Spanish
La Paz.- The government of Rodrigo Paz and the labor and peasant unions in Bolivia agreed this Sunday to repeal the decree that eliminates the subsidy on fuels and create a new regulation that maintains that provision, but annuls others that generated rejection in those sectors.
The agreement is the result of the dialogue held this day between the top leaders of the Bolivian Workers' Central (COB) and the peasant federations with six ministers, including the Minister of the Presidency, José Luis Lupo; of Economy and Public Finances, José Gabriel Espinoza, and of Government (Interior), Marco Antonio Oviedo.
In addition to the drafting of the new decree, the mobilized sectors announced that with the signing of the agreement, all pressure measures will be lifted, including the road blockades initiated last Tuesday.
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The document states that "decree 5503 will be repealed in its entirety" and that "from the signing of the agreement" a commission will be created to draft "a new decree" that "will exclusively maintain the articles referring to the fuel subsidy". In the new standard, the provisions on the rescheduling of credits in the banking system will also be maintained, "the improvement of social bonds and the ordering of wage policy", says the document. "The COB and all affiliated organizations represented at the meeting determine the immediate lifting of pressure measures, maintaining the state of emergency until the enactment of the decree," it adds. After the signing of the agreement, the top leader of the COB, the miner Mario Argollo, declared that "here the ministers have not lost, the leaders have not won, Bolivia has won" and considered that the "people" understood that the decree, "as it is, was not useful". "Government authorities have reflected and when the authorities work with their people, applause is also in order," Argollo indicated, and also thanked the sectors that mobilized against the decree, which came into effect on December 17th. The dialogue took place at a peasant headquarters in the city of El Alto, neighboring La Paz, which was one of the main affected by the road blockades that began on Tuesday. The COB and the peasant unions, who were political allies of the governments of Evo Morales (2006-2019) and Luis Arce (2020-2025), held street marches from December 22nd and blocked roads from Tuesday to demand the repeal of decree 5503. The decree established prices of 6.96 Bolivianos (one dollar) per liter of special gasoline, 11 Bolivianos ($1.58) for premium gasoline and 9.80 Bolivianos ($1.40) for diesel, among others, which represents increases of 86% and 162% compared to the subsidized costs that were in effect for more than 20 years. The law provided for other measures, such as an increase in the minimum wage, from 2,750 to 3,300 Bolivianos ($395 to $474), and increases in a school bonus and income for senior citizens without social security contributions. Unions also questioned the decree because they believe it opens the possibility of selling Bolivia's natural resources and state-owned companies to foreign capital, something the government has always denied. Road blockades caused millions in losses to the productive sectors and the State, and numerous people trapped for several days on the roads.Faced with this, the Government organized air and sea rescues of foreign visitors who were trapped in tourist destinations such as the Uyuni salt flat, in southwestern Bolivia, and Lake Titicaca, shared with Peru, in addition to air bridges and solidarity flights for the transfer of passengers and food.
