Overview
- Lawmakers in the Chamber of Deputies voted to remove a 2020 restriction on states of emergency, undoing a rule that required legislative review before the executive could impose emergency decrees.
- The change clears the way for President Rodrigo Paz to order military deployments to support police and to limit freedoms such as movement and public assembly.
- Mass protests that began in early May over fuel subsidy cuts, wages, and economic hardship have used road blockades that have choked supplies into La Paz and other cities, producing shortages of food, fuel, oxygen and medicines.
- Opposition lawmakers and rights groups warned the repeal could fuel violence and abuses, while the Paz government accused opponents of trying to destabilize democracy and the United States publicly backed the president.
- The immediate consequences to watch are possible military operations on highways and in urban areas, further disruption of supply lines and an increase in arrests and humanitarian strain on hospitals and communities.