La Paz city is once again the stage for a battle over Bolivia’s economic soul. As President Rodrigo Paz pushes forward with an aggressive economic overhaul, the streets have filled with resistance. Workers, miners, and teachers are sending a clear and defiant message: “Bolivia is not for sale.”
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Bolivian President Paz Convenes Mayors to Discuss Emergency Decree 5503 Amid National Strike
At the center of this storm is Supreme Decree 5503, a sweeping 121-article measure that critics say represents the final burial of Bolivia’s nationalization project and the return of a painful neoliberal “shock doctrine.”
Neoliberal shock therapy has begun in Bolivia. Fuel subsidies have just been cut by the new pro-US govt, massive inflation begins:
Gas prices ⬆️ 83%
Diesel ⬆️ 163%
Bus fares ⬆️ 100%
Food ⬆️ 100+%Unions have given the govt 24hrs to reverse the decision or mass protests begin. pic.twitter.com/6kcZPSAe64
— Ollie Vargas (@Ollie_Vargas_) December 19, 2025
Anatomy of a “Shock”: What Is Decree 5503?
Supreme Decree 5503 was introduced by the Paz administration as a response to what it calls a structural and terminal economic crisis.
With a declared $30 billion fiscal deficit and dangerously low international reserves, the government has framed this decree as an emergency fix to avoid total collapse.
But behind the technical language lies a radical economic experiment. The decree aims to move Bolivia away from a state-led rentier model toward what the government calls “capitalism for all.”
In practice, that means opening the economy to market forces and foreign capital, at a staggering social cost.
Among its most controversial measures:
- The “Sharp Increase in Fuel Prices” (Gasolinazo): Fuel subsidies have been eliminated overnight, triggering price hikes of 84% for gasoline and 162% for diesel.
- Dismantling State Oversight: Import and export controls have been scrapped, effectively removing the state’s regulatory role in trade.
- Extra Powers for the Central Bank: The Central Bank of Bolivia (BCB) has been granted authority to engage in international currency operations and financial swaps to manage the country’s dollar shortage.
The government has promised a 20% minimum wage hike and a new PEPE cash transfer program to cushion the blow. But for most Bolivian families, these gestures cannot keep up with the skyrocketing costs of living.
Bolivia’s workers unions announce an indefinite general strike against the neoliberal austerity measures announced this week.
No dialogue or negotiation, all the measures must be repealed first. No honeymoon period for the right-wing govt. https://t.co/t3Ku9ycQN4 pic.twitter.com/A74D708N4N
— Ollie Vargas (@Ollie_Vargas_) December 19, 2025
Structural Changes: The “Fast-Track” to Neocolonialism
Beyond fuel prices, Decree 5503 introduces a new legal and institutional framework that critics say places Bolivia’s natural wealth at the mercy of transnational corporations.
Through the creation of an Extraordinary Investment Promotion and Protection Regime, the administration has effectively rewritten the rules of state sovereignty.
Key aspects include:
- “Positive Administrative Silence”: Investment projects now receive automatic approval if the state fails to respond within 30 days, turning bureaucratic silence into corporate green lights.
- 15-Year Legal Stability: New investors in energy, mining, and agribusiness get 15 years of guaranteed rules, shielding them from future tax or regulatory changes.
- Bypassing Parliament: Strategic projects can now be approved directly by presidential decree, without any legislative debate or oversight.
- International Arbitration: Disputes with foreign firms will now go to international tribunals, stripping Bolivia of jurisdiction over its own resources.
To make this new model work, the decree also creates a Single Window for Strategic Investments (VUIE), a fast-track mechanism to bypass what neoliberal economists call the “obstacle state.” For many Bolivians, this is not efficiency; it is the legal infrastructure of neocolonial exploitation.
US companies want to build huge data centers in Bolivian areas with large Indigenous populations. They also no doubt want access to Bolivia’s massive lithium reserves. The rightwing Paz government will not hesitate to be vendepatrias.
Only Indigenous & unions can stop this. pic.twitter.com/v9LzoLRZ34— UAINE (@mahtowin1) December 30, 2025
Beyond Gasoline: The Plunder of Strategic Natural Resources
Though the “gasolinazo” has stolen public attention, Decree 5503 goes much deeper than fuel prices. It lays out the groundwork for a wholesale privatization of strategic natural resources, from lithium and mining to agriculture and pipelines.
- Lithium and the Salt Flats: The decree’s vague language about “circuits for resource development” is widely understood as an opening for foreign control over lithium extraction in the world-famous Salar de Uyuni. Critics warn this could accelerate the privatization of one of Bolivia’s most valuable assets.
- Mining and Metals: Projects in gold, tin, silver, and zinc now qualify for the new 30-day “Fast-Track” approval. Environmental and community safeguards risk being pushed aside for the sake of investor timelines.
- Hydrocarbons and LPG: While fuel prices skyrocket, the decree quietly authorizes private companies to use state-owned pipelines and storage for their own imports, an unprecedented move toward privatization of infrastructure.
