DOMINANT ANGLE
Bolivia is taking a contrarian approach: the government has eliminated its diesel subsidy while its neighbors are strengthening theirs, accepting the surge in prices and the transportation sector's outrage.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
Supreme Decree 5716, signed on Friday, September 18, eliminates all diesel subsidies and sets its price at 17.95 bolivianos (approximately 1.63 dollars) per liter.
- 02
Spokesman José Luis Gálvez estimated the former subsidy cost at 55 million dollars per week, over 6 billion dollars per year.
- 03
Brazil pays 1.28 dollars per liter, Chile 1.32, Argentina 1.52: only Peru (1.96 dollars) now exceeds the price, according to the Cámara de Agropecuarios de Cochabamba.
ANALYSIS
La Paz, Monday, September 21, 2026. In Bolivia, the debate is not about preserving a subsidy, but about managing its sudden disappearance. President Rodrigo Paz announced on Friday, September 18, the total elimination of public aid for diesel, whose price immediately jumped to 17.95 bolivianos per liter, approximately 1.63 dollars, set by Supreme Decree 5716 signed on Friday evening. Presidential spokesperson José Luis Gálvez acknowledged that the measure "will cause more inflation" but defended it as "the correct decision", recalling that the State spent 55 million dollars per week, more than 6 billion per year, to maintain the subsidy.
The new Bolivian price now exceeds almost all neighboring countries: according to a comparison cited by the Chamber of Agro-Entrepreneurs of Cochabamba, Brazil pays 1.28 dollars per liter, Chile 1.32, Argentina 1.52 - only Peru, at 1.96 dollars, remains more expensive. YPFB, on the other hand, assures that the price of gasoline remains unchanged and denies any shortage at service stations.
The street responded quickly. The tanker sector, which transports fuel from the Pacific and the Atlantic, threatened to paralyze unloading throughout the country; interprovincial transporters in La Paz announced a blockade of roads starting Monday; in Santa Cruz, 4,000 minibuses stopped circulating despite a municipal agreement maintaining the ticket price at 3 bolivianos. The Six Federations of the Tropics of Cochabamba, a union stronghold of former President Evo Morales, declared a state of emergency and linked the measure to "foreign interests".
The government opened dialogue tables on Sunday in Santa Cruz with transporters, obtaining an agreement with three departmental federations that avoids the stoppage of service on Monday. Municipalities are already calculating the bill: La Paz is demanding an additional 63 million bolivianos to maintain its PumaKatari bus network. Poultry farmers in Santa Cruz anticipate a price increase for chicken, from 15 to 22 bolivianos per kilo. On the ground, the National Hydrocarbons Agency seized more than 10,000 liters of fuel in a week of operations against resale and illegal storage, while customs is streamlining import procedures to secure supply in a country that remains under a state of exception.
SOURCES (3)
- La Razon BOMEDIUM
- Sin la subvención al diésel, Bolivia supera precios de casi todos los países de la región
- Eliminación del subsidio al diésel provoca remezón: hay alertas de paros y movilizaciones
- Gálvez admite que precio del diésel provocará inflación, pero dice que 'es la decisión correcta'
- Yacimientos descarta incremento en precios de la gasolina
- Brujula DigitalMEDIUM
- El DeberMEDIUM
