international travelers visited the continent, far outnumbering any other region in the world, according to the UN’s World Tourism Barometer. Southern and Western Europe welcomed more than 70 percent of them.
As the growing tide of travelers strains housing, water and the most Instagrammable hotspots in the region, protests and measures to lessen the effects of overtourism have proliferated.
Here’s a look at the issue in some of Europe’s most visited destinations.
What’s causing overtourism
Among factors driving the record numbers are cheap flights, social media, the ease of travel planning using artificial intelligence and what UN tourism officials call a strong economic outlook for many rich countries that send tourists despite some geopolitical and economic tensions.
Citizens of countries like the US, Japan, China and the UK generate the most international trips, especially to popular destinations, such as Barcelona in Spain and Venice in Italy. They swarm these places seasonally, creating uneven demand for housing and resources such as water.
Despite popular backlash against the crowds, some tourism officials believe they can be managed with the right infrastructure in place.
Italy’s Tourism Minister Daniela Santanchè said she thinks tourism flows at crowded sites such Florence’s Uffizi Galleries that house some of the world’s most famous artworks could be better managed with AI, with tourists able to buy their tickets when they book their travel, even months in advance, to prevent surges.
She pushed back against the idea that Italy — which like all of its Southern European neighbors, welcomed more international visitors in 2024 than its entire population — has a problem with too many tourists, adding that most visits are within just 4 percent of the country’s territory.
“It’s a phenomenon that can absolutely be managed,” Santanchè told The Associated Press in an interview in her office on Friday. “Tourism must be an opportunity, not a threat — even for local communities. That’s why we are focusing on organizing flows.”
Where overtourism is most intense
Countries on the Mediterranean are at the forefront. Olympics-host France, the biggest international destination, last year received 100 million international visitors, while second-place Spain received almost 94 million — nearly double its own population.
Protests have erupted across Spain over the past two years. In Barcelona, the water gun has become a symbol of the city’s anti-tourism movement after marching protests have spritzed unsuspecting tourists while carrying signs saying: “One more tourist, one less resident!”
The pressure on infrastructure has been particularly acute on Spain’s Canary and Balearic Islands, which have a combined population of less than 5 million people. Each archipelago saw upwards of 15 million visitors last year.
Elsewhere in Europe, tourism overcrowding has vexed Italy’s most popular sites including Venice, Rome, Capri and Verona, where Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” was set. On the popular Amalfi Coast, ride-hailing app Uber offers private helicopter and boat rides in the summer to beat the crowds.
Greece, which saw nearly four times as many tourists as its own population last year, has struggled with the strain on water, housing and energy in the summer months, especially on popular islands such as Santorini, Mykonos and others.
The impact of overtourism
In Spain, anti-tourism activists, academics, and the government say that overtourism is driving up housing costs in city centers and other popular locations due to the proliferation of short-term rentals that cater to visitors.
Others bemoan changes to the very character of city neighborhoods that drew tourists in the first place.
In Barcelona and elsewhere, activists and academics have said that neighborhoods popular with tourists have seen local shops replaced with souvenir vendors, international chains and trendy eateries.
On some of Greece’s most-visited islands, tourism has overlapped with water scarcity as drought grips the Mediterranean country of 10.4 million.
In France, the Louvre, the world’s most-visited museum, shut down this week when its staff went on strike warning that the facility was crumbling beneath the weight of overtourism, stranding thousands of ticketed visitors lined up under the baking sun.
Angelos Varvarousis, a Barcelona- and Athens-based academic and urban planner who studies the industry, said overtourism risks imposing a “monoculture” on many of Europe’s hotspots.
“It is combined with the gradual loss and displacement of other social and economic activities,” Varvarousis said.
What authorities are doing to cope
Spain’s government wants to tackle what officials call the country’s biggest governance challenge: its housing crunch.
Last month, Spain’s government ordered Airbnb to take down almost 66,000 properties it said had violated local rules — while Barcelona announced a plan last year to phase out all of the 10,000 apartments licensed in the city as short-term rentals by 2028. Officials said the measure was to safeguard the housing supply for full-time residents.
Elsewhere, authorities have tried to regulate tourist flows by cracking down on overnight stays or imposing fees for those visiting via cruises.
In Greece, starting July 1, a cruise tax will be levied on island visitors at 20 euros ($23) for popular destinations like Mykonos and 5 euros ($5.70) for less-visited islands like Samos.
The government has also encouraged visitors to seek quieter locations.
To alleviate water problems, water tankers from mainland Greece have helped parched islands, and the islands have also used desalination technology, which separates salts from ocean water to make it drinkable, to boost their drinking water.
Other measures have included staggered visiting hours at the Acropolis.
Meanwhile, Venice brought back an entry fee this year that was piloted last year on day-trippers who will have to pay between 5 and 10 euros (roughly $6 to $12) to enter the city during the peak season.
