South America Watch Thread

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Bolivians Demand Immediate Resignation of President Paz
June 4, 2026

Introduction:

(Popular Resistance.org) On Tuesday, thousands of Bolivians gathered at an “open assembly” in the city of El Alto to reaffirm their demand for the immediate resignation of President Rodrigo Paz and to declare themselves in a state of emergency and permanent mobilization.

Participants also decided to intensify pressure measures, reject the alleged dialogue proposed by the right-wing government, and sign a unity pact with the Bolivian Workers’ Central (COB).

The open assembly was convened by the Federation of Neighborhood Councils (FEJUVE), an organization that mobilizes neighborhoods in El Alto and La Paz, which have participated in the protests taking place since early May.

“After days of conflict, there are more than 100 road blockades in seven out of the country’s nine departments,” outlet El Deber recalled, adding that shortages of food and fuel are being felt in major cities.

“The different sectors propose continuing the struggle for the resignation of President Paz, rejecting the entirety of his adjustment and plundering policies, which are aligned with the interests of imperialism in the region,” outlet La Izquierda Diario stated.

Read more here: https://popularresistance.org/bolivian ... ssembly/

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With rising crime on their minds, Peruvians to vote for president yet again

https://apnews.com/article/peru-preside ... 4aed64ff03

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Why the People of Bolivia Are Revolting
By Joseph Bouchard
June 18, 2026

Introduction:

(Common Dreams) For over six weeks now, Bolivia has been engulfed in a national revolt. What started as sectoral demands over public employee salaries, fuel subsidies, and land rights has metastasized into a full-throated cry for the resignation of Trump-aligned President Rodrigo Paz. The country is paralyzed by more than 100 road blockades that have severed the capital, La Paz, from the rest of the nation, cutting off food, fuel, and medicine. Ten people are dead, dozens more injured, and over 300 have been arrested. Journalists and activists have also been caught in the violence.

The government’s response has been a schizophrenic mix of hollow calls for peaceful dialogue and negotiation, and brutal repression. Paz has signed deals with some social sectors, and organized a Social Economic Council, while jailing the leaders of the groups he’s “negotiating” with.

Thousands of militarized police have been deployed, using tear gas, rubber bullets, and, according to persistent rumors the government denies, live ammunition. Leaders of various protest groups, including the Bolivian Workers’ Central (COB), the largest trade union in the country, and radical Aymara defense force Ponchos Rojos, have been jailed. The Wiphala, the sacred flag of Bolivia’s Indigenous majority, has been burned in public squares by counterprotesters while the state itself no longer displays it publicly.

As Argentinian President Javier Milei’s expatriated adviser Fernando Cerimedo put it, this government is fighting against “dirty leftists.” Cerimedo was reportedly crucial in deporting a human rights mission from Argentina this week. Protest leaders and politicians have been kidnapped in broad daylight, including one senator with the Movement Toward Socialism, taken by police in plain clothes.

Far-right groups and “The Resistance” have re-popularized the slogan, “Make the homeland, kill an indian,” which had become a popular rallying cry in the 2019 coup. Those same far-right groups were also seen in San Julian, near Santa Cruz, using illegal weapons and explosives against protesters, alongside state security forces. The Paz government has not rebuked any of these figures, statements, or actions, and instead cracked down further on the left.

Read more here: https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/bolivia-revolt

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Peru’s Keiko Fujimori Wins Presidential Election, in Latest Victory for Latin American Right
June 29, 2026

Introduction:

(The Guardian) Peru’s conservative president-elect Keiko Fujimori has vowed to restore “order and hope” after defeating left-wing candidate Roberto Sanchez, in the latest victory for a resurgent Latin American right.

Fujimori won the 7 June presidential runoff by the slimmest of margins, outpolling Sanchez by fewer than 50,000 votes out of the more than 18 million ballots cast, the final results showed.

Read more here: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026 ... s-runoff

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Peru’s President-elect Fujimori Says She Wants to Restore Ties with Mexico
July 11, 2026

Introduction:

(Al Jazeera) Peru’s President-elect Keiko Fujimori has announced she wants to restore diplomatic relations with Mexico, a move that could end the months-long diplomatic rift between the two countries.

“On my part, there will be every intention to restore relations between Peru and Mexico,” said Fujimori, who won Peru’s presidential runoff on June 7, as she left a public event in Lima.

The rupture was announced in November, after Mexico granted political asylum to former Peruvian Prime Minister Betssy Chavez.

She was part of the short-lived administration of left-wing President Pedro Castillo, who was elected during Peru’s last presidential race in 2021.

Additional Extract:

This year marked her (Fujimori’s) fourth presidential bid — and her first successful one. She is set to be sworn in on July 28, Peru’s Independence Day.

Read more here: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/p ... d9&ei=67