US Warns Bolivia Unrest Threatens 1-Year-Old Government as Protests Shut Banks

5 articles · Updated · Reuters · May 19

Christopher Landau said he spoke with President Rodrigo Paz and was "very concerned" that Bolivia's escalating unrest could topple a government elected less than a year ago.
Early-May strikes have widened into nationwide protests by unions, miners, transport workers and rural groups demanding austerity rollbacks, relief from rising living costs and, in some cases, Paz's resignation.
La Paz banks temporarily closed some branches on Tuesday over security concerns as blockades and street unrest intensified.
Landau called the upheaval a coup financed by an alliance of politics and organized crime, and said Washington wants other South American governments to repudiate anti-institutional forces.
The crisis threatens a political opening after Paz took office in November, ending nearly two decades of leftist rule in Bolivia.

Is Bolivia's nationwide shutdown a popular uprising or a criminal-funded coup?

With the capital besieged and dialogue refused, is Bolivia spiraling towards civil war?