Protests Continue in Bolivia, More Violent Crackdowns On the Horizon

After Bolivia’s president implemented austerity shock measures and spending cuts after he took office in 2025, protests began to grow

Photo by Milos Hajder on Unsplash

Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz ran an election campaign in 2025 promising not to implement austerity measures to address the country’s economic problems. Within weeks, he agreed to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan that required austerity measures, a move that left millions of Bolivians to suffer an immediate explosion in inflation, leading to massive protests. Paz, who reneged on his promises, has so far responded by doing little to appease the people and instead cracking down on them.

The government’s response resulted in escalating violence at the hands of the Bolivian police and military, leaving at least 9 dead, dozens injured, and over 350 arrested. After 35 days of road blockades culminating from the protests, Paz sent a bill to Bolivia’s legislature to declare a state of emergency under the guise of a “humanitarian action.” The bill authorizing the deployment of the military and police under special constitutional powers to break the more than 100 blockades of the country’s roads and highways was passed days later.

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After the bill’s passage, social organizations argue that the Law on the Regulation of States of Emergency poses a direct threat to protesters and seeks to criminalize demonstrations. Fifteen chapters of the Leaders of the Chimoré Intercultural Federation have declared their own state of emergency and are planning vigils around military and security bases. Former President Evo Morales, whom many of the groups support and has been a voice for Indigenous Bolivians, says the protests won’t end until Indigenous people are back in power.

Despite being accused of what appear to be fraudulent charges of human trafficking, Morales’ leadership has led Paz to accuse him of coordinating a coup. However, Morales didn’t call for protests and only became a voice after they had begun. Similarly, he and his supporters believe the charges against them are an attempt to silence him, remove his image and views from public consumption, and block him from running for president after an attempted coup in 2019.

Paz has now resorted to accusing protesters of being funded by “narco-terrorists” after U.S. President Donald Trump made a similar claim days before. Paz, who owes Trump for his election, at least in part, has bowed to the White House in its mission to take control of Latin American governments across the region by spreading misinformation about governments that refuse to bow to Trump and interfering in elections. Paz is being rewarded with support from the U.S. government, both politically and militarily.

The White House’s coalition of far-right governments, known as the “Shield of the Americas,” issued a joint statement denouncing the protests, calling them “cynical efforts” at an “attempted coup.” The statement went on to say that the protests are being funded with “dirty money from drug trafficking and transnational crime.” Despite inflation increasing fuel costs by as much as 160% in some cases, and Bolivia’s Vice President distancing himself from Paz over his policies, the effort of right-wing governments to disqualify the legitimacy of the protests should be noted as creating a pretext for potential forceful and violent intervention.

“The member countries of Shield of the Americas denounce ongoing efforts to overthrow the legitimately and overwhelmingly elected government of President Rodrigo Paz in Bolivia,” reads the joint statement. “We stand with Paz’s democratic government as it fights back against attempts to drag Bolivia backwards through cynical efforts to prevent the delivery of food, medicine, and other vital supplies to the Bolivian people through fake road blockades. Mob rule cannot replace the decision that a majority of Bolivians made at the ballot box to turn the page on two decades of corrupt governments,” continued the statement. “Those who are funding these protests with dirty money from drug trafficking and transnational crime should be held accountable. Those who have legitimate grievances should take advantage of the government’s willingness to dialogue, and denounce those who would abuse their causes to regain power.”

The aggressive U.S. stance, along with that of the sycophantic presidents in cahoots with Trump’s Shield of the Americas, highlights how liberally they use “narco-trafficking” pretexts to justify their actions against various leaders. Many of which appear to be part of a plot to spread misinformation about Mexican President Claudia Shienbaum, Colombian President Gustavo Petro, Colombian Presidential candidate Ivan Cepeda, Brazilian President Lula da Silva, and various other movement leaders and politicians in countries across the region.

Paz reneging on his campaign promise not to implement austerity measures and taking a secretive IMF loan is an idea that millions in Bolivia refuse to accept. Many economists argue that there are better options. Andrés Arauz, a senior research fellow at the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) in Washington, DC, a former chief operating officer at the Central Bank of Ecuador, and a former Minister of Knowledge and Human Talent of Ecuador, highlights an alternative to the IMF loan demands that were not initially made public.

“Bolivia also needs a credible but socially negotiated exchange-rate regime, paired with industrial policy focused on lithium processing, refining, manufacturing, agro-industrial diversification, and support for small-scale farmers,” writes Arauz for the CEPR. “With lithium stocks estimated at roughly 23 million metric tons – about one-fifth of global identified resources – Bolivia possesses enormous long-term strategic leverage if it actually pursues industrialization beyond raw extraction.”

What has become apparent, as it often does with the IMF, is that the West is pushing Bolivia to the brink of failure to secure access to its resources, infrastructure, and financial systems. Additionally, U.S. agencies will infect Bolivian politics with U.S.-corporate-friendly operatives intent on exploiting a majority Indigenous nation that boasts the largest Indigenous population in South America. When it comes to imperialism, some things never change.

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Arturo is an independent freelance journalist. He has written hundreds of articles on policing, immigration, race, and Latin America. His work has been featured in outlets such as Unicorn Riot, The Antagonist Magazine, Latino Rebels, The Wire, and more. Arturo is also on TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, and Threads. To support his work, become a paid subscriber or donate via Venmo, PayPal, or Cash App.