La Paz.- The president of Bolivia says that the dialogue is easing tensions in the southern departments of Chuquisaca and Potosí after six weeks of peasant and union protests demanding his resignation, while in other areas influenced by former president Evo Morales (2006-2019), mobilizations have intensified.
“Through dialogue, the roadblocks disappear. I want to especially thank, today, Chuquisaca and Potosí for their willingness to change the way Bolivia does things,” Paz posted on his X account.
He added that those departments, along with those in the east of the country, “are contributing to unblocking and supplying in solidarity” the cities of La Paz and El Alto, which have been the most affected by the road blockades promoted by the Bolivian Workers’ Center (COB) and the Tupac Katari Peasant Federation.
He also thanked the manufacturing unions with which he signed agreements on Friday and the productive sectors for moving forward, as he said, to “restore normality” and return “peace of mind to families”.
“Let us leave behind the old order of confrontation and conspiracy, and move towards a new order based on reconciliation and the building of the nation,” said the ruler on that social network.
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The balance of the blockades
In addition, the departmental workers’ unions of Cochabamba (center) and Chuquisaca asked in the last few hours for the leader of the COB, Mario Argollo, to agree to negotiate with Paz regarding the sector’s economic demands.
The COB summoned the leaders of all departmental centrals to an assembly in La Paz this Sunday to evaluate the development of the conflict.
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However, coca leaf producers, linked to former president Evo Morales, decided to reinforce the blockades in the Cochabamba region, preventing transit from east to west of the country.
According to a report from the Bolivian Highway Administration (ABC), there are 77 road closures this Saturday, 30 of which are in that central department, while another 21 are in La Paz, among the highest figures.
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On Friday, a massive rally of Aymara peasants decided to increase blockades on the route to Peru and even threatened to cause power and water outages in El Alto and La Paz to demand the president’s resignation.
The conflicts have caused at least 16 deaths, including 13 people who could not receive timely medical attention due to road blockades, in addition to economic losses of 2.5 billion dollars.
