Bolivia in crisis as workers and indigenous groups lay siege to La Paz

A two-week campaign of road closures and blockades led by the Bolivian Workers’ Center (COB), peasant unions, and miners has plunged the administration of President Rodrigo Paz into a deepening crisis, leaving the political capital effectively under siege.

Less than six months after taking office, Paz faces an escalating emergency as widespread protests and barricades paralyze the country’s seat of government. The unrest has emptied markets in La Paz and exhausted critical oxygen supplies in local hospitals.

On Monday, supporters of former President Evo Morales clashed with police in the capital. Protesters are demanding the president’s resignation and the immediate withdrawal of “reforms” they claim represent a neoliberal restructuring of the state.

Despite the blockades expanding to cover nearly the entire country, Paz issued a stern warning on Friday. “Those who attempt to destroy democracy will be imprisoned,” he declared.

The COB initiated the mobilization to demand wage increases, while peasant unions are calling for a regular supply of gasoline. Miners are engaged in separate negotiations for access to additional mining sites, and state school teachers are conducting independent talks regarding salary improvements.

Presidential spokesperson José Luis Gálvez, referring to Morales, stated that while demands are being addressed within economic realities, “there are dark forces attempting to destabilize our democracy.”

Demonstrators’ unified demand: Resignation of President Paz

In addition to the COB, the Tupac Catari United Workers Federation has established barricades across the country. Mining cooperatives dispatched demonstrators carrying dynamite, who attempted to force their way into Plaza Murillo on May 14.

Peasant organizations, which initially mobilized against Law 1720—an agrarian reform measure the government later repealed under pressure—have remained on the streets. They maintain that the concession was insufficient and are now demanding Paz’s resignation.

The “Evistas,” supporters of Morales organized in the tropical Chapare region, launched a six-day march toward La Paz on May 18 to join the ongoing demonstrations.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference has called for a humanitarian pause and dialogue, reporting that 67 blockades have caused severe shortages of food, medicine, and oxygen in hospitals. The conference attributed three deaths directly to the obstructions.

Paz government remains divided

President Paz continues to assert that he inherited a “bankrupt state.” However, critics condemn his slow response to the worst crisis in 40 years, characterized by chronic fuel shortages and an inflation rate hovering around 20%.

Business organizations estimate that the ongoing protests and road closures are costing the Bolivian economy more than $50 million per day, with approximately 5,000 vehicles currently stranded on national highways.

The Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), which governed Bolivia for two decades under Morales and subsequently Luis Arce, suffered a historic defeat in last year’s elections following a bitter internal feud between the two former leaders.

Morales recently addressed the situation on the X platform, stating: “The government and the right claim I am a political corpse and cannot mobilize anyone, yet they continue to blame me. The uprising cannot be suppressed as long as structural demands regarding fuel, food, and inflation remain unresolved.”

The end of the MAS era has left Bolivia’s political landscape deeply fractured, with no single party emerging as a dominant force. While Paz achieved a surprise electoral victory, the Christian Democratic Party that brought him to power quickly splintered in the legislature. Furthermore, the president remains in an open confrontation with his vice president, former police officer Edman Lara.

Although Paz has secured various investment and loan commitments from international powers, most of these funds have yet to materialize. In an initial policy move, he eliminated fuel subsidies; while this did not immediately trigger protests from a public already weary of shortages, the government’s subsequent import of low-quality gasoline led to an outcry from transport workers over vehicle damage.

The “bad gasoline” scandal has triggered a wave of strikes and protests within the transport sector and led to the resignations of two high-ranking officials at the state oil company.

US support for the Paz administration

The ongoing protests and barricades in Bolivia have caused concern across the region. Eight Latin American governments, ranging from Chile to Costa Rica, recently issued a joint statement rejecting “any action aimed at disrupting the democratic order.”

Neighboring Argentina announced it would launch a week-long humanitarian airlift to address shortages within Bolivia.

The US, seeking to rebuild ties with Bolivia, has expressed support for Paz’s efforts to “restore order for the peace, security, and stability of the Bolivian people.”

On Tuesday, US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Landau confirmed on X that he had met with Paz to reaffirm US support for the legitimate government. Landau condemned the organizers of the barricades and uprisings, alleging without providing evidence that they receive support from organized crime and drug traffickers.

