Cañeros, Arroceros and Valle Producers Give Government Blockade Ultimatum

Sugarcane growers and rice growers concentrated around Montero (Santa Cruz department), together with producers from the Santa Cruz valleys and the Bloque de Transporte Unidos, announced they would begin road blockades unless the government repealed Decree 5716, warning the diesel-subsidy elimination threatens to bankrupt already fuel-scarcity-battered agricultural sectors. The announcement widened the pressure-measure threat beyond La Paz/El Alto transport unions to Santa Cruz's productive sectors.