Bolivia Protests Enter Third Week as Roadblocks Cripple Cities

Overview

• Thousands of workers, miners, farmers and indigenous groups marched in La Paz on Friday in the third week of protests demanding President Rodrigo Paz’s resignation.
• Official counts report 51 roadblock points across seven states, which have cut supply lines and prompted the government to open humanitarian corridors and airlift food and medical goods to cities.
• The Paz administration announced a cabinet reshuffle this week and accepted the labor minister’s resignation, naming Williams Bascopé as his replacement, but the change has not ended the mobilizations.
• The government says at least four people died after being unable to reach medical care because of the blockades, and hospitals are warning of shortages of medicines and other supplies.
• The unrest grows from sharp economic pain — about 14% annual inflation after fuel-subsidy cuts — and has widened into a political crisis that the government blames on allies of ex-president Evo Morales while diplomatic tensions with Colombia and public U.S. statements add regional pressure.