Bolivian Government Repeals Decree That Eliminated Gasoline Subsidies
A person holding a doll with the image of Bolivia’s president, Rodrigo Paz, during a march this Thursday in La Paz (Bolivia). Photo: EFE/Luis Gandarillas
January 11, 2026 Hour: 7:33 pm
The government of Rodrigo Paz announced this Sunday that it is repealing Supreme Decree 5503, which has caused protests and blockades by the labor movement during the last month in Bolivia.
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Paz right-wing government announced its immediate replacement by a new regulation agreed upon with the organized popular movement, although maintaining “the economic part of the decree,” according to the Minister of Government, Marco Antonio Oviedo.
Oviedo specified that the Government has decided to annul the most controversial articles, but preserving economic issues.
“We maintain the economic part of the decree, the rest we annul, and a new decree will be worked on jointly with social organizations,” he said, adding that, as part of the agreement with the social movement, “the pressure measures and blockades must be lifted immediately.”
The agreement is the result of a dialogue held this day between the top leaders of the Central Obrera Boliviana (COB) and the peasant federations with six ministers, including that of the Presidency, José Luis Lupo; of Economy and Public Finances, José Gabriel Espinoza, and (Interior), Marco Antonio Oviedo.
In a statement to the press, Mario Argollo, executive secretary of the Central Obrera Boliviana (COB), which led the mobilizations against the decree, told members of the movement that “their struggle has not been in vain, it has borne fruit” and confirmed that, following the signing of the agreement with the Executive, the pressure measures which have been installed throughout the country are being lifted”.
