The president of Bolivia, Rodrigo Paz, has insisted this Friday that his priority remains dialogue to defuse the blockades and protests that have been ongoing throughout the country for more than a month. However, on this occasion, he has left open the possibility of resorting to a state of exception, while the processing of a specific bill on this figure continues in Parliament.
Asked about the next steps his government will take after more than thirty days of road blockades against his policies, which have already left more than a dozen dead due to the consequences of the blockades, Paz responded: "All I can say is that with the Minister of Defense and the Minister of Government, we will see the next step."
The head of state made these statements in the municipality of Carreras, south of La Paz, where police and armed forces personnel carried out an operation to clear the Río Abajo route, one of the key arteries for supplying the capital. According to the newspaper 'El Deber', the operation was carried out without clashes between security forces and protesters.
Paz reiterated that his administration is "prioritizing humanitarian action, the action of encounter, and the action of dialogue," although he recalled that the Constitution and the bill on the Regulation of States of Exception—which will be discussed this Saturday in committee and, later, in the plenary session of the Assembly—contemplate instruments to preserve public order and protect citizens. "The Senate has generated a legal framework for the Armed Forces. That legal framework must be debated in the Chamber of Deputies. The state of exception is an action permitted by the Constitution," he stressed.
In parallel, the Executive has faced changes in its ministerial team. This Wednesday, Ernesto Justiniano, until then deputy minister of Social Defense and Controlled Substances, was appointed as the new Minister of Defense, following the resignation days earlier of Marcelo Salinas.
To Salinas's departure are added the resignations of Beatriz García and Edgar Morales, heads of Education and Labor, respectively. These resignations occur in the midst of a political and social crisis stemming from the blockades and mobilizations demanding the resignation of President Rodrigo Paz.