BOLIVIA'S CAPITAL UNDER SIEGE AS TWO WEEKS OF PROTESTS PUSH PRESIDENT PAZ TOWARD POLITICAL COLLAPSE

Two weeks of nationwide protests and road blockades have left Bolivia's political capital, La Paz, effectively under siege less than six months into the presidency of Rodrigo Paz. Business groups say the closures are draining more than $50 million per day from Bolivia's economy, with roughly 5,000 vehicles stranded on the country's main highways, according to NPR. Markets in La Paz have been emptied of basic goods and vital hospital oxygen reserves have been depleted, with the government reporting that at least three people died after emergency vehicles were blocked from reaching medical centers.

The demonstrations have been organized by the Bolivian Workers' Central, peasant unions, and miners. On Tuesday, the Bolivian army attempted to clear roadblocks outside the capital, though the effort produced limited results. Former President Evo Morales, who is evading an arrest warrant on charges of alleged sexual abuse of a minor, marshaled the latest march from a hideout in Bolivia's remote tropical lowlands, according to Al Jazeera.

President Paz, who secured a surprise electoral victory last year, inherited what he describes as a "bankrupt state," facing fuel shortages and an inflation rate that hovered near 20 percent. His adversaries have reproached him for what they call a sluggish response to the worst economic crisis the country has seen in four decades. The situation is further complicated by an open feud between Paz and his vice president, former police officer Edman Lara, while the Christian Democratic Party — the vehicle for Paz's rise to power — quickly fractured within the legislature after the election.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said Tuesday that he had spoken with Paz to affirm Washington's support for Bolivia's legitimate government, signaling international concern about the stability of South America's landlocked nation. The Washington Post reports that the crisis has drawn comparisons to Bolivia's turbulent political upheavals of previous decades, raising questions about whether Paz can survive the political pressure long enough to implement any meaningful economic reforms.