Bolivia’s Paz declares state of emergency over blockades

President Rodrigo Paz has said he declares the state of emergency “to free the country’s roads.” Bolivia has faced weeks of intensifying protests and road blockades.

Bolivia’s President Rodrigo Paz ‌declared ⁠a state ⁠of emergency early ​on Saturday, after more than six weeks of road blockades and protests demanding the president’s resignation.

“This ⁠is not a state ​of emergency to restrict people’s lives … It is a state of emergency to give freedom back to the people, to free Bolivia from those who use political conflict to block roads and harm the population,” he said in a televised speech.

Paz, who called the situation an organized attempt to destabilize democracy, also said that the decision to declare a state of emergency was made “after exhausting all avenues of dialogue.”

The move comes just hours after ​Paz announced on ​Friday that he had reached a deal ‌with the country’s main trade union, the Bolivian Workers’ Confederation (COB).

Bolivia’s blockade crisis

The conflict erupted in May after Paz scrapped two-decade-old fuel subsidies, causing gas prices to spike.

Anti-government protests escalated into roadblocks on key routes nationwide, choking off access to Bolivia’s main cities, including La Paz and neighboring El Alto.

Demonstrators, including labor unions and groups loyal to former leftist President Evo Morales, reject Paz’s economic reforms.

They are demanding wage increases, a rollback of austerity measures, and Paz’s resignation.

Paz, whose election victory ended nearly 20 years of rule by the leftist Movement for Socialism (Mas) party in the South American country, has been in power for only seven months.

He took office in November 2025, promising to tackle the country’s worst economic crisis in four decades.