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Economic Impact of Bolivian Protests
Daily estimated economic loss due to ongoing national road blockades.
Primary Sources
Bolivia's president says he will reorganize cabinet amid protests — TradingView News
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What to know about the protests choking the Bolivian capital | AP News
LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Bolivia’s President Rodrigo Paz faces a deepening crisis as widespread protests and blockades leave the political capital under siege less than six months after he took office.Two weeks of road closures — spearheaded by the Bolivian Workers’ Central, COB, peasant unions and miners — have emptied markets in La Paz and depleted vital hospital oxygen reserves. The government reported that at least three people died after emergency vehicles were blocked from reaching medical centers.On Monday, supporters of Bolivia’s influential ex-President Evo Morales clashed with police in the capital city as they joined multiple sectors demanding the resignation of the president, who lacks both a legislative majority and a robust political party to anchor his administration.The unrest presents the biggest challenge yet for Paz, a business-friendly centrist who came to power six months ago as a wave of conservative electoral wins swept the region. “Those seeking to destroy democracy will go to jail,” Paz warned on Friday, even as the blockades expanded to engulf nearly the entire country. What workers demandThe COB began by demanding wage increases, while peasant unions demanded a steady supply of gasoline. The miners, meanwhile, are negotiating separately for access to additional mining areas. Public schoolteachers are also holding separate talks regarding salary improvements.“These demands have been largely addressed in a manner consistent with current realities; however, there are dark forces seeking to destabilize our democracy,” said presidential spokesperson José Luis Gálvez, in an allusion to influential former President Evo Morales.Paz reiterates that he inherited a “bankrupt state,” yet his adversaries reproach him for his sluggish response to the worst crisis in 40 years — marked by fuel shortages and an inflation rate that hovered near 20% last year.According to business organizations, ongoing protests and road blockades are draining more than $50 million per day from Bolivia’s economy and have left roughly 5,000 vehicles stranded on the highways. 2 MIN READ 2 MIN READ 6 MIN READ The role of MoralesMorales marshaled the latest march from his hideout in Bolivia’s remote tropics. He has been holed up in the highlands for the past year and a half, evading an arrest warrant on charges relating to his alleged sexual abuse of a 15-year-old girl. He says the allegations are politically motivated.The Movement Toward Socialism, MAS, which had g...
Bolivia on the Brink? Behind the Protests, a Power Grab in Plain Sight
Flames rise from a cardboard box as miners clash with riot police during a protest demanding the resignation of Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz, in La Paz, on May 18, 2026. Bolivians have taken to the streets for the past two weeks, blocking roads into La Paz and disrupting deliveries of food, medicine and other goods to the seat of government, while demanding higher wages, economic relief and the resignation of centre-right President Rodrigo Paz amid a severe economic crisis. Photo by Jorge BERNAL/AFP via Getty Images LA PAZ, Bolivia — The images coming out of La Paz tell a story of raw desperation: miners hurling dynamite sticks at riot police, tear gas drifting over demonstrators outside the presidential palace, highways blockaded for weeks, supermarket shelves emptied, hospitals running low on oxygen. Bolivia is living through what many analysts are calling the worst economic crisis in a generation — and its newly elected president, Rodrigo Paz, is fighting for his political survival just six months into office.But beneath the genuine economic pain of ordinary Bolivians lies something more calculated. The Paz government, backed by an increasingly alarmed international community, is sounding the alarm: what looks like a spontaneous uprising is, at least in part, an orchestrated attempt by former president Evo Morales to topple a democratically elected government and claw his way back to power. And according to Bolivia's Minister of the Presidency, José Luis Lupo, the hands pulling the strings are not all Bolivian.After a six-day march through the Andes, thousands of Morales's supporters, some brandishing dynamite sticks and slingshots, converged on La Paz on Monday, where they were met by riot police. Dynamite blasts rumbled downtown as security forces fired back with tear gas against demonstrators who called for the president's resignation just six months into his tenure. Former Bolivian president Evo Morales speaks to supporters during a rally at the Hugo Chavez Stadium in Chimore, in the Cochabamba department, Bolivia, on February 19, 2026, to proclaim candidates for the upcoming regional elections. Leftist former Bolivian President Evo Morales reappeared on February 19at an event to proclaim candidates for the upcoming regional elections, saying he never fled Bolivia after weeks of uncertainty over his whereabouts. Photo by David FLORES/AFP via Getty Images A Crisis Built on Ruins Left BehindTo understand these violent Bolivian protests, you have to ...
2026 Bolivian protests - Wikipedia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 2026 Bolivian protestsDateMay 2026 – presentLocationBoliviaCaused by Economic crisis in Bolivia[1] Fuel crisis[2][3] GoalsResignation of Rodrigo Paz[4]MethodsProtests, rioting, civil resistance, unrest, and strike actionsResulted inAdministrative capital of La Paz under siege[5]Parties Bolivian Workers' Center Supporters of Evo Morales Government of Bolivia Bolivian National Police Supported by Argentina[6] Lead figures Evo Morales[1] Rodrigo Paz CasualtiesDeath3 (as of 20 May 2026)[7]Arrested90 (as of 18 May 2026)[1] In May 2026, ongoing mass protests occurred in La Paz, Bolivia. Miners comprised a large part of the protesters, but they were also accompanied by teachers, farmers, and other workers. The protests were caused imminently by a law allowing land mortgage, but they occurred during a wider period of economic downturn in Bolivia. Despite President Rodrigo Paz annulling the law on 13 May, protests continued to spread. The scope of the protests has also expanded, as other workers demand higher wages, labour reform, and for Paz to resign as president. Starting on 14 May, protesters began to detonate explosives and clash with police around the presidential palace as well as calling Paz's resignation.[4] Bolivia's economic crisis, resulting from declining energy production and a shortage of US dollars, is the worst in the country for decades.[8][9] Fuel shortages are also rampant across the country, after a presidential decree in December 2025 ended national fuel subsidies, causing much higher gasoline prices. The Iran war also contributed to pressure on the Bolivian economy.[10] President Rodrigo Paz was elected in October 2025 after campaigning for economic reform.[9] Before being repealed on 13 May after backlash from the indigenous peoples and rural organizations,[4] Law 1720, which was put into effect on 10 April, allowed titled small agricultural property to be voluntarily converted into medium property upon written request and a sworn declaration, making the land to be used as collateral for bank loans.[11] Critics argued that the law was a potential threat to farmers, as Law 1720 also stripped its immunity from seizure and commodification of the farmers' land.[12] Protests has been occurring sporadically since January, but only flared up at the beginning of May.[9] Initially triggered by farmers protesting against a law allowing land mortgage, the unrest began with roadblocks and marches across t...
