Bolivian Congress gives Paz power to use troops against crippling protests

INTERNATIONAL – SOUTH AMERICA

8 JUNE 2026

• Bolivia’s legislature gave the green light for President Rodrigo Paz to use the military to clear roadblocks that have crippled key cities for weeks.
• A month of heated demonstrations calling for the centre-right Paz to step down have paralysed the Andean nation, with blockades causing severe food and medicine shortages.
• Endless lines at the pump have also led many to sleep in the vehicles to not lose their place.
• The U.S.-backed, pro-business Rodrigo Paz took office in November 2026 promising to resolve the country’s worst economic crisis in decades, but his unpopular economic reforms and failure to respond to social demands have roused public ire.
• A Bill relaxing the country’s strict rules surrounding states of emergency was passed in the lower chamber following 15 hours of overnight debate, the body’s President, Roberto Castro, announced.
• Having already passed the Senate, it heads to Mr. Paz’s desk for signature.
• The new law comes a day after dozens of riot police backed by military vehicles fired tear gas as they attempted to clear a road in the town of San Julian.
• The town is in the Santa Cruz region — an agricultural breadbasket supplying food to the country’s western areas.
• Protesters threw stones and burned tires to try to halt the police’s advance.
• Mr. Paz day wrote on X that that the capital La Paz and second city El Alto are “still facing difficult times, but concrete progress is also beginning to be made”.
• The new rules would allow troops to use force against protesters, and grants them a “presumption of legality” in situations of conflict.