La Paz (AFP) – Bolivia's legislature gave the green light on Sunday for President Rodrigo Paz to use the military to clear roadblocks that have crippled key cities for weeks.
Issued on: 07/06/2026 - 18:34
2 min Reading time
A month of demonstrations calling for the center-right President Rodrigo Paz to step down have paralyzed Bolivia, with blockades causing severe food and medicine shortages © Rodrigo URZAGASTI / AFP
A month of heated demonstrations calling for the center-right Paz to step down have paralyzed the Andean nation, with blockades causing severe food and medicine shortages.Endless lines at the pump have also led many to sleep in the vehicles to not lose their place.A bill relaxing the country's strict rules surrounding states of emergency passed the lower chamber following 15 hours of overnight debate, the body's president, Roberto Castro, announced.Having already passed the Senate, it heads to Paz's desk for signature.The new law comes a day after dozens of riot police backed by military vehicles fired tear gas as they attempted to clear a road in the town of San Julian.The town is in the Santa Cruz region -- an agricultural breadbasket supplying food to the country's western areas.Protesters threw stones and burned tires to try to halt the police's advance, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.Paz on Sunday wrote on X that that the capital La Paz and second city El Alto are "still facing difficult times, but concrete progress is also beginning to be made," including on fuel distribution.The US-backed, pro-business Paz took office in November promising to resolve the country's worst economic crisis in decades, but his unpopular economic reforms and failure to respond to social demands have roused public ire.Legal liabilityHe has repeatedly called for dialogue with the protesters but on Wednesday announced the legislation seeking to amend the country's state of emergency laws.
