Bolivia president Paz cuts salary in half amid protests

Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz said he would halve his and his cabinet ministers’ salaries amid a growing political crisis marked by protests and roadblocks demanding his resignation.

Speaking at an event in Sucre, the country’s constitutional capital, Paz said the salary cuts showed the government’s “commitment to the country.”

The pay cuts come as Bolivia enters its fourth week of political and social unrest.

The protests have caused increasing supply chain problems in the cities of La Paz and El Alto, where severe shortages of food, fuel and medicine have affected markets, hospitals and service stations.

Protesters are pressing Paz’s centrist government to roll back austerity measures and address living costs.

Paz, who took office in November and inherited a turbulent economy, argued that increasing spending cuts and subsidy cuts were necessary to stabilize public finances.