Supporters of Bolivia’s former leftist president Evo Morales marched through La Paz, widening unrest that has blocked roads for nearly two weeks and triggered shortages of food, fuel and medical supplies across the country. The disruptions have stranded trucks on highways and left patients unable to reach hospitals, authorities said. Argentina has sent a military aircraft with food supplies at Bolivia’s request.
Demonstrations that began with strikes in early May have grown into a nationwide movement involving labour unions, miners, transport workers and rural groups. Protesters are pressing President Rodrigo Paz’s government to roll back austerity measures and address rising living costs, with some calling for his resignation.
Analysts say the unrest has broadened from local grievances to wider anti-government sentiment over the country’s economic direction. The protests centre on rising economic pressures. Teachers are demanding higher pay and more funding, while transport unions have launched open-ended strikes amid fuel shortages and supply concerns. Indigenous and rural groups oppose agrarian reforms they say favour larger landowners.
Despite the government repealing a controversial agrarian law this month, protests have continued. Paz, who took office in November and inherited an economy in turmoil, has defended spending cuts and fuel subsidy reductions as necessary to stabilize public finances. He is preparing a reform package for Congress that includes gradually lifting fuel price controls and measures to boost domestic energy production and investment.
The government has sought to ease tensions through negotiations and wage increases while deploying around 3,500 security forces to clear roadblocks. Authorities said about 57 people have been arrested.
Officials have blamed the opposition and Morales allies for encouraging the blockades, which they say have contributed to at least three deaths, including patients unable to reach hospitals.
Morales, who governed Bolivia from 2006 to 2019, has backed the protests, describing them as a response to economic hardship and political persecution.
Thousands of his supporters have rallied after a judge held him in contempt earlier this month for failing to appear in court in a trafficking case. Morales denies wrongdoing.
"As long as the structural demands such as fuel, food, and inflation are not addressed, the uprising will not be halted,” he wrote on X.