Protests over fuel shortages in Bolivia complicate matters for President Arce

A national urban transport strike and roadblocks by truck drivers to combat fuel shortages have complicated matters for Bolivian President Luis Arce, whose government announced that on Thursday it will begin unloading fuel from ships coming from Russia to supply the nation.

Buses and trucks were used to block the country’s main routes connecting east and west, in some cases with greater force, such as Oruro, in the highlands bordering Chile, where products are exported and imported.

According to government reports, there are more than 59 blockades, while the drivers’ leadership has assured that there are more than 100 and they have paralyzed Bolivia.

Unable to travel, many schools suspended classes.

The protests come amid growing criticism of Arce and his administration, as the president seeks to halt the deterioration of the economy — also affected by the shortage of dollars — and remains embroiled in a power struggle with his former mentor and rival, former President Evo Morales (2006-2019) for the presidential candidacy of the ruling Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) for 2025.

“Tell the truth, Mr. President, what is happening with fuel? This has been going on for a long time and until now they are not telling us the truth and are not giving us real solutions,” he told The Associated Press urban transport leader Victor Tarqui.

Juan Gutiérrez, another transport leader, questioned the government’s commitment to political struggle. “What do we care about their fights? They should be dealing with the economic problem. This is not political,” he added at a blockade point in the city of La Paz, the seat of government. The blockade turned violent in the neighbouring city of El Alto, where several drivers beat their colleagues with belts who did not comply with the strike.

Since 2022, the Andean nation has gone from being a natural gas exporter to a fuel importer due to the stagnation of its hydrocarbon industry, which was nationalized in 2006.

Last year, the country imported gasoline and diesel worth 2.974 billion dollars, while natural gas exports reached 2.058 billion dollars, according to official figures.

The protest also affects the commercial and productive sector of the Santa Cruz region, considered the economic engine of Bolivia, which uses diesel for its machinery. Bolivia imports 80% of the diesel it consumes and 50% of its gasoline, and subsidizes it by almost 50%.

Arce announced that the Russian fuel that has arrived at the ports of the Chilean city of Arica will be unloaded on Thursday morning. The president explained that four ships with fuel arrived at that port but could not be unloaded due to the strong waves, so he asked his Chilean colleague, Gabriel Boric, to help him speed up the process.

The president admitted the supply problems and announced that he is seeking a solution by increasing fuel purchases from neighbouring countries such as Argentina, Paraguay and Peru.

Meanwhile, Morales from his X account, formerly Twitter, recently mentioned that the “country is experiencing a economic crisisinstitutional and democratic, where society is on the brink of collapse because it cannot find a way out of all these problems.”

Even Arce’s allies, such as the Central Obrera de Bolivia, the country’s largest labor union, have asked him to replace ministers and the president of the state oil company due to the fuel shortage.

There have also been voices in favour of bringing forward the elections next year from the same transporters and from the Civic Committee of Santa Cruz, an institution critical of the government.

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