Police abandon Bolivian presidential palace: report

Police stationed outside the presidential palace of Bolivia reportedly left their posts Saturday amid nationwide upheaval following a highly contested election last month. 

President Evo Morales claimed victory following the Oct. 20 election, but has faced protests in which three people were killed and hundreds were injured, according to The Associated Press. {mosads}

The AP reported that findings in an Organization of American States review of the vote count are expected early next week. Morales’s opposition has said it will not accept the findings because it did not weigh in on plan for the audit. 

Police began demonstrating Friday, according to the wire service. Defense Minister Javier Zabaleta had said a “police mutiny occurred in a few regions.” 

Dissident officers are reportedly asking for better work conditions, a resignation of their commander and a commitment that they won’t become a  political “instrument of any government.”

When the palace police left Saturday, Morales was reportedly not present. He later called for talks between the party’s political wings, but opposition leader Carlos Mesa said “I have nothing to negotiate with Evo Morales, who has lost all grip on reality.”