A-Infos (en) Russia, AIT: Uprising in Bolivia (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

For two months now, mass protests against the neoliberal and anti-social 
policies of newly appointed President Rodrigo Paz have been ongoing in 
Bolivia, escalating into a genuine popular uprising. --- The uprisings 
are spiraling out of control of the bureaucratic leadership of trade 
unions, peasants, and indigenous organizations. They are accompanied by 
blockades of key roads, marches using dynamite, clashes with the 
regime's repressive forces, and the creation of armed self-defense groups.

The trigger for the social upheaval was Law No. 1720, developed in 
consultation with agribusiness leaders in the Santa Cruz region and 
signed by Paz on April 10. This law authorized the consolidation of 
small rural plots, opening the door to their mortgages, sales, and 
acquisitions by large corporations. It aims to re-concentrate land in 
the hands of a few. In Santa Cruz alone, approximately 7,000 plots, 
totaling 1.7 million hectares, could have been converted into 
medium-sized agribusinesses.

The reaction came from below, without any leaders to sanction it. 
Amazonian Indians marched from Pando for 24 days from April 14, 
protesting the law because it favored business owners and landowners. 
The protesters openly invoked the tradition of the Indian leader Tupac 
Katari: besieging the city of La Paz as a method of resistance. They 
were joined by the Bolivian Workers' Center (BRC), rural teachers, 
peasant federations, and indigenous organizations. The state, as usual, 
made only partial concessions. On May 9, parliament repealed Law 1720. 
But the protests did not stop 
(https://bibliotecadigitalbdela.blogspot.com/2026/05/bolivia-en-la-encrucijada-seguir.html).

On May 1, the BRC announced an indefinite general strike, also demanding 
a 20% wage increase, improved fuel supplies, a ban on privatization and 
changes to labor laws, higher pensions, and an end to any measures 
criminalizing protests ( 
https://amerika21.de/2026/05/285100/cob-generalstreik-forderungen ). 
Since the authorities refused to budge and began repressing protesters 
and making arrests, another demand was added to the list: the 
unconditional resignation of neoliberal President Rodrigo Paz.

"Dozens of checkpoints on the strategic routes connecting La Paz with 
Cochabamba, Oruro and the border crossings in Chile and Peru are 
steadily increasing, despite the monstrous repression by the police, 
military units and hired thugs, to which the proletariat is responding 
with real organized class violence" 
(https://materialesxlaemancipacion.espivblogs.net/2026/06/04/bolivia-en-la-encrucijada-de-la-insurreccion-y-la-contrarrevolucion/ 
 )

The authorities resorted to the tried-and-true tactic of "divide and 
conquer." In an attempt to end the road blockades that had disrupted 
supplies across the country and caused enormous damage to the capitalist 
economy, they attempted to negotiate individually with the bureaucratic 
leaders of individual protest groups. The government of the incompetent 
Rodrigo Paz rushed to conclude agreements to split the movement and made 
concessions to some protest groups. It negotiated with miners' 
cooperatives, writing off a 95 million boliviano debt to the National 
Health Fund and maintaining fuel subsidies. It also negotiated with the 
teachers' union and the Bolivian Workers' Center of El Alto and signed 
an agreement with the leaders of the Red Ponchos of La Paz. These 
sectors gradually withdrew from the conflict. It was clear that some 
rank-and-file members had disowned their leaders for signing the 
agreements" ( 
https://materialesxlaemancipacion.espivblogs.net/2026/06/04/bolivia-en-la-encrucijada-de-la-insurreccion-y-la-contrarrevolucion/).

Negotiations between the authorities and the BRC leaders have been 
resumed several times. Orders for their arrest were sometimes issued, 
then reversed. Union leaders, as usual, are behaving inconsistently. 
They have repeatedly suspended their participation in blockades and 
disrupted one meeting to discuss new protests. There is a huge risk that 
the BRC "leaders" will betray the protest, just as they "betrayed" the 
previous general strike in February against the abolition of fuel 
subsidies. However, grassroots groups of popular protest and rebellion 
do not intend to submit to the bureaucrats of the BRC and other 
organizations. They have created numerous self-organized committees and 
are convening self-organized assemblies (cabildos), where they are 
making decisions on continuing the struggle and the popular uprising of 
workers and peasants 
(https://materialesxlaemancipacion.espivblogs.net/2026/06/04/bolivia-en-la-encrucijada-de-la-insurreccion-y-la-contrarrevolucion/).

On June 7, the Bolivian parliament passed a state of emergency law 
authorizing the use of the army against blockade participants. Armed 
crackdowns began, with gangs formed by the authorities participating. 
Protesters resisted. Despite the repression, blockades and marches 
continued. On June 10, under threat of a general uprising, the 
authorities effectively abandoned the implementation of the state of 
emergency law.

