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Original article: Central Obrera Boliviana le cierra la puerta a Rodrigo Paz: no dialogará bajo persecución ni con trabajadores detenidos

Bolivian Workers’ Federation Refuses Dialogue with Rodrigo Paz Amid Ongoing Repression and Arrests

The Bolivian Workers’ Central (COB) and its affiliated organizations have determined to reject dialogue with the government of Rodrigo Paz and made it clear that they will not participate in the dialogue table called by the right-wing leader while persecution continues and leaders and workers remain detained for their involvement in mass protests against his administration.

This decision, made by the main body of the Bolivian labor movement over the weekend, intensifies the conflict with the Executive and eliminates any possibility for rapprochement amid a social crisis that has already surpassed three weeks.

It is important to note that there is an arrest warrant against the COB’s executive secretary, Mario Argollo, accused of public incitement, terrorism, and other crimes for his role in the mobilizations. Therefore, the labor organization demands that this measure be revoked and that detained workers be released as part of the proposals.

From hiding, Argollo shared a video on social media last Friday in which he criticized the president’s response to public discontent.

“There has been no press conference with clear answers to the public, only provocation by criminalizing us and labeling the leaders as vandals,” he stated.

The demonstrations, driven by peasant unions, the COB, and supporters of former president Evo Morales, demand the resignation of President Paz, whose six-month tenure has triggered a social and economic crisis, leading to an unsustainable increase in basic service costs.

Public workers, miners, and popular organizations are presenting a list of over a hundred demands, including wage increases, opposition to privatizations, and widespread accusations of “state abandonment.” Additionally, justifying the need to revitalize the economy and reform the state, the Executive is pushing a package of 10 laws favoring transnational corporations, adversely affecting citizens’ living conditions.

The COB’s dismissal of Paz coincides with the latest report from the Bolivian Road Administrator, which on Sunday recorded 59 blockade points across six of the nine departments in the country. The highest concentration of blockades is in the Andean regions of La Paz and Oruro, where a second joint operation by police and military to clear the 227-kilometer main route between the two cities failed on Saturday.

Protesters, supported by tractors and barricades made of dirt, rocks, and logs, reinstated their barriers as soon as the official convoy passed, echoing the outcome of the first failed attempt that occurred on Saturday, May 16.

Farmers Call for Widespread Protests and Pressure Against Paz

Through Instructive C.O.B. – CEN N.º 042/2026, dated May 23, the National Executive Committee deemed the blockades as “legitimate, organic, and constitutional.” Additionally, the Central reaffirmed itself as the only legitimate body for representation and communication, rejecting any parallel negotiations that the Executive may have attempted.

Amid the tension, the COB itself urged its base to act with “responsibility, social consciousness, and humanitarian criteria,” considering a resolution from the Second Constitutional Chamber of La Paz that mandates immediate and unrestricted passage for ambulances, emergency vehicles, healthcare personnel, medical brigades, and the transport of medicines at all blockade points, to safeguard patients in emergencies, people with disabilities, pregnant women, children, adolescents, and the elderly.

The official map of blockades includes La Paz, Oruro, Potosí, Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, and Santa Cruz, while Beni, Pando, and Tarija remain unblocked. This Saturday, the Single Confederation of Peasant Workers of Bolivia (CSUTCB) called to “massify” the measures, arguing that the country is facing a “crucial situation” under a “neoliberal government” that jeopardizes natural resources and sovereignty.

With the door to dialogue closed and protests on the rise, Bolivia is headed towards weeks of escalating confrontation.

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