Legislature Approves 90-Day Extension of State of Exception, 100-58

The Plurinational Legislative Assembly's session, convened by VP Edmand Lara at 16:00 on Sept. 16, ran past 01:00 on Sept. 17 before approving Decree 5707's 90-day extension of the state of exception in force since June 20, with 100 of 158 legislators (122 deputies and 36 senators participating) voting in favor against 58 opposed — 21 more votes than the required threshold. Government Minister Marco Oviedo and Defense Minister Ernesto Justiniano argued the restrictions were needed to head off a reactivation of destabilizing blockades across roughly 20 economically linked conflict points in eight departments, while opposition figures aligned with Evo Morales, including floor questions of "¿para qué 90 días más?", argued no active blockade justified the measure. Protesters gathered peacefully at the Casa Social del Maestro near Plaza Murillo under police watch during the session; no clashes were reported.