After several weeks of protests,<\/span> Bolivia\u2019s right-wing President Rodrigo Paz told<\/span><\/a> the press that the serious social crisis the country has been facing for nearly a month \u201cis reaching a breaking point.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe country needs order, and this is reaching a breaking point … Time is running out. We call for dialogue,\u201d<\/span> said Paz<\/span><\/a>, under mounting pressure from social movements that seem to be giving the government no respite.<\/span><\/p>\n Protests erupted after the government attempted to pass a law that would repeal the exemption of land from seizure \u2013 a right won by farmers to prevent the loss of their primary source of livelihood due to debt or any other circumstances.<\/span><\/p>\n Paz defended the decision, saying it would allow the poorest Bolivians to access credit, although the opposition saw the law as a mechanism to hand over land to large national and international capital interests.<\/span><\/p>\n Bolivia is a country rich in natural resources, such as natural gas, zinc, silver, lead, tin, gold, oil, as well as lithium, for which the country holds the world\u2019s largest reserves \u2013 a fact that has attracted the attention of major technology companies. Together with Argentina and Chile, Bolivia forms the so-called \u201clithium triangle,\u201d a strategic zone for large technology firms.<\/span><\/p>\n Following the harsh crackdown, farmers, teachers, students, Indigenous people, and other groups of citizens joined the protests, demanding improvements in their conditions. In the face of the Paz government\u2019s harsh response, the demands for greater rights quickly turned into a unanimous call: \u201cPaz must resign!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The government has been reluctant to step aside. On the contrary, it has sought international support, particularly from the US, its main ally, as well as from other right-wing governments in the region.<\/span><\/p>\n However, faced with the strength of the protests, which show no signs of diminishing in intensity or mobilization capacity, Paz has also decided to consolidate more power to confront an opposition that has blocked several key roads and clashed violently with law enforcement.<\/span><\/p>\n In fact, on May 26,<\/span> Congress repealed<\/span><\/a> a law that placed limits on the president\u2019s ability to declare states of emergency. Following the same approach as Bukele in El Salvador and Noboa in Ecuador, Paz appears to have found in states of emergency a new way to more easily call upon the military to address his problems.<\/span><\/p>\n According to politicians close to Paz, the measure aims to streamline social control mechanisms and prevent impunity for violent groups.<\/span> This was expressed by Carlos Alarc\u00f3n<\/span><\/a>, who argues that the new rule prevents \u201cviolent groups that claim to represent the people\u201d from evading the law.<\/span><\/p>\n However, other opposition lawmakers believe the decision will only further fuel the protests.<\/span> According to center-right representative Edwin Valda<\/span><\/a>, of the Christian Democratic Party, the measure will lead to \u201cgreater violence,\u201d while leaving the social groups that are protesting \u201cunprotected\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n For its part, the United Nations expressed concern over the situation in Bolivia. In a statement, its Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said that rising tensions could lead to an even more severe crisis.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAll actions by security forces must strictly comply with international human rights law. Any use of force by law enforcement officials must be consistent with the principles of legality, necessity, proportionality, precaution, and non-discrimination. Any allegation or reasonable suspicion of unlawful use of force or other human rights violations by these officials must be investigated effectively, impartially, and in a timely manner,\u201d<\/span> the UN Human Rights Office reported.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Regarding the greater authority that Paz now has to declare states of emergency,<\/span> the UN Human Rights Office<\/span><\/a> reminded the government that its obligations to international human rights laws \u201cremain in force\u201d. The Office also called on \u201cthe authorities and the mobilized sectors to prioritize dialogue and adopt de-escalation measures. It is urgent to prevent further violence and seek peaceful and democratic solutions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The post Bolivian president consolidates power as protests continue to grow<\/a> appeared first on Peoples Dispatch<\/a>.<\/p>\r\nMore power to Paz<\/b><\/h3>\n
The UN expresses concern and calls for respect for human rights<\/b><\/h3>\n
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Amid ongoing protests, Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz acknowledged a severe social crisis, stating it is “reaching a breaking point.” Protests erupted after his government’s attempt to repeal land seizure exemptions for farmers, sparking fears of land transfer to large corporations. As discontent surged, various groups demanded Paz’s resignation. Although he sought international support and consolidated power by repealing limits on declaring states of emergency, analysts warn this could escalate violence. The UN expressed concern over rising tensions, emphasizing the need for law enforcement to adhere to human rights standards and urging dialogue to prevent further conflict.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[ad_1] After several weeks of protests, Bolivia\u2019s right-wing President Rodrigo Paz told the press that the serious social crisis the country has been facing for nearly a month \u201cis reaching a breaking point.\u201d \u201cThe country needs order, and this is reaching a breaking point … Time is running out. We call for dialogue,\u201d said Paz, under mounting pressure from social…","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":73,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2806\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}