“We are going to surround Plaza Murillo to generate pressure and force the government, once and for all, to take responsibility and repeal this damned Decree 5503,” declared Mario Argollo, executive secretary of the COB.

Members of the Bolivian Workers’ Central (COB), the country’s largest labor organization, mobilized this Monday in a national strike against Decree 5503 imposed by President Rodrigo Paz, which eliminated fuel subsidies after more than 20 years.

In this regard, miners, coca growers, and some sectors affiliated with the COB gathered in La Ceja, El Alto, marched through the avenues of La Paz, and finally descended towards the seat of government.

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The mining leaders, represented in one sector by Alfredo Uño Villca, demanded the immediate annulment of the decree and the opening of genuine channels of dialogue with the central government. Regional delegations warn that protests will intensify in the coming days if they do not receive a satisfactory response to their demands for economic sovereignty. The protests have also spread to other departments of the country, such as Potosí and Cochabamba.

“We are going to surround Plaza Murillo to generate pressure and force the government, once and for all, to take responsibility and repeal this damned Decree 5503,” declared Mario Argollo, executive secretary of the COB (Bolivian Workers’ Center), near the country’s political epicenter, currently guarded by police and barricades.

Argollo confirmed the existence of a government call for dialogue, but stressed that the final decision will be made in an expanded meeting with federations and regional organizations, respecting the will of the rank and file.

“We demand the repeal of the neoliberal Decree 5503, which only benefits millionaires; it is a cursed decree. If we don’t do something now, dark days are coming for our families,” Argollo concluded.

Bolivia: 60 buses full of mineworkers are heading towards the capital for the start of the indefinite general strike against austerity measures.

Many of them are carrying dynamite, normally a work tool but often used in protests. pic.twitter.com/LiWX9dbbfe

— Ollie Vargas (@Ollie_Vargas_) December 22, 2025

Alfredo Llarerico, president of the La Paz Federation of Mining Cooperatives, stated that mining cooperatives are protesting in La Paz against the neoliberal policies in effect since Wednesday, which suspend fuel subsidies and facilitate the transfer of strategic resources to private national and foreign entities.

In Cochabamba, the independent transportation sector also joined the protests, paralyzing the main avenues in the northern part of the departmental capital with vigils and barricades.

Meanwhile, leaders of the La Paz Federation of Mining Cooperatives declared that the protests are against the neoliberal policies in effect since Wednesday, which suspend fuel subsidies and facilitate the transfer of strategic resources to private national and foreign entities.

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