The Government of Bolivia has reported this Friday that, between December and July, it has implemented 30 measures with the objective of shoring up the country's "stability" and "growth", after several months marked by blockades and strikes in different parts of the territory.
"We are in a moment of several changes, very important changes that I believe the Bolivian population has taken in an extraordinary way. We are strongly transforming the economy and these transformations that have been taking place have not generated disruptions," explained the Minister of Economy, José Gabriel Espinoza, in statements collected by the Bolivian state agency "ABI".
The head of Economy highlighted the performance of the Executive headed by President Rodrigo Paz during this period of social conflict, in which mobilizations and road blockades affected productive activity and caused supply problems of essential inputs in various regions.
According to Espinoza, among the decisions that have "reflected greater confidence in the economy" are the daily dissemination of the official exchange rate of the currency, the continuation of fuel subsidies, the increase in the minimum wage, and the elimination of tariffs for strategic products such as machinery and technology.
"There is a long list of things that have been done and all of them are part of the plan that had been built since before being in government and that has been applied since the beginning of the Government," added the minister, alluding to the economic roadmap designed by the current Executive.
Among the latest decisions adopted is the approval of the bill modifying the General State Budget, agreed last Saturday with the majority of the Assembly. The Government emphasizes that this consensus has made it possible to overcome two decades of political blockades and stresses that "institutions are strengthened when dialogue replaces imposition".
The country is trying to leave behind a period of strong social tension that began when various unions called an indefinite strike, accompanied by road blockades throughout the territory, driven by organizations close to former president Evo Morales who demanded the resignation of the current president, Rodrigo Paz.
In the hardest moments of the crisis, more than a hundred blockades were counted in seven of the nine departments of Bolivia. After several failed attempts to start conversations, the conflict began to be channeled when, after 50 days of blockades, the Bolivian Workers' Central (COB) and the Government reached an agreement.
Hours after that understanding, Paz declared a state of emergency to resort to the Armed Forces to dismantle the blockades that remained active, still led by peasant organizations and allies of Morales. Three days after the declaration of emergency, Morales himself announced "a recess" in the protests.