Bolivia farmers protest diesel price hike in Cochabamba

Several hundred coca farmers and supporters of former Bolivian president Evo Morales demonstrated in Cochabamba on Friday against Bolivia's diesel price increases, defying a state of emergency that bans such gatherings.

The protesters demanded that President Rodrigo Paz rescind a decree doubling the diesel price for consumers who buy in large quantities, including farmers, from $0.80 to $1.50 per liter.

Bolivia's government raised the price as part of an effort to curb fuel smuggling to other countries, which is aggravating fuel shortages. On Wednesday, the government announced relief for small farmers, saying they will be able to buy up to 2,500 liters of fuel per month at the old $0.80 per liter price.

The concession did not satisfy the demonstrators. One protester pulled a tractor with a rope while shouting, "No diesel, no diesel!" Farmer Elena Aine said the increases "greatly affect the rising cost of basic necessities for all."

Police did not disperse the protesters. The demonstration was the latest held despite the state of emergency declared by Paz in June after weeks of mass anti-government protests.

Paz came to power last year during Bolivia's worst economic crisis in four decades, marked by shortages of fuel and dollars. One of his first moves was to eliminate fuel subsidies implemented by the outgoing socialist government, but long queues for fuel remain in some places.

Morales, who led Bolivia from 2006 to 2019 and is a critic of Paz, told Red America television on Friday: "This government doesn't have much of a future. Even less so Rodrigo Paz as a politician."