{"id":128015,"date":"2026-06-20T17:27:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:27:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=128015"},"modified":"2026-06-20T17:27:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:27:16","slug":"bolivian-president-declares-state-of-emergency-after-weeks-of-protests-demanding-his-resignation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128015\/","title":{"rendered":"Bolivian president declares state of emergency after weeks of protests demanding his resignation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Web desk (National Times)- Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz declared a state of emergency across the Latin American country on Saturday after more than six weeks of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2005778\">road blockades and protests<\/a>\u00a0demanding his resignation, saying he had exhausted \u201call avenues of dialogue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The decision came hours after Paz signed an agreement with the country\u2019s main trade union federation, Bolivian Workers\u2019 Central (COB), ending the protests sparked by Paz\u2019s plans for the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But not all sectors were covered by the agreement, and some unions continued protesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAfter exhausting all avenues of dialogue, reaching agreements with those whose demands were legitimate, and identifying those who used violence in an attempt to destabilise Bolivia, we made the decision to declare a state of emergency across the entire national territory,\u201d Paz said in a televised speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">COB launched the protest movement in early May to reject US-backed Paz\u2019s ideas for ending the country\u2019s worst economic crisis in 40 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Demonstrators \u2014 mainly blue-collar workers, farmers, miners, truck drivers and teachers \u2014 called for an end to the centre-right president\u2019s economic reforms and demanded his resignation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Paz has been in power only seven months, and his arrival ended&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1950325\">20 years of socialist rule<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Roadblocks across Bolivia have led to shortages of fuel, food and medicine in the country\u2019s main cities, including La Paz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The government reached an agreement with COB on Friday, after negotiations began last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFrom now on, pressure measures are lifted nationwide,\u201d announced Mario Argollo, leader of COB. Paz defended the agreement, saying, \u201cdialogue is stronger than force itself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2009469\/bolivian-president-declares-state-of-emergency-after-weeks-of-protests-demanding-his-resignation#betrayed\"><\/a>\u2018Betrayed\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Labour groups and coca farmers in the Chapare region, former president Evo Morales\u2019 stronghold, continued protesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have decided to harden the roadblocks,\u201d Antonio Mallku, leader of one of the main workers\u2019 unions, told the television channel&nbsp;<em>Unitel<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur Indigenous brothers felt betrayed\u201d by the agreement, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The number of road blockades, which exceeded 100 at the height of the protests, has decreased, but around 50 remained in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Paz said he had ordered the police and armed forces \u201cto restore freedom of movement, regain control of the roads and guarantee the security of the population,\u201d warning that those who continue the blockades or resort to violence would face \u201cthe full force of the law\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Under the terms of Friday\u2019s agreement, the government promised not to privatise public companies \u2014 a key demand of the unions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The agreement also provides for working groups bringing together ministers and union leaders to discuss the protest movement\u2019s demands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The government now has 90 days to make progress on several union demands, according to Argollo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe ball is now in its court,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Paz has claimed that the protests were driven by \u201cnarcoterrorists\u201d he links to Morales. Morales is in hiding while facing charges of alleged trafficking of a minor, which he denies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Web desk (National Times)- Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz declared a state of emergency across the Latin American country on Saturday after more than six weeks of\u00a0road blockades and protests\u00a0demanding his resignation, saying he had exhausted \u201call avenues of dialogue.\u201d The decision came hours after Paz signed an agreement with the country\u2019s main trade union federation, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":128016,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Bolivian president declares state of emergency after weeks of protests demanding his resignation - 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