Bolivians block roads to protest fuel hikes

Bus and truck drivers and powerful citizens groups took to the streets of several Bolivian cities on Thursday to protest a fuel price increase in a challenge to leftist President Evo Morales.

The government's decision to slash fuel subsidies — sending prices soaring by as much as 83 percent after being announced on Sunday — has sparked outrage in a country rich in natural gas, landing Morales with one of the biggest crises of his five years in power.

Thursday's protests were generally peaceful but dozens of demonstrators set fire to toll booths on the main highway linking El Alto to neighboring La Paz, Bolivia's administrative capital. The protesters hurled sticks and stones at police, who used tear gas to clear the area.

Bus and truck drivers protested by blocking roads; public transportation was crippled in La Paz.

Morales, a close ally of fiery Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, enjoys solid support among Bolivia's poor indigenous majority but the rise in fuel price has angered his leftist base and trade unions have led demands for the increase to be reversed.

Morales, who announced wage increases on Wednesday in an apparent attempt to calm protests over the so-called "gasolinazo" measure, defended the price hikes again on Thursday as a vital tool to cut imports and spur lagging investment in oil output.

"This is the end of a neoliberal subsidy that caused corruption," Morales told a news conference, referring to the brisk trade in smuggling cheap Bolivian fuel to Peru.

The end of the fuel subsidies is expected to save the state about $380 million each year — equivalent to about 2 percent of gross domestic product.

At least 1,000 people from the sprawling slum city of El Alto marched to nearby La Paz on Thursday, one of many protests planned for the city.

"Evo, we're the people ... Correct this mistake," said Fanny Nina, head of FEJUVE, an influential group of neighborhood associations in El Alto, which has nearly 1 million residents and is traditionally a Morales stronghold.

Between 2003 and 2005, two Bolivian presidents were toppled by protests in which El Alto residents played a leading role.

Widespread protests
Elsewhere in highland La Paz, striking bus and truck drivers blocked bridges and road junctions and there was nearly no public transportation in the city.

Local media said attackers assaulted several bus drivers who went to work and isolated raids on shops were reported.

Similar incidents occurred in other cities but bus drivers scrapped plans to go on strike in eastern Santa Cruz, the country's economic hub and an opposition stronghold.

Despite persistent power struggles between the lowland east and highland west, Bolivia has enjoyed relative stability since Morales was elected in 2005 as its first indigenous president.

Miners, teachers and peasant farmers often take to the streets to press demands but most still back Morales because of his efforts to redistribute wealth from natural gas reserves.

But opposition to the fuel price increase has united a variety of groups who fear that food, transport and consumer goods will soon be out of the reach for many poor Bolivians.

Morales nationalized the energy industry soon after he took office, vowing to boost domestic fuel production. But progress has been slow and leading foreign companies have been reluctant to increase investments in exploration and refining.

"What we've got here is a problem linked to the energy industry nationalized in 2006, which has failed to avert oil imports," said Bolivian economic analyst Julio Alvarado.

Bolivia is one of South America's poorest countries but has the region's second-largest natural gas reserves, supplying neighboring Brazil and Argentina, but oil production is slight and does not cover domestic needs.