On June 12, the situation in El Alto, a working-class suburb of La Paz 
with 800,000 residents, escalated further. Three mass marches descended 
on the city. Blockades made any interprovincial movement virtually 
impossible. In El Alto's 7th District, residents protested against city 
officials who were secretly negotiating with the government despite 
lacking a mandate to do so. They declared that these officials no longer 
represented the people. Also in El Alto, in the Casa Amarilla 
neighborhood (on the road to Laja), a group of local residents 
intercepted, beat, and stripped naked police officers from the Special 
Anti-Violence Squad who were attempting to break the blockade and arrest 
activists. The officers were detained, stripped, sent back in their 
underwear, and their uniforms and vehicles were burned. Striking truck 
drivers, who had overthrown their union leaders, warned of the 
possibility of even more radical actions against the government. In the 
city of Sucre, when police arrived to remove the blockade, they were 
forced to flee, confronted by the protesters' determination. The Huanini 
miners, members of the BRC union, declared their readiness to blockade 
La Paz and called on BRC management to issue a call to action. The 
indigenous organization "Red Ponchos" decided to escalate the struggle. 
Another organization, the "Sons of Tomás Katari," declared its presence 
in La Paz until Rodrigo Paz's resignation.

On June 12, 2026, numerous self-organized assemblies were held, all of 
which reaffirmed the need for continued struggle and coordination, 
demanding unity and calling for regional general assemblies. The most 
important of these took place in Pucarani, where the province of Los 
Andes (one of 20 provinces in the department of La Paz, located along 
Lake Titicaca and north of La Paz) convened a unified cabildo. Given the 
critical situation facing the country, grassroots movements adopted 
radical and immediate pressure measures. The main resolutions of the 
Pucarani Cabildo, reflecting decisions being taken elsewhere, were:

- Immediate demand: Unconditional and unconditional freedom for all 
those arrested and detained.

- Demand for resignation: "We demand the resignation of President 
Rodrigo Paz and his cabinet."

- Mass struggle: 23 agricultural unions and 21 women's unions, led by 
Bartolina Sisa, have begun blocking roads and occupying government 
buildings. Water and electricity supplies will be cut off until the 
government resigns!

- Enough of the criminalization of our traditional clothing and the 
violation of the Constitution and labor laws.

- Warning to union leaders: any negotiations with the government are 
prohibited. Any leader who betrays the rank and file of the union will 
be punished.

- Regional unity: all 20 provinces are called upon to blockade La Paz. 
We give 24 hours to increase pressure.

- Deadline for El Alto sectors: We are giving the 14 districts of El 
Alto, the mining sector, the transportation sector and the judicial 
sector 24 hours to join the movement.

- To the local authorities: mayors, municipal councillors and members of 
parliament from the 19th arrondissement must stand up for their villages 
or they will be thrown out immediately.

- To the forces of "order": We call on the police and military to fight 
on the side of the people.

- Slogan: PERMANENT BLOCKADE! The province of Los Andes does not 
surrender. The struggle continues until Rodrigo Paz resigns.

On June 14, the Viacha peasant cabildo in Camacho Province decided to 
maintain and strengthen blockades at various points and on rural roads 
in the municipality, with the participation of the Viacha municipal 
administration, the organizations Tupac Katari and SIMACO, and 
representatives. During the meeting, the mobilized groups decided to 
continue their pressure tactics, blocking roads with trenches and 
maintaining a constant presence on main access roads in support of 
social and political demands being put forward in various regions of the 
country. Those present solidified a collective commitment to continue 
protests until the resignation of President Rodrigo Paz, which would 
further increase political and social tensions in the highlands of La 
Paz. They also warned that mobilization would intensify in the coming 
days. The blockades in the province are being implemented on the La 
Paz-Copacabana highway and are planned to be indefinite. "Unity is our 
greatest strength. We cannot afford to be divided while our rights are 
violated and our territories suffer," provincial representatives stated. 
They also called on social organizations, communities and sectors from 
different regions of the country to join the protests in order to 
increase pressure and ensure that the will of the people prevails ( 
https://www.resumenlatinoamericano.org/2026/06/14/bolivia-los-campesinos-radicalizaran-los-bloqueos-y-seguiran-exigiendo-la-renuncia-de-paz/ 
)

Authorities claimed they had reduced the number of blockades in recent 
days through negotiations and agreements, particularly in the Sucre and 
Potosi districts. However, protesters deny these reports and intend to 
intensify their struggle. On June 14, BRC leaders planned to hold a 
national meeting to discuss resuming negotiations with the government, 
but were unable to do so. They were greeted with whistles and insults 
from demonstrators at the entrance to the building.

The betrayal of the BRC leadership only heightens the movement's need 
for self-organization and grassroots coordination. Several general 
assembliescabildoswere held that same day. New ones convened on June 15, 
including in El Alto. Tellingly, calls came from the grassroots of the 
BRC trade unions, condemning any betrayal by the union's leadership and 
calling for an intensified and expanded protest and blockade movement, 
leading to the fall of the government. Several assemblies issued a 
48-hour ultimatum to the authorities to resign. Otherwise, the 
protesters threatened to surround or "take" the country's de facto 
capital, La Paz.

https://aitrus.info/node/6373
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