MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Wednesday, June 3rd 2026 - 16:54 UTC
The conflict, now close to a month old, has left at least nine dead
Bolivia's political crisis threatens to spill over into confrontations between urban and rural populations, after nearly a month of road blockades that have disrupted supplies of food, medicine and fuel —especially in the Andean region— and left at least nine people dead. Analysts Pedro Portugal and Gabriela Canedo warned of the danger in remarks to the news agency EFE, pointing to clashes fueled by an ethnic and cultural fracture and by the alleged inaction of Rodrigo Paz's government, whose resignation the mobilized sectors are demanding.
“The government is doing absolutely nothing; it is as if it were waiting for the population that supports it to confront the blockaders and resolve this through a clash between civilians, rather than through state intervention,” said Portugal, a specialist in indigenous affairs. Several regions have seen incidents and near-confrontations between rural and urban residents, for and against the blockades, in which the analysts see signs of a polarization that could escalate, as has happened before in the country.
