Transportation paralyzes key cities in Bolivia due to fuel crisis and lack of payments

Published at: 27/03/2026 10:49 AM

The transport sector in Bolivia carried out an almost total stoppage of activities that critically affected the cities of La Paz and El Alto, as well as the country's main interdepartmental routes. The measure of force, promoted by unions in the sector, comes as a response to poor fuel quality and non-compliance with economic compensation agreements for vehicle damage.

The main concern of carriers lies in the quality of the gasoline supplied by Yacimiento Petrolífera Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB). Leaders report that current fuel is causing severe mechanical damage to their work units.

Limbert Tancara, executive secretary of the Departmental Federation of Free Transportation of La Paz, publicly denounced an alleged irregularity in the marketing of the products.

“It seems that terrible quality gasoline, the one that has been bounced off in Santa Cruz, is being sold to us as special gasoline. We even suspect that the 3.74 Bs special is now being passed off as premium at 6.96 Bs,” said the leader.

The conflict is aggravated by the lack of payment for damages, a responsibility that the sector attributes directly to the state company YPFB as the entity responsible for importing.

The strike has left thousands of citizens without options for urban and intercity mobility, putting pressure on the authorities to establish an immediate technical solution on fuel octane and to make compensation processes for the economic damages caused to the union transparent.

Mazo News Team