Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz Deploys Riot Police to Crush Rural Protests as Economic Crisis Deepens

Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz deployed riot police over the weekend to quell protests led by rural workers, who have been blockading roads across the country in a mounting campaign to force the South American leader out of office. The crackdown in the town of San Julian saw dozens of officers in military vehicles fire tear gas at demonstrators, clearing a key artery that had been blocked since early Saturday.

The upheaval is part of a broader wave of some 100 blockades nationwide, paralyzing Bolivia for nearly a month as protesters from the countryside to the capital demand Paz's resignation. The Washington-backed president took office last November vowing to heal what he described as the nation's worst economic crisis in decades, but his policies—particularly the abrupt removal of long-standing fuel subsidies—have sparked a sharp spike in gasoline prices and a cost-of-living crisis that has sent shockwaves through the agrarian heartland.

For weeks, Paz has faced the most serious challenge to his presidency, with trade unions, transport groups, and indigenous communities joining rural workers in street demonstrations. The White House threw its weight behind Paz earlier this week, denouncing what it called attempts to destabilize the democratically elected government. On Thursday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Paz by phone, assuring him that Washington was ramping up emergency assistance and logistics support. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth took to X, warning that the United States is watching and would ensure that narco-terrorists are deterred from profiting on death and destruction in our hemisphere.

The crackdown comes as Paz seeks to cement his alliance with the Trump administration, which has deepened its focus on Latin America since President Trump returned to the White House last year. While Trump has embraced allies like Argentina's Javier Milei, his administration has also blacklisted Venezuela and Cuba as foes. Paz has been particularly receptive to Washington's call for a more aggressive stance against drug trafficking—a sensitive issue for Bolivia, the world's third-largest producer of coca, the raw material for cocaine, after Colombia and Peru.

In March, Trump launched the Shield of the Americas alliance, an anti-drug coalition that includes Paz's Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile. On Friday, the US-led coalition issued a statement claiming the protests in Bolivia are being funded with dirty money from drug trafficking and transnational crime. The statement gave Paz unequivocal backing while framing the unrest as a battle between legitimate governance and narco-terrorism.

But at home, the protests show no sign of abating. Critics accuse Paz of prioritizing free-market reforms over the needs of ordinary Bolivians, pointing to his decision to end fuel subsidies—a move that sent gasoline prices soaring, fueled inflation, and worsened a cost-of-living crisis. The president has defended the reforms as necessary to attract higher-quality fuel and stabilize the economy, but the backlash has galvanized opposition from leftist groups and rural workers who see him as a puppet of Washington.

As the standoff continues, analysts say Paz's reliance on US support and heavy-handed policing could deepen polarization. The protest movement, driven largely by workers from the country's agricultural heartland, shows no sign of giving way, and the threat of a broader coalition forming against his rule looms large.