Calling specifically on Brazil and Colombia to back Rodrigo Paz, Landau guaranteed that President Donald Trump and his administration are working to ensure that “anti-government and anti-order forces” do not prevail.

“I would deeply regret it if the promising new beginning in Bolivia were to fail. It would be detrimental for all countries in the Americas to witness such uncivilized behavior,” Landau stated. A deputy to Senator Marco Rubio also praised Argentina’s support for the Paz administration, noting that the “entire burden” should not fall on the US.

Right-wing Paz government alliance with Trump develops

In April, Bolivia and the US signed a memorandum of understanding on critical minerals, including lithium, establishing a framework for information sharing and exploration of cooperation.

Washington has publicly declared its interest in securing supply chains. The Paz administration presented the agreement as the first step toward a technological partnership that would finally bring Bolivian lithium to international markets.

The Paz government also confirmed that in February 2026, it would allow the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to establish a permanent operational presence in La Paz. This decision reverses Morales’s 2008 move to expel the agency.

Morales’s original decision was based on allegations that DEA activities constituted political surveillance and interference against the MAS government rather than genuine counter-narcotics efforts. The expulsion became a defining symbol of Bolivia’s sovereign independence from Washington’s security apparatus.

The Paz administration has framed the return of the DEA as a “professional law enforcement arrangement.” Foreign Minister Aramayo stated that negotiations are ongoing to define the agency’s areas of cooperation and operational limits.

Colombia warns of potential massacre against Bolivian people

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has sided with the demonstrators, warning that if repression intensifies, it could lead to the “crushing of the Bolivian people” and a “massacre.”

Meanwhile, the Argentine government faces allegations of shipping riot control supplies to Bolivia. Opposition lawmakers in Buenos Aires are demanding an explanation regarding “Hercules C-130” cargo planes traveling to Bolivia.

Rolando Pacheco, a lawmaker from the leftist Alianza Popular (AP) party, suggested the aircraft are not carrying humanitarian aid as the Javier Milei administration claims, but rather equipment for police and military operations to suppress demonstrations.

Digital platforms in Argentina have seen a rise in campaigns inciting hatred against indigenous populations. Simultaneously, Morales noted that Erik Prince, founder of the US private military firm Academi (formerly Blackwater) and an ally of Trump, has called for intervention against “insurgent grassroots movements.”

Threat of a new ‘Operation Condor’

Concerns are mounting that the Bolivian government and the country’s economic elite will move to forcibly suppress the worker-peasant uprising in coordination with right-wing regional governments and the US.

Morales has referred to “Plan Condor 2026,” a purported new version of the 1970s “Operation Condor.” Under that original code name, South American military dictatorships, guided by US intelligence agencies, killed, disappeared, or tortured thousands of dissidents.

In parallel, Bolivia’s economic elites are mobilizing against the protesters. In Santa Cruz, the far-right “Pro Santa Cruz Civic Committee” called for a “March for Democracy” on Thursday, May 21.

In Cochabamba and La Paz, residents of affluent neighborhoods known as “Pititas” have held counter-demonstrations against the barricades, blaming Evo Morales as the primary organizer of the unrest.

Morales has warned that the Paz administration may intensify repression in collaboration with the US and regional right-wing governments, targeting indigenous people and trade unions.

On May 15, Morales claimed on X that the US had ordered the Paz government to conduct a military operation—supported by the DEA and US Southern Command—to detain or kill him.

Morales identified specific military units, including the Army’s Ninth Division in the tropical Chapare region under the command of Colonel Franz Andrade Loza. He alleged Loza was promised a promotion to general and appointment as commander of the armed forces upon the operation’s completion.

He further named an F-10 unit under Lieutenant Colonel Carlos Giménez Ortuño, a former deputy to the defense minister under Jeanine Áñez.

Among the civilians accused by Morales was Carlos Sánchez Berzaín, the former interior minister under Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, who fled to Miami following the 2003 “Black October” massacre in which security forces killed over 60 protesters. Morales also named Deputy Minister of Social Defense Ernesto Justiniano, who is reportedly in Washington.

The documents supporting these claims were allegedly leaked by police officers opposed to the operation.