Bolivia

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Bolivian general arrested after failed coup attempt Led by Gen. Juan José Zúñiga vowing to “restore democracy,” armored vehicles rammed the doors of Bolivia’s government palace Wednesday in what the president called a coup attempt, then quickly retreated — in the latest crisis in the nation of 12 million people facing political and economic tensions. Read more.

Key points: Bolivians have increasingly been suffering the pains of slow growth, surging inflation and scarcity of dollars — a stark change from the prior decade that some called an “economic miracle.” The country’s economy grew by over 4% nearly every year in the 2010s until pitching into the abyss with the coronavirus pandemic. Today, it’s tapped out.   The uprising was the culmination of tensions that have been brewing in Bolivia for months. With economic despair as a backdrop, Arce and former leader Evo Morales have clashed in a political fight that has paralyzed the government.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ How Bolivia's coup attempt unfolded   Who is President Luis Arce?   How tensions in Bolivia fueled an attempt to oust Arce from power

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An attempted coup in Bolivia failed Wednesday after President Luis Arce called on the public to mobilize in defense of democracy. In response, soldiers and armored military vehicles withdrew from surrounding government buildings in La Paz. Former army chief Gen. Juan José Zuniga, who led the coup attempt, was detained shortly after he was seen storming into the presidential palace hallway. Bolivia has a long history of political instability, including military coups, and the failed takeover comes as the landlocked South American country of about 12 million people struggles with a spiraling economic crisis that has sparked street protests.

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Bolivia faces a shocking economic collapse Fuel is rapidly becoming one of Bolivia’s scarcest commodities. Long lines of vehicles snake for several kilometers outside gas stations all over Bolivia, once South America’s second-largest producer of natural gas. Some of the queues don’t budge for days. Read more.

Why this matters: Bolivia’s monthslong fuel crunch comes as the nation’s foreign currency reserves plummet, leaving Bolivians unable to find U.S. dollars at banks and exchange houses, disrupting everyday life for millions of people, hurting commerce and farm production and sending food prices soaring.   The fuel crisis has created a sense that the country is coming undone. Mounting public anger has driven crowds into the streets in recent weeks, piling pressure on leftist President Luis Arce to ease the suffering ahead of a tense election next year.   It’s a shocking turnaround for the landlocked nation of 12 million people that was a South American economic success story in the 2000s, when the commodities bonanza generated tens of billions of dollars under the nation’s first Indigenous president, former President Evo Morales. Morales, Arce’s one-time mentor, is his present-day rival in the fight to be the ruling party’s candidate next year.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ The top court in Bolivia says its former anti-drug chief can be extradited to the US on drug charges   Bolivia’s Evo Morales tells AP he’ll press on with a hunger strike until his rival accepts dialogue

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Shamans refuse to evacuate precarious cliff-top shacks in Bolivia despite government order

EL ALTO, Bolivia (AP) — The view is dizzying from the row of small huts that dot one of the mountainsides surrounding Bolivia’s capital. Inside the precarious structures, Aymara shamans pray to the Andean gods to protect them from the threat of collapse.

https://apnews.com/article/bolivia-shamans-cliff-evacuation-erosion-rain-2a75fb555e0066f4d675b015e6e92b15?

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Photos of Bolivians ushering in the Andean New Year 5533 with sunrise celebrations

EL ALTO, Bolivia (AP) — Bolivians gathered in the mountains and city viewpoints to celebrate the Andean New Year, a tradition rooted in pre-Hispanic culture and aligned with the southern hemisphere’s winter solstice.

https://apnews.com/photo-gallery/bolivia-andean-arymara-indigenous-new-year-celebration-56e07c931ae83b27a7e837d6ea38eb5b?

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Ahead of Bolivia’s Sunday election, how a shrunken piece of bread explains the country’s economic catastrophe For years, you could walk into a government-subsidized bakery anywhere in Bolivia and get a 100-gram roll for 50 centavos (7 U.S. cents), but as a cash crunch cripples flour imports and inflation squeezes budgets, bakers have almost halved the size of their staple bread. Early last year, rolls shrank to 80 grams, then 70, now 60. Read more.

Why this matters: The hallowed staple speaks to a state stuck in the past after 20 years under the state-directed economic model of ex-leader Evo Morales, and now struggling to pull itself out of its worst economic crisis in four decades.   The right-wing frontrunners, businessman Samuel Doria Medina and former President Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga, have proposed eliminating the politically combustible subsidies that underwrite Bolivia's social safety net.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Barred from Bolivia's elections, ex-leader Morales campaigns hard for invalid votes   Bolivia’s election may spell the end of its long-ruling left. Here’s what to know   Photos of Bolivia’s road to the polls under the shadow of an economic crisis

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Burnt offerings, whispering to mountains: Inside Bolivians' rituals for Mother Earth

Hundreds of people in Bolivia hire Andean spiritual guides like Hurtado to perform rituals every August, the month of “Pachamama,” or Mother Earth, according to the worldview of the Aymara, an Indigenous people of the region. Read More.

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Bolivia heads for its first presidential runoff, early results show August 17, 2025 Centrist Sen. Rodrigo Paz will face off against right-wing former President Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga, who finished second, on Oct. 19.

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Rodrigo Paz wins presidential runoff, becoming Bolivia’s first conservative leader in decades

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Rodrigo Paz, a centrist senator, will be Bolivia’s next president, preliminary results showed on Sunday, paving the way for a major political transformation after almost 20 years of rule by the Movement Toward Socialism party and during the nation’s worst economic crisis in decades.

https://apnews.com/article/bolivia-runoff-election-jorge-quiroga-rodrigo-paz-ef7643d07d8968452cdce784e75a7810?

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Miners clash with police in Bolivia as protests over fuel subsidies enter second week

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Bolivian miners set off dynamite sticks and launched fireworks at police on Tuesday, the eighth consecutive day of protests against economic reforms decreed by incoming President Rodrigo Paz.

https://apnews.com/article/bolivia-protests-miners-paz-reforms-subsidies-b2ce8e131786d7e45cace4d89044f351