LA PAZ — Bolivian security forces fired tear gas to repel miners and other protesters attempting to storm Plaza Murillo, the location of the presidential palace and vice president’s office, as violent demonstrations rocked the capital over a severe cost-of-living crisis.
Explosions rang out through the streets during the clashes, marking a sharp escalation in weeks of growing social unrest fueled by fuel shortages, soaring food prices, and persistent inflation that have hit working-class Bolivians particularly hard. Miners, farmers, and other groups say survival has become increasingly difficult.
The protests come only six months after President Rodrigo Paz Pereira assumed office, ending two decades of leftist rule with pledges of market-friendly reforms aimed at reviving the country’s struggling economy. Some demonstrators are now openly calling for his resignation.
“We do not want dialogue or anything. We only want the resignation of the president no matter what. He leaves the good way or he leaves with social upheaval,” one protester declared.
The government has rejected the protests as politically motivated. In a televised address, a presidential spokesperson blamed allies of former President Evo Morales for inciting the unrest and refusing dialogue.
“These leaders who serve former President Evo Morales’s political interests agreed not to engage in dialogue and continue telling Bolivians that the only way out is to break democracy to overthrow a president elected by popular vote who was legitimately elected and has been in office for only 6 months,” the spokesperson said.
Former President Evo Morales has voiced support for the demonstrators on social media, declaring that the protests will continue until key structural issues involving fuel, food, and inflation are resolved.
Authorities maintain they have attempted negotiations with the protesters, but the talks have failed to ease tensions. The government now confronts mounting pressure from both street demonstrations and the political opposition.
