Workers organized by a key union rally in Bolivia against scrapping fuel subsidies

LA PAZ, Bolivia — Bolivian miners marched in downtown La Paz, the country's capital, and union-organized protesters took to the streets elsewhere on Monday, the first day of a strike over the government's scrapping of fuel subsidies that have been blamed for contributing to dollar shortages and economic turmoil.

The protests were called for by Bolivia's Central Union of Workers but many trade groups, including transportation workers, did not join the rallies. Some union leaders said they would go along with the elimination of the subsidies, which had been in place for almost two decades.

Bolivia's centrist President Rodrigo Paz, who took office on Nov. 8, ended the fuel subsidy that previous left-wing governments had maintained for more than 20 years, keeping gas prices at $0.53 per liter. An emergency decree by Paz last week put the price of gasoline at around $1 per liter.

''The country is sick and must be healed,'' Paz said on Sunday in a town hall meeting that was broadcast on state television.

''Every day, $10 million is spent on a subsidy that benefits smugglers'' who resell the subsidized fuel in Bolivia and abroad, Paz added.

Business groups in Bolivia have backed Paz's new economic measures, which are expected to ease dollar shortages and make it easier for companies to import goods and capital.

''We knew that at some point the subsidies would end'' said Luis Paco, a union leader representing merchants in the city of El Alto. ''There were no negotiations over the new adjustments, but we knew this was inevitable.''

Imports of gasoline and diesel — costing the government up to $3 billion a year — had depleted foreign currency reserves and worsened Bolivia's biggest economic crisis in four decades, following the decline of the nation's natural gas exports.

But unions that have traditionally aligned with left-wing political leaders — including those representing miners and coca growers — went on strike on Monday, demanding that fuel subsidies be reinstated.

La Paz police sealed off access to the central square where the palace housing the government is located, to prevent demonstrators from entering.

In the neighboring city of El Alto, local councils blocked some avenues. There were also road blocks on highways in six of the country's nine regions, according to Bolivia's highway administration agency.

''We are in the streets in a struggle that will continue until that decree eliminating the subsidy is repealed,'' mining leader Andrés Paye told reporters. ''This government approves regulations to favor business owners and punish the poor.''

The bus drivers unions did not join the strike, after negotiating over the weekend with Paz's new government.

''We will continue to work, to serve the people'' said Lucio Gomez, a leader of a transport workers union.

Carlos Cordero, a political science professor in La Paz, said the union behind the strike was trying to ''show its strength'' ahead of next year's elections for governors and mayors. But the relatively low turnout on Monday showed that the union has been weakened, he said.