LA PAZ, May 14 (Reuters) - Explosions were heard during violent clashes in La Paz on Thursday, as mining groups took to the streets, calling for the resignation of centrist President Rodrigo Paz.
Demonstrators confronted police as they tried to enter Plaza Murillo, the city's central square, throwing what appeared to be dynamite sticks, according to a Reuters witness.
Local miners are demanding greater access to explosives and fuel, as well as revisions to contracts and the implementation of mining
regulations. The miners, along with farmers and other union-aligned groups, have been demonstrating as the country's economic and fuel crisis worsens due to a shortage of U.S. dollars and falling domestic energy production.
Some demonstrators called for the president's resignation, just six months after he was sworn into office. The centrist Paz won a resounding electoral victory last year, promising market‑friendly reforms to pull the country out of its worst economic crisis in a generation.
Authorities said they have negotiated with protesters on issues ranging from fuel subsidies and social welfare benefits to a revised agrarian reform law, known as Law 1720, which was repealed on Wednesday after backlash from Indigenous and rural organizations.
Shortly before Thursday's clashes, a delegation of about 20 miners entered the presidential palace in the main square for a meeting with the president, who had convened several ministers for emergency talks on the miners’ demands, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Bolivia's Economy Minister Jose Gabriel Espinoza said the government was “open to dialogue” as he entered the presidential palace.
As part of the protests, roadblocks have been set up in recent days, leading to shortages of food, medical supplies and oxygen for hospitals, according to reports by Reuters TV, which witnessed thousands of trucks stuck on highways.
Government officials have blamed the opposition and former leftist President Evo Morales for stoking the demonstrations.
Morales, who last week was held in contempt for not appearing in court in a trafficking case, supported those protesting on X, saying on Thursday that “as long as the structural demands such as fuel, food, and inflation are not addressed, the uprising will not be halted.”
Paz's election ended two decades of leftist rule in the country.
(Reporting by Reuters staff, Editing by Inigo Alexander, Cassandra Garrison, Lucinda Elliott and David Gaffen)
