Bulletin N°64 2026 On July 4, police arrested Vicente Salazar, leader of the Tupac Katari Peasant Federation, following a complaint filed by the Paz government against the organizers of the roadblocks. The complaint against Vicente Salazar concerns " alleged offenses of public incitement to commit a crime, criminal conspiracy, " and . "
For more than 7 weeks in May and June, trade unions, mainly the COB (Centrale Ouvrière Bolivienne) as well as indigenous trade unions such as the Tupac Katari Peasant Federation , the National Confederation of Indigenous Peasant Women from Bolivia "Bartolina Sisa" , the self-convened organization , multiplied road blockades, strikes to demand the resignation of President Rodrigo Paz, wage increases, the rejection of privatizations, the defense of public services and popular control of natural resources [1] .
Paz did not hesitate to militarize the repression and to integrate paramilitary groups such as the Union Juvenil cruceñistcia (inspired by the Francoist phalanxes) and the Resistancia juvenil Cochala which operated alongside the police and fired live ammunition.
These demonstrations led to violent clashes between protesters and riot police, resulting in more than 700 arrests, 37 injuries and at least 17 protesters killed.
The COB is divided between the opinion of the secretary general, Mario Argollo, calling for Paz's resignation and several departmental branches of the COB in favour of engaging in negotiations with the government.
The negotiations, which began on June 18, concluded with the signing of an agreement: the government pledged not to privatize public companies, to consult with social organizations in the drafting of structural laws, and to control the price index in the face of economic recession and soaring prices. The COB (Central Bank of Belgium) presented an eight-point plan, and the agreement, Mario Argollo explained, gave the government 90 days to make progress on several union demands.
The various organizations involved refused to negotiate with the Paz government. The indigenous federations reiterated their own demands: to fight against the privatization of electricity, water, telecommunications, natural resources, health, and education.
The uprising goes far beyond Paz's resignation; it is an uprising against the colonial state, for the return to the people of lands seized by agribusiness.
It is also a refusal to submit to the United States. Paz is a vassal of the US, whereas Bolivia had previously been hostile to US imperialism. Since his election, Paz has gone to submit to the far-right government in Washington and has fostered closer ties with Israel. Paz is part of Trump's plan to interfere in South America, aiming to make South America his backyard. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth denounced the protests as "attempts to overthrow the legitimate government" and issued an unequivocal warning to those who, in his view, "profit from death and destruction in our hemisphere."
After signing the memorandum of understanding with the COB (Brigade Anti-Corruption), Paz promulgated Supreme Decree 1740, establishing a state of emergency that allowed the deployment of the army against demonstrations and blockades, and guaranteed legal protection for the military, granting them a "presumption of legality" in the event of gunfire. All organizations that did not sign the agreement would be "subject to the full force of the law." The state of emergency criminalized activists fighting against Paz's government, and they were threatened with the same legal consequences as Vicente Salazar. Even Mario Argollo, who had called for the immediate release of Vicente Salazar, was threatened.
The Revolutionary Communist Party's solidarity with the workers, the trade unions, and the people struggling against the policies of capital is unwavering. We demand the immediate release of Vicente Salazar and all those detained for their struggle against the capitalist system, a struggle that puts the fight against imperialism back at the forefront.
[1] Weekly No. 979 26/05/2026. In Bolivia, the proletariat is organizing! And it's class against class!