On the morning of June 20, President Rodrigo Paz of Bolivia addressed the nation and announced a nationwide state of emergency. The move gave the military broad powers to forcibly clear road blockades that have strangled the country for the past 50 days. It was not a decision taken lightly. Paz had repeatedly called dialogue his preferred route and described emergency powers as a last resort. By Saturday, he had run out of patience.
How did it get to this point?
To understand the emergency declaration in Bolivia, you need to go back to when Paz took office in November 2025. Paz came to power with the backing of a centrist coalition, ending nearly 20 years of uninterrupted rule by the leftist Movement Toward Socialism, or MAS, led by former president Evo Morales, who governed Bolivia from 2006 to 2019.
Paz inherited a country in serious trouble. Bolivia’s economy was low on foreign currency, its once-plentiful natural gas exports had plummeted, and inflation had climbed to a 40-year high. He had promised to fix chronic fuel shortages and stabilise the economy while protecting social welfare programmes.
The conflict erupted after Paz abruptly cut long-standing fuel subsidies to shrink the deficit, amid a worsening dollar crunch and talks with the International Monetary Fund. That decision, made by decree in December 2025, sent fuel prices sharply higher and hit ordinary Bolivians hard. His government addressed some fuel shortages, but with poor-quality gasoline that damaged thousands of vehicles. Reforms to encourage foreign investment and stimulate economic growth also stalled in Congress.
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Who is protesting and what do they want?
The protests began sporadically in January but flared sharply at the beginning of May. They were initially triggered by farmers protesting against a law allowing land mortgage. The unrest began with roadblocks and marches across the country, but grew to include miners, teachers, and Indigenous Bolivians.
The highland Indigenous and rural workers’ groups, who long supported MAS but helped bring Paz to power last year, have led the protests, accusing his government of neglecting their needs since entering office.
In addition to demanding the president’s resignation, unions have called for wage increases and an end to fuel and dollar shortages. The demands have shifted and broadened as the crisis deepened, with different groups joining for different reasons.
Former president Evo Morales has been a central figure in the background. Morales has backed the protest movement, called for early elections, and cast the unrest as resistance to Paz’s economic policies. In an interview with Reuters, he denied any role in instigating dissent, saying the “indigenous rebellion” was driven by economic hardship. Paz, for his part, has blamed Morales directly for stoking the chaos. Morales has been operating from a hideout in the coca-growing tropics, where he is evading an arrest warrant on charges related to statutory rape.
What the blockades have done to the country
The road blockades have not just caused inconvenience. They have caused genuine suffering. Barricades erected on key roads effectively isolated the administrative capital, La Paz, and brought the economy to a halt.
Over the course of the protests, businesses closed, supermarket shelves were emptied, and hospitals ran out of oxygen. The human cost has been severe. At least 17 people have died, with most of them linked to a lack of medical care caused by transportation disruptions. The government says at least seven of those deaths resulted directly from patients being unable to reach hospitals.
The demonstrations also led to violent confrontations between dynamite-wielding protesters and riot police, resulting in at least 365 arrests and 37 injuries, according to authorities.
La Paz resident David Pacheco summed up the mood of many city dwellers when he told Reuters he welcomed the emergency declaration. He said many people in La Paz had “suffered from hunger, from a lack of food, and from the high prices of necessities.”
What the state of emergency actually does
The decree prohibits blocking streets, avenues, roads, and highways in ways that affect transportation and supplies. It orders the armed forces to temporarily support the police in restoring order, reopening roads, and protecting the population.
Paz was clear in his address that this was not martial law. He said the state of emergency was not to restrict people’s lives, but to give people back their freedom. The decree does not limit due process rights or constitutional guarantees and allows people to continue their daily activities.
The state of emergency will last 90 days but could be lifted earlier if violence and threats against the population come to an end. There are also constitutional checks in place. While the order goes into effect immediately, the president must notify Congress within 24 hours, and Congress then has up to 72 hours to approve or reject the measure.
The legal path to this declaration came about in advance. Congress cleared a path for the emergency declaration in May when it repealed a law that had previously set limits on the executive branch’s use of emergency orders and was seen as favouring labour unions and social organisations.
Is everyone on board?
Not quite. Both government allies and opposition politicians have broadly supported the state of emergency, though some lawmakers have warned it could further ratchet up tensions. Analysts and legal experts have said emergency powers could deepen unrest if they lack public support and fail to address the underlying causes of the protests.
On Friday night, just before the announcement, Paz signed a deal with the main labour union, the Bolivian Workers’ Central. However, many roads connecting the country’s main production centres are under control of rural associations in alignment with Morales. They were not part of the negotiations and are continuing to protest, mainly around Cochabamba.
That is the core problem. A deal with one union does not stop protests led by groups that were never at the table.
The international dimension
Bolivia’s crisis has drawn attention far beyond its borders. The US State Department confirmed on June 4 that Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Paz and stated the United States’ commitment to supporting Bolivia’s democracy. The State Department also said the US was ramping up emergency assistance and logistics operations to help those facing food and medical shortages caused by the blockades.
US President Donald Trump said the unrest amounted to a coup and claimed the protests had funding from “narco-terrorists.” Argentine President Javier Milei expressed support for Paz and sent military aircraft carrying humanitarian aid to Bolivia.
Paz took office with the backing of the Trump administration as part of a broader US strategy to increase American influence in the hemisphere. That geopolitical context matters. Bolivia’s political fight is not just a domestic labour dispute. It sits inside a wider regional tug-of-war between left and right.