By El Diario:

Agreement Lifts Yungas Road Blockade

COB Strike Rejected as Bolivia Demands Stability

• Truckers, small merchants, civic platforms, and the Pro Santa Cruz Committee distanced themselves from the measure, arguing that it serves political interests rather than workers’ real needs. The COB has called on its affiliates to gather this Monday in the city of La Paz.

The call by the Bolivian Workers’ Center (COB) for an indefinite nationwide general strike with mobilizations was rejected by strategic sectors across the country. Truckers, informal merchants, civic platforms, and the Pro Santa Cruz Committee all publicly refused to join the action, arguing that it responds to political calculations rather than to the genuine needs of workers now struggling under Bolivia’s worsening economic crisis. 

Despite the announcement made during the COB’s mass assembly in El Alto, activities on Saturday unfolded normally on the country’s principal highways, bus terminals, and departmental capitals, with no widespread reports of road blockades or interruptions.

Leaders of heavy cargo transport and independent transport unions questioned the timing of the measure in the middle of an economic emergency. From the small merchants’ sector, warnings were issued that the strike does not defend workers but instead seeks to apply political pressure while millions of Bolivians continue sustaining the national economy through informality.

The Pro Santa Cruz Committee also underscored the need to prioritize production, stability, and work. Meanwhile, a variety of sectors agreed that Bolivia needs concrete solutions to the crisis—not pressure tactics lacking representativeness and national backing.

COB CALLS FOR MOBILIZATION

The Bolivian Workers’ Center officially called for a nationwide mobilized strike and ordered its affiliated organizations to gather today in the city of La Paz, in compliance with resolutions adopted during its recent assembly.

According to the directive issued by the National Executive Committee, the concentration is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. in front of the headquarters of the Federation of Bolivian Mine Workers on Avenida 16 de Julio. 

NO MORE YUNGAS BLOCKADE

Government authorities and transport leaders from the Yungas reached an agreement Sunday night that is supposed to bring an end to the blockades on the highway connecting La Paz with the northern part of the department, once fuel tankers and heavy machinery begin entering the area this Monday to address the sector’s demands. 

President Rodrigo Paz said the understanding should make it possible to address both immediate and structural problems in a region burdened by longstanding infrastructure deficiencies.

For his part, Public Works Minister Mauricio Zamora confirmed that the accord has already been signed and that implementation will begin immediately with the deployment of equipment to the conflict zone.

[Bolivian Thoughts’ note: Although authorities announced the lifting of the Yungas blockade, some local reports early Monday indicated that not all protest points had been fully cleared yet, suggesting the reopening may occur gradually during the day.]