Bolivia: unions break with Paz and intensify protests over fuel subsidy cuts

Описание: (5 Jan 2026)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
La Paz, Bolivia - 05 January 2026
1. Protesters traffic lights amid smoke during protests
2. Various of police running towards protestors and tear gas
3. Protesters marching
4. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) No name given:
"Because there are 100 hidden articles where they sell our natural resources, where they open the market without protecting the domestic market. We are going to starve at the expense of private interests. The dollars would still return to the country. Bring the dollars back to the country."
5. Tear gas
6. Police on motorcycles
7. Various of confrontations between police and protesters
8. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Jaime Solares, ex-leader of COB (Central Workers Union):
"Well, it seems that the Government doesn't want to repeal it (removal of petrol subsidy). Therefore, the people are demanding the removal of Rodrigo Paz and his entire committee from the Government. If possible, the parliamentarians should also leave the country because they are really traitors, not that they will achieve anything by using force or tear gas. What will the government gain? Nothing. Therefore, I believe that our comrade Argollo (leader of COB) is obliged to decree the national roadblock problem tomorrow in response to those who are currently using the state of emergency."
9. Water cannon and tear gas being used in the protests
STORYLINE:
Bolivia's main labor union announced Monday that it was breaking off talks with the new government of center-right President Rodrigo Paz after he refused to back down on fuel subsidy cuts, and stepped up its protests in the streets.

Shortly before a meeting with the Bolivian Workers' Union (COB), which the government had called, Paz said at another public ceremony that he did not intend to back down on fuel subsidy cuts, which he had decreed after taking office to address the Andean nation's serious economic crisis.

The march by miners, state teachers, factory workers, and indigenous people congested the streets of downtown La Paz and led to violent clashes with the police after the breakdown of dialogue.

Despite the COB's withdrawal, the government's dialogue continued with other informal sectors and transport workers not affiliated with that union.

On Christmas Eve, Paz decreed an end to fuel subsidies and doubled the price of gasoline and diesel imported by the country, leading to higher transportation costs and food prices. However, the measure did not cause the social unrest that many feared and put an end to chronic fuel shortages and long lines at gas stations.

The adjustment decree includes an “exceptional and temporary” authorization for the Central Bank to take out loans and issue bonds aimed at restoring macroeconomic stability, which the unions interpret as ‘capitulation’ by “eliminating legislative oversight,” according to Argollo.

The COB was an ally of the then leftist governments of Evo Morales (2006-2019) and Luis Arce (2020-2025) and is seeking to regain strength as the main opposition force to Paz after the collapse of the left in the last elections.

For the president, this is a first showdown with the unions in the streets with a view to “consolidating his government and his reforms,” said analyst Antonio Gómez.

The “protest has political motives, the COB has no proposals, it is a small group of leaders linked to Evo Morales who were part of the economic disaster of that government's 20 years in power. They are not coming to talk, but to break off negotiations,” said Interior Minister Marco Antonio Oviedo.


AP Video shot by Carlos Guerrero



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