Escalating Unrest in Bolivia: Protesters Demand President's Resignation

Santa Cruz, Bolivia – A deepening political crisis threatens Bolivia's social stability. Just six months after taking office, President Rodrigo Paz faces a surge of protests, highway blockades, and increasingly strident calls for his resignation.

The unrest began more than a month ago, coalescing around multiple demands from diverse sectors. Some organizations are calling for wage increases; others complain about contaminated fuel that has damaged thousands of vehicles; while still others oppose a law that would allow changes in land classification, which critics say favors land concentration in the hands of large businesses.

Although the government has defused some disputes by making concessions—including repealing the land law, granting financial rewards to teachers, and speeding up compensation for some damaged vehicles—indigenous groups from the highlands have decided to push protests to the limit by blocking roads to force the president's resignation.

On May 6, hundreds of protesters began erecting barricades that surrounded the administrative center of La Paz, maintaining an average of 20 blockades per day. They also received support from other organizations that have pressured government decisions, including the Bolivian Workers' Union. "The demand is for the president to resign because he cannot solve the structural problems of the country; he is leading us aimlessly... he is mortgaging the country. What future awaits our children?" said Mario Argollo, a union leader of the Central Obrera Boliviana, to reporters.

The cities of La Paz and El Alto, Bolivia's two most populous urban centers that lie adjacent to each other, are facing food shortages, school suspensions, and public transportation disruptions as hundreds of protesters block roads. Although many residents affected by the protests are calling for a tougher response to restore order, the government has not yet declared a state of emergency.

Despite the different motives of the social groups participating in the protests, many analysts believe there is a deeper issue behind the unrest: growing discontent among indigenous and working-class sectors.

Political and Strategic Shift

Rodrigo Paz was a centrist senator who, despite a long political career, was not a nationally prominent figure and succeeded in presenting himself as a "new" candidate. He became Bolivia's first president after the era of the Movement for Socialism (MAS), the party that led the country for nearly 20 years with record electoral victories and a majority in parliament. Due to mismanagement and corruption, MAS left the country facing a deep economic crisis and received only 3% of the vote in the 2025 election. During the campaign, Rodrigo Paz adopted a moderate, centrist discourse and came to power largely thanks to former MAS voters.

Now, six months into his term, those voters are not just disappointed but feel excluded from the government, as Rodrigo Paz has not appointed indigenous or working-class individuals to his cabinet or key positions. These groups, which governed alongside MAS for the past two decades, now see an administration allied with the business elite governing in their favor.

Several policy moves have fueled discontent: Paz abolished a tax on large assets, appointed members of the business elite to his cabinet, passed laws favoring industrial agriculture—such as authorizing genetically modified seeds—and aligned with the United States and Israel, countries with which Bolivia had no diplomatic relations. He also shifted from rejecting international loans during his campaign to seeking funding from institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

"Rodrigo Paz won the election on a very different agenda, and midway he made a political and strategic shift, both in the composition of his government and its direction. So the popular sectors feel not only excluded but completely betrayed," political analyst Luciana Jauregui told Al Jazeera.

Amid the protests, former President Evo Morales, who was in power from 2006 to 2019, has escalated pressure by mobilizing his supporters to conduct a 190-kilometer march toward La Paz to demand the president's resignation and the suspension of judicial proceedings against the former leader. Morales faces an arrest warrant and allegations of sexual abuse of a minor during his presidency. Morales was the country's first indigenous president, leading Bolivia for three consecutive terms with unprecedented electoral support. He ruled with virtually no opposition, and his administration was marked by social inclusion policies, recognition of indigenous people, and economic prosperity due to a gas export boom and significant poverty reduction. However, in recent years, the country faced gradual economic decline due to the downturn in the oil and gas sector, partly because of mismanagement, leading to dollar shortages and rising inflation.

Rodrigo Paz's administration has accused the former president of orchestrating a "diabolical plan" to destabilize the government and regain power. Officials have also claimed the protests are funded by drug trafficking, although no evidence has been provided to support these allegations. "Our struggle is against forces that receive money from drug trafficking and use terrorist tools to seize power by force," presidential spokesman Jose Luis Galvez said at a press conference. For his part, Morales criticized the government for "defending business owners, bankers, and the industrial agricultural elite while ordinary people are once again queuing up, falling into debt, and going hungry." "No speech can erase that reality," he wrote on X.

Escalating Violence

In recent days, violence has increased in La Paz as multiple marches converged around government offices, where miners armed with explosives clashed with police. Local media also reported attacks on public agencies and assaults on civilians. According to official sources, more than 120 people were detained in Monday's riots, while at least 11 were injured. For the government, the conflict has two distinct aspects: legitimate demands and attempts to overthrow the president. "We will act with two tools: dialogue for lawful sectors and the full force of the law against those who attack democracy," said Jose Luis Lupo, Minister of the Presidency.

Lacking institutional representation, the social sectors that once ruled alongside MAS are now seeking to regain their role in political decision-making. Magdalena Choque, a female protester on the streets of La Paz, said she continues to "fight against the government" because the administration "does not listen to the people." "They don't consult us. Everything is imposed by decree, and nothing benefits our homeland. We are being discriminated against; there is division here," she said in a video recorded on the streets of La Paz and shared online.

Although it is difficult to predict the direction of the unrest, the government appears willing to cede some power. "The idea is to create a ministry that includes the participation of social organizations; that could be an option," said Mauricio Zamora, Minister of Public Works and a close ally of Paz, in a radio interview.

As authorities search for a way out of the labyrinth of social conflict, the government has ordered police forces to periodically intervene at blockade points to establish a "humanitarian corridor" allowing food and medicine to reach La Paz, which periodically becomes the stage for Bolivia's political disputes.