Bolivia: month-long blockades turn violent in San Julián; police shot as US-led bloc backs Paz
One month into nationwide road blockades demanding President Rodrigo Paz's resignation, a pre-dawn joint police-military operation to clear a key highway in San Julián (Santa Cruz) collapsed into a four-hour clash, leaving six riot police injured — four by gunfire, including one in critical care after a bullet pierced his helmet. The blockades, led by the Tupac Katari campesino federation, the COB labor confederation and groups loyal to ex-president Evo Morales, have spread to eight of nine regions, causing food, fuel and medicine shortages and an estimated $2.1 billion in losses, with at least ten deaths reported. Separately, 13 American nations under the US-led 'Escudo de las Américas' issued a joint statement backing Paz as 'legitimately elected,' condemning the blockades and alleging they are financed by narco-trafficking money. Pressure is mounting on Paz to declare a state of emergency as movilized sectors refuse dialogue.
Why it matters
Paz took office in November 2025 promising to resolve Bolivia's worst economic crisis in decades and ending nearly two decades of MAS-aligned rule; the blockades represent an organized attempt by Morales-linked and union forces to force his early exit, testing the durability of Bolivia's fragile post-MAS transition. The unusual US-led multilateral statement signals Washington's renewed willingness to invoke democratic-charter framing in Latin America and to publicly link the unrest to narco-financing, deepening the polarization between Paz's government and the entrenched MAS social movements.
🔎 Ground signal
Government framing of the blockades as 'artificial' and narco-funded — echoed by allied governments — is contested by protesters who cite a package of energy, hydrocarbons and lithium laws they say amounts to privatization; opposition figure 'Tuto' Quiroga is amplifying the 'freedom of millions vs. the whim of a few' line, signaling the conflict is hardening into a broader political showdown.