Bolivia at ‘Breaking Point’ as Protests Paralyze Nation, President Warns
Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz warned Wednesday that the country was at a “breaking point” after nearly a month of protests that have caused severe shortages of food, fuel, and life-saving medicine, pushing the government closer to a potential state of emergency.
Paz, a U.S.-backed centrist who took office six months ago amid the worst economic crisis in four decades, is facing mounting public anger over his center-right policies. The political capital, La Paz, has been under siege by low-income workers and members of the country’s Indigenous majority demanding his resignation.
“The country needs order, and is reaching breaking point,” the 58-year-old leader said at a public event in La Paz, renewing his appeal for dialogue as pressure escalated on all sides.
On Tuesday, Congress lifted legal restrictions on Paz’s ability to declare a state of emergency, giving him the authority to potentially deploy troops to restore order. While Paz has so far stressed the need for dialogue, he has not ruled out using “constitutional instruments” to end the blockade of La Paz—widely seen as a reference to declaring a state of emergency.
“Anyone who wants to destroy the nation will have to deal with this president and the full force of the Constitution,” he said on Wednesday, assuring police and the military that they had the public’s support.
His warnings came as thousands of Indigenous women, wearing traditional layered skirts, marched through La Paz on Mother’s Day in support of striking transport workers. “We are not afraid to die. We have already told him to pack his bags and leave,” protester Marta Poma Luque told AFP, referring to Paz.
The demonstrations began in early May with demands for salary increases to help workers weather a severe economic crisis, stable fuel supplies, and the rescinding of an unpopular agrarian reform. Despite some concessions by Paz—including backtracking on the land reform and firing his unpopular labor minister—the protests ballooned into a full-blown revolt.
Over the past two weeks, La Paz has been turned into a battleground, with riot police repeatedly clashing with protesters. In recent days, residents have staged small counter-demonstrations against the blockades that are preventing essential supplies from reaching the city.
“Medicine is getting more expensive, and some are running out,” said Zulma Hinojosa, whose 13-year-old son suffers from asthma and heart problems. At the Clinicas de La Paz public hospital, one of the oldest and largest in the country, doctors told AFP on Tuesday they only had a few days’ oxygen left.
Paz has estimated the losses caused by the protests at $600 million. In an attempt to quell public fury, he said he would cut his own salary in half in solidarity with the poor—a purely symbolic gesture since his monthly earnings amount to around 24,000 bolivianos ($3,500). He also vowed to give Indigenous groups and labor unions more say in policy-making, but all moves have been to no avail.
His government accuses former President Evo Morales—currently in hiding from charges of trafficking a teenage girl with whom he allegedly fathered a child—of orchestrating the upheaval. The standoff shows no signs of easing, and international observers are watching closely for possible military intervention.