Bolivian Mayor Urges President Against State of Exception Amid Blockades

El Alto Mayor Eliser Roca publicly appealed to Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz on Wednesday not to impose a state of exception, which would involve a military deployment to quell the road blockades that have paralyzed the country for six weeks. Roca urged Paz to pursue dialogue instead, warning that a military crackdown could result in fatalities, echoing the violence seen in past conflicts in 2003 and 2019.

"I publicly ask you not to pursue our leaders further to arrest them. Do not repress my people from El Alto and do not issue the decree of exception. Dialogue is the best path," Roca stated during an event in La Paz where he and President Paz signed a development agreement for El Alto, the country's second-most populous city.

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I publicly ask you not to pursue our leaders further to arrest them. Do not repress my people from El Alto and do not issue the decree of exception. Dialogue is the best path.

Roca, who assumed office in early May, recalled that citizens of El Alto "gave their lives for the defense of natural resources and democracy" during the social conflicts of 2003 and 2019. He alluded to the "gas war" of 2003, which resulted in over 60 deaths, many in El Alto, and the post-electoral crisis of 2019, which also saw fatalities in the city. "What have we received in return? Nothing. We have only been ladders," Roca lamented, expressing his opposition to "spilling a single more drop of blood."

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What have we received in return? Nothing. We have only been ladders.

President Paz, while emphasizing the importance of dialogue, reaffirmed the validity of the recently enacted law regulating states of exception to confront "those who are violent or those who disrupt the tranquility of Bolivians." However, he has not yet issued a decree to implement this measure. Paz stated that blocking roads "kills El Alto because its business, its way of getting ahead, is producing and generating commerce." He suggested that some politicians aim to impose a vision favoring "far-left" and "far-right" interests to perpetuate conflict between El Alto and La Paz. Furthermore, Paz asserted that he would not allow "narco-terrorism" to prevail, claiming that drug trafficking linked to international organizations is behind the current protests.

Concurrently, sectors demanding Paz's resignation marched in La Paz. The ongoing conflicts have led to shortages of food, fuel, and medicine in some cities, with economic losses exceeding $2.3 billion.

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When the Constitution mandates and says 'live well,' blocking is a form of dying. The blockade kills El Alto because its business, its way of getting ahead, is producing and generating commerce.