Bolivia teeters on the brink
Bolivia is in chaos, and it's bad news for nearly everyone — protesters can't afford food, the president is cornered, and the country may be headed for a coup.
- New center-right president Rodrigo Paz cut decades-old fuel subsidies, sending gas and diesel prices soaring and pushing food prices up across the country.
- Months of protests by farmers, miners, teachers, and unions have brought severe food, fuel, and medicine shortages, with seven dead and roadblocks cutting off the capital.
- A land reform law scared small farmers into thinking their land could be seized, adding fuel to the unrest before it was repealed.
- The U.S. backs Paz strongly, with Marco Rubio vowing not to let "criminals and drug traffickers" topple him, framing the protests as an attempted coup.
- Ex-president Evo Morales, now a fugitive facing trafficking charges, is cheering the protests on, though he likely can't rally mass support himself.
Outlook: Paz is stuck — keep negotiating with people who want him gone, or send in the army and risk the political blowback that could end his career.