LA PAZ, Bolivia — Bolivia’s President Rodrigo Paz declared a state of emergency on Saturday, granting the country’s military sweeping authority to dismantle road blockades that have strangled fuel and food deliveries to the capital city of La Paz and other major urban centers.
The crisis has been building for five weeks, with protesters demanding Paz resign over government-imposed austerity measures — chief among them the elimination of long-standing fuel subsidies. The unrest has sparked violent clashes between demonstrators armed with dynamite and riot police, resulting in at least 365 arrests and 37 injuries, according to official figures.
At least 17 people have lost their lives, with most deaths attributed to a breakdown in medical care caused by transportation disruptions, according to Bolivia’s ombudsman’s office and human rights organizations. The government says at least seven of those deaths were directly caused by patients being unable to reach hospitals due to the blockades.
Supermarket shelves were emptied, hospitals ran out of oxygen, and businesses shuttered as the protests dragged on — prompting growing calls from parts of Bolivian society for the president to use force to restore order.
Paz addressed the nation on television to defend the emergency declaration. “This is not a state of emergency to restrict people’s lives. It is a state of emergency to give people back their freedom,” he said.
On Friday evening, Paz reached an agreement with one labor union whose leaders called for the blockades to be removed. However, other protest groups have refused to come to the table and are continuing to demand his resignation.
The emergency decree bans “blocking streets, avenues, roads and highways in ways that affect transportation and supplies” and directs the armed forces to temporarily assist police “in restoring order, reopening roads and protecting the population.” According to the government, the decree does not suspend due process rights or constitutional protections, and residents are still permitted to go about their normal daily lives.
The state of emergency is set to remain in effect for 90 days, though the government indicated it could be lifted sooner if “violence and threats against the population come to an end.”
Paz took office in November, ending nearly two decades of continuous rule by Bolivia’s Movement Toward Socialism party, known as MAS, which had presided over the country’s most severe economic crisis in a generation. A centrist who defeated more conservative opponents, Paz had pledged to fix chronic fuel shortages and rebuild the central bank’s depleted reserves while preserving the social welfare programs that had been a cornerstone of MAS’s support.
However, his austerity policies — particularly the removal of fuel subsidies — have worsened inflation. While his administration did address fuel shortages, the replacement fuel was of poor quality and reportedly damaged thousands of vehicles. Economic reform legislation aimed at attracting foreign investment has stalled in Congress.
Indigenous highland communities and rural workers’ groups, who had previously backed MAS but helped bring Paz to power last year, have been at the forefront of the protests. They accuse his administration of ignoring their concerns since taking office.
Paz is now caught between pressure from Bolivia’s hard-right, which holds power in Congress, and the entrenched political left. Former President Evo Morales has thrown his support behind the protests and is calling for a new election from a hideout in the coca-growing tropical region, where he is hiding from an arrest warrant on charges related to statutory rape.
The Trump administration has expressed support for Paz, who restored diplomatic ties with the United States after years of anti-Western sentiment under Morales. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio contacted Paz last week to say Washington was “ramping up emergency assistance and logistics operations support” to help address the shortages created by the blockades.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth condemned the protests as “attempts to overthrow the legitimate government” and issued a warning to those he described as “profiting on death and destruction in our hemisphere.” “The United States is watching,” Hegseth wrote on X.
