In the wake of the mass strikes and continuous anti-government demonstrations that swept Bolivia throughout May and June, the right-wing government of Rodrigo Paz has used the 90-day state of emergency imposed on 20 June to step up repression of the indigenous people and rural workers who led the protests.
The protests which began in May, sparked by the neoliberal economic reforms of the new government, were the largest since those which overthrew the far-right coup government of Jeanine Áñez in 2020. They brought together diverse organisations of the working class as the Bolivian Workers’ Central Union (COB) united with rural workers and indigenous activists to oppose the removal of fuel subsidies, sweeping privatisations and an attack on indigenous land rights. These forces coalesced in particular over opposition to Law 1720, which would have allowed private landowners to convert small indigenous and peasant landholdings into medium or large commercial farms. Protesters set up more than 150 roadblocks around the country. Thousands walked for hundreds of miles to congregate in the capital, La Paz and demand the resignation of President Paz. All around the capital, the movement was able to overwhelm government forces and maintain control of major roads and transport links.
Supporters of Evo Morales, Bolivia’s first indigenous president whose Movement for Socialism government held power for 20 years until the 2019 Áñez coup, made up the bulk of the indigenous and peasant section of the movement. The Paz government’s police force attempted brutally to break the protests to no avail, despite joining forces with far-right militias. These militias, mostly hailing from the affluent areas of Santa Cruz, assaulted protestors with illegal weapons. In the end the police and militias were unable to deal with the size and militancy of the movement and were consistently out-manoeuvred.
However, on 19 June the COB union federation signed an agreement with the government, ending the general strike. By this point, Law 1720 had been withdrawn, but the rural and indigenous social groups were demanding far more, including the release of hundreds of people arrested during the protests. The morning after the general secretary of COB shook hands with Paz on the steps of the presidential palace, the president introduced a draconian state of emergency and launched a military operation against the remaining roadblocks, which were mostly controlled by supporters of Evo Morales and members of the indigenous group Túpac Katari.
At least 500 arrests have been made so far and the Bolivian army is still patrolling the areas surrounding La Paz. Evo Morales remains in hiding in Cochabamba, protected by his supporters. The leaders of the Túpac Katari Federation, David Mamani, and David Quispe Machaca of the United Confederation of Peasant Workers have been arrested, and their homes raided.
The recent protests demonstrated both the power of the Bolivia’s mass movement and the fractures within it. Following the arrests of protest leaders, the COB called for ‘dialogue’ with the government. With its focus on the mining sector and mostly industrial workers, and confining its demands largely to wage and production reforms, the COB has sometimes played an ambiguous role in relation to the indigenous movement and the rural working class. These were the most consistent and revolutionary backers of the MAS government under Evo Morales, while the COB was amongst those who called for Morales to resign following the 2019 election.
Although the protests and roadblocks have subsided for now, the organisations representing the poorest workers and indigenous peoples have made it clear that they will fight until Rodrigo Paz is gone for good, and will continue to oppose government repression and attacks on their rights in all their forms.
Jacob Dexter
