Bolivian Senate Set to Debate State of Emergency Law Amid Blockades

Would a state of emergency protect the people from harmful blockades or crush sovereignty to serve foreign interests?

Published JUN 4

Bolivian Senate Set to Debate State of Emergency Law Amid Blockades

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Above: Rodrigo Paz in La Paz on June 3. Image credit: Aizar Raldes/AFP/Getty Images

The Spin

Pro-government narrative

Road blockades have gone on for over a month, strangling food, medicine and fuel supplies for ordinary Bolivians. Municipalities from Beni to La Paz are passing anti-blockade laws because protest cannot be allowed to override fundamental rights like health care, work and free movement. It's pressing that the national government steps up because the blockades are causing real, measurable harm to communities across the country.

Bolivian Thoughts

Government-critical narrative

A state of emergency declaration would only protect foreign interests in Bolivia's lithium and rare earth resources, not the Bolivian people, especially as Paz has made it clear that his government is following Washington's playbook to crush popular resistance and keep a minority government in power. The real fight here is between Bolivian sovereignty and outside forces looking to strip the country of its natural wealth.

Evo Morales on X