Overview
- Supporters of ex-president Evo Morales clashed with police in downtown La Paz on Monday after a weeklong march, with dynamite and tear gas used and about 90 arrests reported.
- Government leaders said they will bolster police and military operations in the capital and pursue charges against protest organizers while keeping emergency powers off the table.
- Highway blockades now exceed 40 points across six regions, cutting off food, fuel and medical oxygen to La Paz, and officials say at least three people died after ambulances were blocked.
- Banks closed some branches in the capital over security concerns, the state oil firm YPFB halted fuel shipments from its Senkata plant, thousands of trucks remain stranded, and business groups estimate losses above $50 million a day.
- Protests that began with wage and land-law grievances have widened under 14% annual inflation and fuel subsidy cuts, as the United States and eight Latin American governments publicly back President Rodrigo Paz and denounce efforts to destabilize his administration.