Star Metro - Bolivia protest sees violent clashes, looting in La Paz

Calm was returning to the capital in the afternoon, where clouds of tear gas shrouded the streets, shops were shuttered and supplies ran low due to protest blockades choking routes into the city.

Thousands of farmers, miners, teachers, workers from other sectors and Indigenous communities have led weeks-long protests calling for wage increases, economic stability and an end to the privatization of state-owned companies.

The Andean nation is suffering its worst economic ordeal in the past four decades, with year-on-year inflation hitting 14 percent in April.

Those on the streets are furious with President Rodrigo Paz, a conservative who took office less than six months ago following two decades of socialist rule.

He scrapped two-decade-old fuel subsidies that had drained the treasury's international dollar reserves, but so far he has failed to stabilize fuel supplies.

Earlier Monday, riot police used tear gas to prevent protesting miners from entering the main square, where government buildings are located, while the demonstrators hurled explosives and stones back at them.

Images released by the government showed protesters looting an office and making off with furniture, computers, monitors and other equipment.

Authorities have not reported any injuries, but AFP observed at least two wounded protesters.

- 'Chaos' -

The public prosecutor said Monday it was issuing an arrest warrant for the leader of the country's largest union, accusing him of terrorism and inciting crime.

The warrant for Mario Argollo, secretary-general of the COB, is "in the hands of the general command of the Bolivian Police," Attorney General Roger Mariaca told a press conference.

The COB has joined calls for Paz to step down.

"We want him to resign because he's incompetent. Bolivia is going through a moment of chaos," 60-year-old farmer Ivan Alarcon, who traveled around 90 kilometers (60 miles) from Caquiaviri in western Bolivia to protest, told AFP.

Supporters of former socialist president Evo Morales, who was in power from 2006 to 2019, arrived in La Paz on Monday after marching for seven days from Oruro, about 180 kilometers south of the capital.

After clashing with protesters Saturday, police and military forces managed to temporarily open some roads into La Paz as the city suffered severe shortages of food, medicine and fuel.

One protester died in those skirmishes after falling into a ditch, deputy interior minister Hernan Paredes said Monday.

Protesters regained their positions on Saturday and resumed their blockades on Monday.

The Bolivian Highway Administration reported at least 28 roadblocks on the country's highways on Monday.

The government has been flying food into the capital since May 10.

Although it has struck deals with several protest groups, including urban teachers and some miners, others have urged for escalation.

O.Ouellet--SMC