Protesters clash with police in La Paz as Bolivia’s anti-government unrest escalates

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - LA PAZ — President Rodrigo Paz faces a deepening crisis as anti-government unrest escalated across Bolivia with widespread protests and road blockades leavingthe country's administrative capital under siege less than six month after he took office.

On Monday, farmers, miners, teachers, public sector workers and Indigenous communities converged on La Paz after weeks of mobilizations over wage increases, economic instability and moves to privatize state-owned companies.

Bolivia is facing its worst economic crisis in 40 years, with year-on-year inflation reaching 14 percent in April, eroding purchasing power and deepening anger over rising living costs.

Two weeks of road blockades orchestrated by the Bolivian Workers’ Central (COB), peasant unions and miners have emptied markets in La Paz and depleted vital stocks of food, fuel and medicine.

The government reported that at least three people died after emergency vehicles were blocked from reaching medical centers.

“We want him to resign because he’s incompetent. Bolivia is going through a moment of chaos,” said 60-year-old farmer Ivan Alarcon, who traveled about 90 km from Caquiaviri in western Bolivia to join the protests.

Tear gas blanketed central La Paz for hours as riot police confronted the demonstrators trying to reach the main square that houses key government buildings.

Protesters hurled stones and small explosives in response. Authorities have not released an official injury toll, but the AFP news agency reported that at least two protesters were injured.

Images released by the government showed protesters entering an office and carrying away furniture, computers and other equipment.

Local TV station Unitel reported more than 100 detentions nationwide.

Paz, who took office about six months ago after two decades of largely socialist rule, has moved quickly to scrap longstanding fuel subsidies that officials say had drained Bolivia’s foreign currency reserves.

The decision has so far failed to stabilize fuel supplies and has instead intensified public anger over higher prices and shortages.

On Monday, supporters of Bolivia’s influential ex-President Evo Morales clashed with police in the capital city as they joined multiple sectors demanding the resignation of the president, who lacks both a legislative majority and a robust political party to anchor his administration.

The unrest presents the biggest challenge yet for Paz, a business-friendly centrist who came to power after a wave of conservative electoral wins swept the region.

“Those seeking to destroy democracy will go to jail,” Paz warned on Friday, even as the blockades expanded to engulf nearly the entire country.

The COB began by demanding wage increases, while peasant unions demanded a steady supply of gasoline. The miners, meanwhile, are negotiating separately for access to additional mining areas. Public schoolteachers are also holding separate talks regarding salary improvements.

“These demands have been largely addressed in a manner consistent with current realities; however, there are dark forces seeking to destabilize our democracy,” said presidential spokesperson José Luis Gálvez, in an allusion to influential former President Evo Morales.

Paz reiterates that he inherited a “bankrupt state,” yet his adversaries reproach him for his sluggish response to the worst crisis in 40 years, marked by fuel shortages and an inflation rate that hovered near 20 percent last year.

According to business organizations, ongoing protests and road blockades are draining more than $50 million per day from Bolivia’s economy and have left roughly 5,000 vehicles stranded on the highways.

Morales marshaled the latest march from his hideout in Bolivia’s remote tropics. He has been holed up in the highlands for the past year and a half, evading an arrest warrant on charges relating to his alleged sexual abuse of a 15-year-old girl. He says the allegations are politically motivated.

The Movement Toward Socialism, MAS, which had governed Bolivia for the past two decades under Morales and later Luis Arce, suffered a historic defeat in last year’s elections following a bitter feud between the two former leaders.