Five injured, 16 arrested in Bolivia fuel price protests

Dec 31, 2010, 5:01 GMT

La Paz - Five policemen were injured and 16 demonstrators arrested Thursday in Bolivia after a day of street protests against a recent fuel price hike.

The government raised fuel prices by 83 per cent on Sunday. Government plans to raise the minimum wage for employees in the health, military, education and police sectors by 20 per cent from currently about 115 dollars a month to offset the price hikes did not prevent the mass protests.

In the central city of Cochabamba, four policemen were injured in clashes with students and other protestors demanding a repeal of the price increase.

'One of the officers is in critical condition,' Erbol radio reported, adding that about 16 people had been arrested for the violence occurring in the city centre.

A fifth policeman was injured by explosives in the capital La Paz, a senior police official said.

In cities across the country, protestors damaged public and private buildings, including offices of organizations linked to President Evo Morales' Movement for Socialism party, and blocked roads, news reports said.

Protestors in El Alto, a city near La Paz, demanded the resignation of the town's mayor, Rene Patana, for not speaking out against the fuel price increases, and marched to the capital to protest at the seat of government.

La Paz Mayor Luis Revilla, a former ally of Morales, led a protest march together with members of the progressive Movement Without Fear (MSM), another former ally of the president.

MSM leader Juan del Granado called on Morales to hold a referendum on fuel prices.

The protests are the strongest sign of dissent against the government of Morales in the past five years, as the rise of fuel prices has triggered food shortages, a run on bank savings, increases in the price of bread from 0.4 Bolivianos to 0.7 Bolivianos (6 US cents to 10 cents), and a hike in transport fares of between 50 and 100 per cent.

In a televised statement on Wednesday, Morales admitted that his decision would be hard on the economy and on families, but said it had been necessary to prevent petrol smuggling to neighbouring countries.

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