Bolivia's Congress clears military deployment against road blockades amid month-long unrest
Bolivia's Chamber of Deputies, after a roughly 14-hour overnight session, passed an emergency-powers law (already approved by the Senate) granting President Rodrigo Paz the legal basis to declare a state of exception and deploy the armed forces to clear road blockades that have paralyzed the country for over a month. A controversial article grants a 'presumption of legality' to security forces' actions during the emergency, which opponents — including Senate president Andrónico Rodríguez — denounce as a 'blank check' for repression, while the government frames it as protection for police and soldiers. Blockades by farmers, miners, and unionists demanding Paz's resignation have entered their 38th day, causing severe shortages of food, fuel, and medicine in La Paz and El Alto and leaving roughly 10 dead; clashes in San Julián (Santa Cruz) left dozens injured and a police station looted and burned. US War Secretary Pete Hegseth publicly backed Paz against 'narco-terrorist' destabilization, and Paz thanked Washington, framing the standoff as a defense of democracy. Evo Morales-aligned coca federations vowed to intensify blockades in response.
Why it matters
Bolivia is in its sharpest political crisis since the end of nearly two decades of MAS rule, with the US-backed, pro-business centrist Paz confronting the entrenched mobilization power of unions and coca growers loyal to Evo Morales. Authorizing the military to clear protests — with legal immunity baked in — revives memories of past deadly state crackdowns and risks escalation in a country with a long history of street-level confrontations toppling governments. Open US military endorsement via the new anti-cartel coalition also marks a notable deepening of Washington's footprint in a country that under Morales was firmly anti-American.
🔎 Ground signal
Local coverage emphasizes the humanitarian toll over the politics — millions in business losses in Cochabamba, deaths from blocked medical access, and the Catholic cardinal urging honest dialogue — suggesting public exhaustion that could cut against both the blockaders and a heavy-handed crackdown. The pro-government framing of blockaders as 'financed by illegal/narco interests' is being used to justify force, a narrative locals are contesting.