Bolivian miners protest fuel subsidy cuts

(Patria) - Hundreds of Bolivian miners protested on Wednesday against the government's abolition of long-standing fuel subsidies, AFP reported.
The new center-right president Rodrigo Paz last week announced the end of subsidies that leftist governments have used to freeze fuel prices for the past twenty years.

Miners with helmets took to the streets of the administrative capital La Paz on Wednesday, as riot police blocked their entry to the main city square.
Demonstrations last week led to traffic jams in cities across the country.

"We want this decree to be abolished," said Mario Argollo, the main leader of the country's largest union.

Argollo said the government decree is fueling inflation, with rising prices for meat and transport. Bus ticket prices have doubled.

The abolition of subsidies is part of the reforms Paz announced to end the economic crisis. Bolivia has a serious shortage of foreign currency, and annual inflation rose to almost twenty percent in November.

Economy Minister Gabriel Espinoza said on Tuesday that reducing gasoline and diesel subsidies would result in savings of ten million dollars per day.