LA PAZ — Bolivian security forces deployed as many as 3,500 soldiers and police in an operation that began in the early hours of Saturday to clear road blockades outside La Paz, with military and law enforcement clashing with demonstrators on roadways leading into the capital. Around 57 people were arrested during the operation, according to the citizens' rights ombudsman's office.

"Saturday's crackdown on the protesters was designed to create a 'humanitarian corridor' to ensure the free flow of supplies to hospitals in La Paz." presidential spokesperson Jose Luis Galvez said. The government estimated that 22 roadblocks had been erected across the country in recent weeks, and Paz's office attributed the cutoff of key supplies to cities like La Paz to the demonstrations.

Food prices have increased since the blockades began, and the government said three people died after being unable to reach hospitals. Miners, schoolteachers, Indigenous groups and unions helped to organize the protests against the government of center-right President Rodrigo Paz, with some demonstrators demanding his resignation.

Earlier this month, the protests forced the repeal of Law 1720, a land reform measure that critics claimed could be used to dispossess small rural landowners in favor of larger holdings. Paz was elected in October on a platform of alleviating economic stress, and his victory ended nearly two decades of rule by the Movement for Socialism (MAS). Since taking office, he has ended a two-decade-old fuel subsidy and pushed to privatize state-owned companies.

Bolivia is experiencing an economic crisis described as the worst the country has seen in decades. The government's foreign currency reserves have declined sharply as exports, key among them natural gas, have slowed. Since 2022, Bolivia has had to import fuel from abroad. Many parts of the country have experienced long lines for fuel and shortages of basic supplies like food.

Earlier in the week, Paz thanked his Argentinian counterpart, Javier Milei, for delivering humanitarian assistance. "This gesture of solidarity not only strengthens the historic bonds of brotherhood between our nations, but also represents vital relief for our communities in times of great need," Paz wrote on social media on Friday. Milei, who denounced the protesters as anti-democratic, responded: "Argentina stands with the Bolivian people and supports their democratically elected authorities against those who seek to destabilise the country and obstruct the path toward freedom and progress."