World News for Students of English

02-06-2026 15:00

Nearly a month of anti-government protests and road blockades have pushed Bolivia to a breaking point, according to the President.

Demonstrators, including the Red Ponchos indigenous group, are blocking major roads into the capital, La Paz.

There are about 60 roadblocks across the country that cause severe shortages of food, fuel, and medicine in big cities. People have to wait in the cold for days to get gasoline. The protesters refuse to talk with the government and demand that the President resign or call for immediate elections.

President Rodrigo Paz was elected last October during a difficult economic crisis, but he later angered low-paid and rural Bolivians by stopping fuel subsidies and joining right-wing parties. Although the government made some changes to land reform and the minimum wage, it didn’t stop the anger. Now, the President is considering a state of emergency, which means soldiers could enter the streets to end the blockades.

Difficult words: blockade (closing a road or a place to stop people or goods from passing), severe (very bad, serious, or extreme), subsidy (money paid by a government to keep the prices of important things low).

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