Bolivia's President Rodrigo Paz declared a 90-day state of emergency on Saturday and deployed soldiers and bulldozers to clear anti-government roadblocks that have paralyzed the country for more than six weeks.
Background of the protests
Unions, Indigenous groups, and coca farmers have been marching and blocking roads with rubble, logs, and debris to protest against the conservative government. Major cities have suffered acute shortages of fuel, food, and medicine, and the economy has lost billions of dollars. The protests threaten to topple Bolivia's first non-socialist government in two decades.
State of emergency declared
Paz appeared in a predawn televised address on Saturday to warn protesters they would face “the full force of the law.” The state of emergency curbs the right to protest and allows the military to be deployed domestically. Hours later, AFP reporters in El Alto saw squads of soldiers and armed police moving in convoy as bulldozers cleared roadblocks.
Some residents applauded as they passed. Carla Butron, a 39-year-old shopkeeper, told AFP: “I’m very happy. Everything has been difficult here in El Alto during these 50-some days – work, free movement.” In La Paz, military police and navy personnel guarded the presidential palace, and police tactical units were stationed on main squares.
Paz stated on social media: “Bolivians cannot continue to be held hostage by blockades that prevent them from working, studying, receiving medical care, getting supplies and bringing food to their homes. This state of emergency is not intended to take away normalcy, but to restore it.”
Protesters' demands
The protesters want Paz to abandon liberal economic reforms and step down, less than a year after his election. The 58-year-old had signaled willingness to negotiate and earlier agreed to a deal with the Bolivian Workers' Central union, which ended their protests in exchange for a promise not to privatize state companies. However, some Indigenous groups have vowed to continue, and more than 40 major roadblocks remain.
Lidia Callisaya, a 42-year-old Aymara leader, told AFP: “We want him gone. We don’t want him to be the one governing.” Meanwhile, some Bolivians are eager for normalcy. Truck driver Erland Richard Segovia, 49, said: “They abandoned us on the road, we have to wait. Now, at least we’re seeing that traffic is starting to get back to normal.”
Government accusations
Paz accused “narcoterrorists” and former president Evo Morales of being behind the protests. Morales, a leftist former coca farmer and Indigenous leader, was president from 2006 to 2019. He is in hiding while facing charges of alleged trafficking of a minor, which he denies. His stronghold in the Chapare region is a potential flashpoint, protected by thousands of Indigenous supporters.
Interior Minister Marco Antonio Oviedo refused to rule out an operation to capture Morales, stating: “The security forces will carry out whatever operations are necessary at the appropriate time.” Morales recently told AFP that Bolivians are rebelling against a conservative government “utterly submissive” to the United States.
