At least 57 people were arrested on Saturday May 16 during clashes between the police and demonstrators who blocked roads leading to La Paz, the administrative capital of Bolivia. Since 1is May, International Workers’ Day, the center-right government is facing a wave of protests from different sectors – workers, farmers, teachers, transport employees, indigenous groups – with demands ranging from wage increases to the refusal of the privatization of public companies.
For a week, the movement has hardened, placing the resignation of President Rodrigo Paz at the heart of the mobilization. Ending two decades of socialist rule, he promised to get Bolivia out of the worst economic crisis it had experienced in forty years. However, the country is going through a serious economic crisis linked to a shortage of fuel and foreign currencies.
On Friday, the government reached an agreement with striking miners, who were demanding more fuel and explosives to carry out their work, as well as an expansion of the areas in which they can carry out their activities. Despite everything, the mobilization and blockages continued this weekend.
