Bolivia: Bolivian president signs state of emergency law after weeks of nationwide blockades.

SHOTLIST: LA PAZ, BOLIVIA (JUNE 8, 2026) 1. VARIOUS OF BOLIVIAN PRESIDENT RODRIGO PAZ SPEAKING AT PRESS CONFERENCE (Spanish) 2. PAZ SIGNING STATE OF EMERGENCY LAWLA PAZ, BOLIVIA - JUNE 8, 2026: Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz signed a state of emergency law during a ceremony held in the capital La Paz, on Monday, Jun. 8. The signing ceremony was attended by government officials and representatives of state institutions. After five weeks of grinding nationwide blockades, Bolivia faces a cascading public health collapse, violent urban skirmishes, and a mounting death toll that has forced the six-month-old administration of President Paz to flee the capital city. With more than 80 active transit chokepoints paralyzing the country, the Bolivian president abandoned the administrative capital of La Paz on May 25, relocating his government to the constitutional capital of Sucre after anti-government protesters surrounded the presidential palace. At the same time, cities are collapsing under the weight of acute food, fuel and medical supply deficits. The siege has left over 5,000 cargo trucks stranded, bleeding the economy of an estimated $50 million per day and forcing the state to launch emergency airlifts of subsidized food to circumvent the highway blockades. “We are standing on the precipice of a severe sanitary catastrophe,” warned Ricardo Paz Ballivian, a Bolivian political consultant and analyst. The blockades have also prevented emergency vehicles from reaching hospitals, resulting in at least six confirmed deaths. On May 27, President Paz signed Law 1731, which restores the military's authority to intervene in domestic protests alongside the police.