Bolivian president cuts own, ministers’ salaries by 50% to calm anti-government protests

Under intense pressure from nationwide blockades demanding his resignation, Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz announced on Monday a 50% salary reduction for himself and his entire Cabinet.

The move is a direct attempt to appease labor unions and indigenous organizations that have kept the administrative capital of La Paz under a chokehold.

The announcement comes as the Andean nation enters its fourth consecutive week of paralyzing protests following the total collapse of dialogue between the government and protest leaders.

“This president, alongside his ministers, has made the decision—as part of our profound commitment and sacrifice for the country—to reduce our salaries by 50%,” Paz declared during a public address.

Prior to the decree, the president earned a monthly salary of 24,978 Bolivianos (approximately $3,617 USD), a cap that legally dictates the maximum salary for any public official in the country. With the reduction, his salary will drop to 12,489 Bolivianos (around $1,808 USD).

Paz assumed office in late 2025 on a platform built to dismantle two decades of leftist economic policies enacted by his predecessors, Evo Morales and Luis Arce.

Seeking to stabilize public finances, Paz pivoted toward the US, international financial institutions, and private business sectors while systematically distancing his administration from the country’s powerful labor unions.

Since early May, indigenous groups, miners, teachers, and factory workers have maintained relentless roadblocks. The disruptions have fractured national supply chains, triggering acute shortages of food, fuel, and medical supplies in major urban centers, devastating markets, and paralyzing hospitals.

While protesters demand a reversal of austerity measures to counter the cost of living, Paz has defended his spending cuts and the reduction of state fuel subsidies as necessary to stabilize the economy.

The salary cuts were announced just 24 hours after a highly anticipated dialogue between the government and indigenous leaders collapsed.

The Paz administration has repeatedly asserted that behind the social chaos lies former president Evo Morales, who they claim is manipulating the unions in a desperate bid to force a return to power. Morales was legally barred from competing in the 2025 election that brought Paz to power.

On Sunday, following the failed peace talks, Morales took to social media, stating that President Paz is left with only “two paths”: militarizing the nation or holding elections.

“Rodrigo Paz is orchestrating his own downfall on these roads,” Morales wrote on the US social media company X. “He faces a suicidal choice between militarization or finally fulfilling pacification through a transitional election within the next 90 days, as established by the Constitution, to avoid a conflict ridden with casualties.”

The former president is currently a fugitive from justice following an arrest warrant issued on May 11. Morales was declared in contempt of court after refusing to appear at his trial for rape and human trafficking, involving allegations that he fathered a child with a 15-year-old girl during his presidency in exchange for granting political and economic favors to the victim’s parents.