Christopher joined NGI as a Senior Editor for Mexico and Latin America in November 2018. Prior to that, he was a Senior Editorial Manager at BNamericas in Santiago, Chile. Based out of Santiago, he has covered Latin American energy markets since 2009 as a reporter, editor and analyst. He has an MA i Contact online >>
Christopher joined NGI as a Senior Editor for Mexico and Latin America in November 2018. Prior to that, he was a Senior Editorial Manager at BNamericas in Santiago, Chile. Based out of Santiago, he has covered Latin American energy markets since 2009 as a reporter, editor and analyst. He has an MA in International Economic Policy from Columbia University and a BA in International Studies from Trinity College.
FILE - Handwritten sign with messages that read in Spanish: "We demand solutions from the government", "Arce, don''t starve us" and "Solutions, not more problems", hang from vendors'' stalls at a street market in La Paz, Bolivia, Oct. 21, 2024.
FILE - Former President Evo Morales participates in an offering to Mother Earth before leading a march to Bolivia''s capital, as part of a political dispute with current President Luis Arce and to protest his handling of the economy, in Caracollo, Bolivia, Sept. 17, 2024.
FILE - A woman walks past a mural featuring socialist leaders, from left; former Bolivian President Evo Morales, late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and revolutionary Ernesto "Che: Guevara, at the bus terminal in Sacaba, Bolivia, Nov. 20, 2024.
Across what was once South America''s second-largest producer of natural gas, everyone is searching for fuel. Long lines of vehicles snake for several kilometers outside gas stations all over Bolivia. Some queues don''t budge for days. Bolivia''s fuel crunch follows a currency collapse that is increasingly disrupting economic activity and everyday life for millions of people, hurting commerce and farm production and sending food prices soaring. Mounting public anger has sent crowds into the streets in recent weeks, piling pressure on leftist President Luis Arce to ease the suffering ahead of a tense presidential election next year.
EL ALTO, Bolivia (AP) — Fuel is rapidly becoming one of Bolivia''s scarcest commodities.
Long lines of vehicles snake for several kilometers outside gas stations all over Bolivia, once South America''s second-largest producer of natural gas. Some of the queues don''t budge for days.
While frustration builds, drivers like Victor García now eat, sleep and socialize around their stationary trucks, waiting to buy just a few gallons of diesel — unless the station runs dry.
"We don''t know what''s going to happen, but we''re going to be worse off," said García, 66, who inched closer to the pump Tuesday as the hours ticked by in El Alto, a bare-bones sprawl beside Bolivia''s capital in the Andean altiplano.
Bolivia''s monthslong fuel crunch comes as the nation''s foreign currency reserves plummet, leaving Bolivians unable to find U.S. dollars at banks and exchange houses. Imported goods that were once commonplace have become scarce.
The fuel crisis has created a sense that the country is coming undone, disrupting economic activity and everyday life for millions of people, hurting commerce and farm production and sending food prices soaring.
Mounting public anger has driven crowds into the streets in recent weeks, piling pressure on leftist President Luis Arce to ease the suffering ahead of a tense election next year.
"We want effective solutions to the shortage of fuel, dollars and the increase in food prices," said Reinerio Vargas, the vice rector of Gabriel René Moreno Autonomous University in the eastern province of Santa Cruz, where hundreds of desperate truckers and residents flooded main squares Tuesday to vent their anger at Arce''s inaction and demand early elections.
In a similar eruption of discontent, protesters shouting "Everything is expensive!" marched through the streets of the capital, La Paz, last week.
Bolivians say Arce''s image has suffered not only because of the crisis but also because his government insists that it doesn''t exist.
"Diesel sales are in the process of returning to normal," Economy Minister Marcelo Montenegro said Tuesday.
Arce''s office did not respond to interview requests.
"The queues are getting longer and longer," said 38-year-old driver Ramiro Morales, who needed a bathroom after four hours in line Tuesday but feared losing his place if he went searching for one. "People are exhausted."
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