Rubio Baselessly Smears Bolivia’s Protestors as “Criminals and Drug Traffickers” |
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In the midst of a wave of mass protests in Bolivia, Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X that the United States “stands squarely in support of Bolivia’s legitimate constitutional government,” smearing the protesters as “criminals and drug traffickers” who he would not allow to “overthrow democratically elected leaders in our hemisphere.”
Rubio’s comments on Bolivia came after three weeks of protest in La Paz, Bolivia, as Indigenous groups and workers erected road blockades across the city, demanding the resignation of President Rodrigo Paz. The protests then spread across the country, led by union members, miners, transport workers, peasants and Indigenous people.
President Rodrigo Paz has only been in office six months. When Paz, a pro-business conservative and Trump ally, took office, he ended nearly two decades of an Indigenous left-wing coalition government and promised “capitalism for all.” He also ended two decades of fuel subsidies, promising “economic shock therapy,” free market regulations, and restored relations with the U.S.
An earlier wave of protests had taken shape in December 2025, after Paz lifted fuel subsidies and began his efforts to transform the economy. The lifting of fuel subsidies “provoked an immediate economic shock,” with the price of gasoline rising by 86 percent and diesel by 160 percent. Protests and marches lasted for 24 days........