Unrest in Bolivia over the past two weeks has caused chaos, but the country's President Paz has vowed to hold those trying to destroy democracy accountable.
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What the name change means for careApple's 50-year odyssey has redefined technology, pop culture and comeback storiesDavid Tamarkin's recipe for Greens, Grains and Fried Egg works for any mealHuelga ferroviaria paraliza transporte en Long Island mientras continúan negociaciones | An anti-government protester holds a sign that reads in Spanish “Resignation of the president” in La Paz, Bolivia, Monday, May 18, 2026. Miners stand amid smoke from tear gas and firecrackers during clashes with police at an anti-government protest in La Paz, Bolivia, Monday, May 18, 2026.
A protester returns a tear gas canister to police during an anti-government protest in La Paz, Bolivia, Monday, May 18, 2026. Demonstrators run across a street during an anti-government protest in La Paz, Bolivia, Monday, May 18, 2026. An anti-government protester holds a sign that reads in Spanish “Resignation of the president” in La Paz, Bolivia, Monday, May 18, 2026.
An anti-government protester holds a sign that reads in Spanish “Resignation of the president” in La Paz, Bolivia, Monday, May 18, 2026. Miners stand amid smoke from tear gas and firecrackers during clashes with police at an anti-government protest in La Paz, Bolivia, Monday, May 18, 2026. Miners stand amid smoke from tear gas and firecrackers during clashes with police at an anti-government protest in La Paz, Bolivia, Monday, May 18, 2026.
A protester returns a tear gas canister to police during an anti-government protest in La Paz, Bolivia, Monday, May 18, 2026. A protester returns a tear gas canister to police during an anti-government protest in La Paz, Bolivia, Monday, May 18, 2026. Demonstrators run across a street during an anti-government protest in La Paz, Bolivia, Monday, May 18, 2026.
Demonstrators run across a street during an anti-government protest in La Paz, Bolivia, Monday, May 18, 2026. Two weeks of road closures — spearheaded by the Bolivian Workers’ Central, COB, peasant unions and miners — have emptied markets in La Paz and depleted vital hospital oxygen reserves.
The government reported that at least three people died after emergency vehicles were blocked from reaching medical centers.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 six months ago as a “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 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 byAccording 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“The government and the right wing claim that I am a political corpse and that I lack the ability to mobilize anyone, yet they continue to blame me,” Morales said recently on the social media platform X. “As long as structural demands — such as those concerning fuel, food and inflation — remain unaddressed, the uprising will not be quelled. ” Despite his fiery rhetoric, analysts believe Morales no longer has the power to rally mass support, suggesting instead that he is fueling the protests purely to evade justice.
The collapse of the MAS era left the Bolivian political landscape deeply fractured, with no single party emerging as a dominant force. , but the Christian Democratic Party — the vehicle for his rise to power — quickly fractured within the legislature.
Meanwhile, the president remains locked in an open feud with his vice president, former police officer Edman Lara. Paz began his term with vigor, reaching out to the international community to break the isolation that had characterized the MAS era. While his efforts secured various pledges of investments and loans, many of these funds have yet to materialize.
As a first measure, he put an end to fuel subsidies, which drove up the prices of gasoline and diesel — yet without triggering protests among a population weary of previous shortages. However, the government imported low-quality gasoline, which sparked protests among transport workers over damage to their vehicles. The “junk gasoline” scandal triggered a wave of strikes and protests among transportation workers and the resignations of two high-ranking officials at the state-owned oil company.
The ongoing protests and blockades in Bolivia worry the wider region. Eight allied Latin American governments, from Chile to Costa Rica, recently released a joint statement rejecting “any action aimed at destabilizing the democratic order. ” Neighboringafter years in which Morales defined the country in opposition to Washington, said it supported Paz’s efforts “to restore order for the peace, security and stability of the Bolivian people.
” The U.S. State Department issued an alert this week urging U.S. citizens traveling to Bolivia to be vigilant.
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