On Saturday, July 17, one month after the government in Bolivia declared a state of emergency, right-wing president Rodrigo Paz arrested movement leaders David Mamani, of the Tupac Katari Federation, who was in hiding, and David Quispe Machaca, of the Unified Confederation of Peasant Workers (CSUTCB). The government has accused both leaders of “terrorism.” This is the same argument the government uses to criminalize and persecute those who mobilized during the more than 50 days of blockades.

La Izquierda Diario (Left Voice’s sister site in Bolivia) demands freedom for David Quispe, David Mamani, Vicente Salazar, and all those detained during the May and June mobilizations!

Strikingly, following these arrests, the Bolivian Workers’ Central (COB) quickly published its call for dialogue with the government of Rodrigo Paz. Not only that, but the commission for reviewing and monitoring judicial processes is no longer even included in these discussions. It’s important to remember that the Paz government was able to impose the state of emergency thanks to the betrayal of COB leader, Mario Argollo and the National Executive Committee (CEN) of the COB, through their signing of an agreement on June 19.

These new arrests come amid the escalating persecution that the Paz government is carrying our, thanks to the impunity afforded by the state of emergency. To date, the La Paz Departmental Prosecutor’s Office itself has reported that 114 criminal cases have been opened, 75 of which were initiated ex officio. Similarly, a report by Radio Soberanía Cochabamba cited a statement by the departmental prosecutor, Luis Carlos Torrez, indicating that 335 people are under investigation and 26 are in pretrial detention. What these figures fail to mention is that all these arrests and proceedings are not only arbitrary, but are also conducted without respect for due process or even the most basic constitutional guarantees. Furthermore, we have seen how the justice system not only persecutes leaders, but also their families, as was the case with David Mamani’s wife, who was arrested in a violent raid on her home, supposedly for “investigative purposes.”

Let us recall the arrest of Vicente Salazar, also one of the main leaders of the main peasant organization of the Department of La Paz, the Tupac Katari, and who is currently in the maximum security prison of Chonchocoro, with a threat of up to 20 years in prison.

All these arrests are intended to intimidate social, labor, and peasant organizations, as well as those who mobilized spontaneously. This sets a dangerous precedent for all those who mobilized against Paz’s austerity and plunder plan, dictated by the United States and the International Monetary Fund.

In the face of this situation, the broadest solidarity is necessary, along with condemning the arrests of Quispe, Mamani, and Salazar and demanding their immediate release. While Paz continues with the repression, it is urgent to launch a broad national and international campaign to overturn the state of emergency, to dismiss the charges against all those detained and prosecuted for their activism, and to secure their release.

This article was first published in Spanish in La Izquierda Diario on July 20, 2026.

The post Repression Intensifies in Bolivia with Arrest of Prominent Peasant Leaders appeared first on Left Voice.

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