Overview
- Lawmakers fast-tracked repeal of the 2020 'Eva Copa Law' and the Chamber of Deputies removed a rule limiting emergency decrees, a move completed on Wednesday that strips prior legislative checks on executive emergency powers.
- President Paz published and enacted the measure after Congress acted, and the law's entry in the Official Gazette authorizes the armed forces to conduct joint operations with the national police.
- The changes come as protests that began in early May over wages, fuel and economic policy have turned into nationwide road blockades that have isolated La Paz, delaying fuel and medical deliveries and producing reported shortages and at least a few deaths for lack of care.
- Security forces have used tear gas and made arrests as clashes continued, President Paz has warned the country is at a 'breaking point' and his ministers say he will not resign even as the government says it prefers dialogue to large-scale force.
- The United States has publicly backed Paz and called the unrest an attempted coup, while critics and rights groups say the rushed repeal and new powers raise legitimate fears of heavy-handed repression and deepen Bolivia's political polarization with historic precedents for blockades toppling governments.