A-Infos (en) Italy, Sicilia Libertaria #471 - International - Global Perspectives - BOLIVIA. Protests Come to an End (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Since last May, Bolivian society has mobilized against the government's 
neoliberal policies, organizing and carrying out mass protests | events 
previously reported on in this column. Organizations representing 
farmers, miners, and transport workers, along with workers from other 
sectors, challenged the Bolivian government for over 50 days through 
roadblocks and demonstrations. They opposed austerity measures | 
including public spending cuts | and contested rising fuel prices as 
well as an agrarian reform affecting communal lands, all against a 
backdrop of inflation and the erosion of wages. The primary driver of 
this recent popular uprising is an economic crisis stemming from a 
growth model based on natural gas exports; social opposition groups deem 
this model a failure, citing factors such as declining local production 
and falling international prices. The public also objected to United 
States interference, government-fostered cronyism, and loan negotiations 
with the International Monetary Fund. The protests eventually subsided 
and ceased due to heavy-handed government repression. Invoking the state 
of emergency law in effect since June 20, President Rodrigo Paz 
authorized the deployment of the armed forces to halt the roadblocks 
persisting in La Paz, El Alto, Santa Cruz, Cochabamba, and Pando. In 
recent weeks, the military has cleared all remaining roadblocks. 
According to the Ombudsman, military and police interventions against 
the blockades resulted in 22 deaths, 88 injuries, and the arrest of 573 
individuals, 255 of whom were formally charged.
The crackdown has continued to target key figures from the organizations 
involved in the protests through judicial proceedings, including charges 
of terrorism and narco-terrorism. The Ministry of the Interior announced 
that 44 formal complaints have been filed with the Public Prosecutor's 
Office against the leaders of the May and June mobilizations. Those 
under investigation include former President Evo Morales and Mario 
Argollo, a top official of the Bolivian Workers' Center (COB). In this 
context, peasant leader Vicente Salazar | secretary of the Túpac Katari 
Peasant Federation | was ordered held in pretrial detention for six 
months; he faces charges of public incitement to commit crimes, criminal 
conspiracy, terrorism, and endangering the security of public services 
and transport systems. For the organizations involved in the protests, 
the outcome of this period of mobilization is viewed as a defeat in the 
power struggle against the governing centrist-right alliance, as well as 
a failure to secure the resignation of President Paz. Various reports 
indicate that the protests concluded at the end of June.

ErreEsse

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