Banks Lock Doors as Protests Rage in Bolivia

La Paz’s banks hit pause Tuesday, shutting doors as street battles raged across the city. Unions, miners, and transport workers marched again, demanding the president ditch his cost-cutting plans and lower rising prices. Some protesters shouted for his removal, a sharp turn from the long stretch of left-wing rule that just ended in November. Diplomats from the U. S. and Europe urged calm, but their words landed softly. The U. S. official went so far as to claim election losers were flipping the script, trying to yank power through the streets instead of ballots. Meanwhile, five European embassies called for talks, not tear gas. On the ground, bank workers admitted they couldn’t open safely; customers got rerouted to apps and ATMs while branches stayed dark.Food and medicine queues grew longer as barricades choked highways. Trucks sat stranded, supplies rotted, and clinics ran short on basics. One doctor splinted a protester’s arm with cardboard because the real medical kit never arrived. The energy company admitted it couldn’t pump fuel through the locked roads, leaving neighborhoods scrambling for diesel and cooking gas. President Paz inherited a wobbly economy and tried quick fixes: a 20% wage bump, bigger welfare checks, and open ears. Yet the anger keeps boiling. Critics say former leaders are stoking the fire, while economists warn the country is trapped between a broken state-led model and no clear escape route. Global fuel shocks from the Iran war only pile on the pain for this landlocked nation that imports most of its energy.