Santa Cruz Assembly to Debate Law Aimed at Preventing and Easing the Impact of Road Blockades

Santa Cruz’s departmental legislature will debate a proposed law designed to limit the disruption caused by road blockades, which have interrupted transport, strained supplies and produced losses for productive sectors in recent years.

The bill, promoted by Assembly President María René Álvarez, would establish a Departmental System for Prevention, Early Warning, Interagency Coordination, Humanitarian Corridors and Contingency Response. Its stated aim is to help authorities anticipate conflicts and coordinate a response when roads are blocked.

The proposal focuses on protecting the movement of people and goods, food security and other basic rights. It also addresses the impact of blockades on agricultural production, fuel and food distribution, transport and economic activity. Santa Cruz’s role in national production and supply gives the measure particular importance, according to the proposal.

Humanitarian corridors are a central element of the plan. They would allow people and essential goods to pass during emergencies through coordinated institutional mechanisms. The system would also create prevention and early-warning procedures, along with protocols for public agencies involved in responding to blockades.

The Constitutional and Government Commission prepared the project with the departmental executive. Technical working groups examined the prevention, coordination and contingency measures included in the proposed law. The full assembly’s debate will also address how to reconcile the constitutional right to protest with other citizens’ rights affected by prolonged road blockades.