Bolivia's embattled president says will take a 50 percent salary cut

Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz has announced that he will implement a 50 percent salary reduction for himself and his cabinet ministers in response to the escalating political crisis characterized by widespread protests and roadblocks calling for his resignation.

In a statement made during an event in Sucre, the constitutional capital of Bolivia, Paz indicated that these salary reductions are intended to reflect the government's "commitment to the country."

These cuts come at a time when Bolivia is grappling with its fourth week of significant political and social unrest. The ongoing protests have led to increasing supply chain disruptions in urban areas, particularly in La Paz and El Alto, where critical shortages of food, fuel, and medicine are affecting markets, healthcare facilities, and gas stations.

Demonstrators are urging Paz’s centrist administration to reverse austerity measures and confront rising living costs, expressing demands that include wage increases and the reinstatement of a fuel subsidy that maintained prices at levels from 2006. Additionally, there are growing apprehensions regarding the president’s alignment with large businesses and elites, especially as he has not appointed any Indigenous or working-class representatives to his cabinet, diverging from previous administrations.

Paz, who assumed office in November and took over an economy in distress, has maintained that the reduction in spending and the cuts to fuel subsidies are essential steps to stabilize public finances.