- Agro-industrial Wealth. The end of domestic “fair price” requirements for basic food exports like soy, sugar, and meat will allow agribusiness elites to chase global profits while undermining Bolivia’s food security.
The pattern is clear: under the pretext of attracting investment, sovereignty over Bolivia’s strategic industries is being handed back to those who see the nation’s natural wealth as mere commodities for extraction.
BREAKING: The new President of Bolivia is now working to terminate lithium mining contracts with China & Russia, in favor of a deal with the United States.
President Rodrigo Paz’s Foreign Minister said, "We are looking for a long-term relationship with U.S., relations based on… pic.twitter.com/5yOI36eFLD
— George (@BehizyTweets) December 13, 2025
The Workers’ Offensive: “Bolivia Is Not For Sale”
The social and political backlash has been immediate. The Bolivian Workers’ Center (COB), the country’s most powerful labor federation, has mobilized in massive protests, joined by miners, factory workers, and educators.
For nine consecutive days, La Paz has been the epicenter of marches, hunger strikes, and street confrontations. Protesters accuse the Paz administration of governing for the rich while imposing IMF-style austerity on the poor.
The “Bolivia Is Not For Sale” March, stretching from Calamarca to the capital, has become a symbol of national resistance. Union leaders like Mario Segundo Quispe describe the struggle as one of dignity and survival: “This is a government of millionaires, not of the humble.”
COB leader Claudio Choque has dismissed government accusations of political manipulation, insisting the mobilizations are legitimate social and labor demands aimed at defending Bolivia’s resources.
For many, the memory of Bolivia’s neoliberal “shock therapy” in the 1980s, when thousands lost their jobs amid privatization, feels painfully alive again. And this time, workers say, they will not allow history to repeat itself.
#Bolivia | The Workers’ Central Union (COB) declared a national strike and widespread mobilization to reject the Supreme Decree 5503, known as the “gasolinazo,” which eliminates fuel subsidies and facilitates the transfer of resources to private entities.https://t.co/n0Uvmghwj0
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) December 22, 2025
Financial Sovereignty and the Central Bank’s New Role
Decree 5503 not only reshapes the economy it also redefines the country’s financial sovereignty. The Central Bank of Bolivia (BCB), once a bastion of public accountability, now gains extraordinary powers under the guise of technical necessity.
These powers include:
- International Financial Operations. The BCB can now perform currency swaps and gold-backed transactions to stabilize the economy amid a severe dollar shortage.
- Capital Repatriation Program. Wealth held abroad can return tax-free under the new “Regularization and Repatriation of Capital” program, as long as it stays in the country for two years or is “invested productively.”
- Tax Amnesty for the Elite. Progressive economists argue this measure effectively launders elite capital, allowing powerful families to repatriate offshore wealth without penalty, a stark contrast to the heavy burden falling on workers and the poor.
Although the government sells these policies as emergency “technical corrections,” critics see a surrender to financial orthodoxy that abandons the principles of economic sovereignty forged during the nationalization era.
Most lithium reserves:
🇦🇷 Argentina: 23 million tons
🇧🇴 Bolivia: 23 million tons
🇨🇱 Chile: 11 million tons
🇦🇺 Australia: 8.9 million tons
🇨🇳 China: 6.8 million tons
🇨🇦 Canada: 5.7 million tons
🇩🇪 Germany: 4 million tons
🇨🇩 Congo (Kinshasa): 3 million tons
🇲🇽 Mexico: 1.7 million…— World of Statistics (@stats_feed) November 13, 2025
The Social Cost and the Road to Abrogation
With Decree 5503, President Paz has charted a sharp turn toward what his team calls “capitalism for all”, but what grassroots movements describe as neoliberalism reborn.
By declaring a sweeping National Economic, Financial, Energy, and Social Emergency, the administration has effectively created a fast lane for privatization, deregulation, and external control.
The decree’s supposed social protections, a 20% wage increase, and the PEPE program for vulnerable families, barely scratch the surface of an inflationary shock that threatens to erode living standards overnight.
At the institutional level, ministries have been ordered to restructure budgets within ten days to accommodate the new economic model.
Combined with the 15-year guarantees for foreign investors, the policy risks cementing a long-term dependency on external capital and corporate governance.
In the streets, however, resistance is still alive and growing. The banners of “Bolivia Is Not For Sale” and the chants of miners and teachers echo a century-long struggle for sovereignty and dignity.
To them, this fight is not just about wages or fuel prices; it is about defending the right of the Bolivian people to decide the fate of their own resources.
#FromTheSouth News Bits | Bolivia: Sectors affiliated with the Workers’ Union continued protesting against a decree that eliminates subsidies for hydrocarbons and threatens the natural resources. pic.twitter.com/s820l3z8Un
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) December 29, 2025
Sources: teleSUR – The Left Chapter – El País – 5503 Decree – La Izquierda Diario
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