The Bolivian labor movement—workers, miners, farmers and transport unions—have announced a series of strikes, road blockades and ultimata to protest President Rodrigo Paz Pereira’s Dec. 17 declaration of an “economic emergency,” a key aspect of which is Decree No. 5503 that eliminates all fuel subsidies and implements several other neoliberal reforms. These will wreak havoc in the country’s fragile economy and harm the more vulnerable sectors of the population already struggling in a highly unstable situation. The elimination of the fuel subsidy immediately led to an 86% increase in the price of gasoline and a 160% increase in the diesel fuel price, which sparked outrage.
Paz’s announcement, which he made in the formal setting of his entire cabinet, was unexpected. He had previously said he would engage in dialogue with different sectors of the economy to discuss a gradual approach to needed economic policy changes, among which was the subsidy for diesel fuel and gasoline, which is an extremely sensitive issue.
There’s no doubt this policy change was done at the behest of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has had his hand in Bolivian affairs from well before Paz’s Nov. 8 inauguration, to ensure he was properly aligned with the war drive and economic insanity of which Rubio is a key advocate. He is bent on incorporating Paz into a regional alliance of right-wing governments directed against BRICS leader Brazil and its President Lula da Silva. Initially, Paz had a somewhat more moderate profile, even expressing willingness to continue working with China and “all nations,” including Brazil, but Rubio quickly got him into line, with financial enticements from U.S. and institutional investors, promises of foreign loans—and threats.
In a Dec. 18 statement “U.S. Welcomes Bolivia’s Economic Reforms,” Rubio praised Paz’s neoliberal economic package as a necessary “course correction” after years of “economic stagnation, corruption and mismanagement,” a reference to the governments of Evo Morales and Luis Arce, whom the U.S. now claims were narcoterrorists.
Now, Paz is confronted with organized protests by the Bolivian Workers’ Confederation (COB), which announced an indefinite general strike as of Dec. 19 and warns there will be no dialogue until Decree 5503 is overturned. Minister to the Presidency José Luis Lupo said the decree “is non-negotiable.” Miners, farmers, and transport workers are mobilized in different parts of the country, blockading roads and organizing strikes. In La Paz and nearby El Alto, transportation is paralyzed as transportation drivers are striking. The Trade Union Confederation of Bolivian Drivers announced it will go on an indefinite general strike as of Dec. 22 unless it receives word that Decree 5503 has been abrogated. Even Paz’s own Vice President, Edman Lara, denounced Paz in a Dec. 18 press conference with other opposition party members, warning his measures will cause greater poverty, unemployment and a high cost of living.
