Bolivia vows 'to listen' after weeks of protests

Thousands have taken to the streets of Bolivia calling for the resignation of president Rodrigo Paz over the last two weeks, along with dozens of blockades that have impacted vital health care services and essential goods.

Indigenous groups marched for 20+ days from the rainforest into the capital, La Paz, early May demanding changes in land protections, and unions later joined with calls (paywall) for better wages and work conditions—some demands of which have been met since—while anti-government protests grew in recent days.

In response, Paz announced on 20 May plans to "reorganize a cabinet that must be able to listen" to the Bolivian people at this "turning point" while his administration this week raised coup attempt concerns over the protests.

Hospitals in La Paz are struggling with oxygen reserves as a result of the road closures by demonstrators. Gonzalo Morales, the president of the country's chamber of industries, said to El Deber last week that roadblocks were preventing medical oxygen from being delivered.

The government claimed "at least three people died after emergency vehicles were blocked from reaching medical centers," the Associated Press reported. The Guardian's reporter in South America said a protester was killed as well.

Over the weekend, around 3,500 police and soldiers forced deliveries of essential food, medicine, and oxygen to hospitals behind protest blockades during an operation in La Paz to create a humanitarian corridor, Jose Luis Galvez, a presidential spokesperson said on 16 May.

The blockades also forced bank closures and propelled shortages in both fuel and food. Bolivia has been flying in food and medical supplies—including via Argentinian military planes—to circumvent the road closures.

The Latin Times described the situation as the following:

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.

Because president Evo Morales publicly aired his support of the strikes on his X profile, unrest on 18 May saw a swell of his supporters clashing with police.

Therefore, Paz's government and members of the international community are raising questions whether the activities are hindering into a coup d'état territory.

It issued arrest warrants against leaders of some unions behind the protests, accusing them of crimes and supporting "terrorism," along with conducting attacks on public services and transportation.

The US has jumped on those concerns, where secretary of state Marco Rubio said Washington "will not allow criminals and drug traffickers to overthrow democratically elected leaders in our hemisphere" in a statement on 20 May. He did not provide evidence a coup attempt was in progress or that drug traffickers were involved.