By Monica Machicao
LA PAZ, June 2 (Reuters) – Bolivia’s defense minister stepped down on Tuesday after a month of anti-government protests, two government sources said, marking the highest-level departure yet under centrist President Rodrigo Paz who is himself facing calls to resign.
The election of Paz, who took office in November, ended almost two decades of leftist rule. Protesters, including labor unions and groups loyal to former leftist President Evo Morales, are demanding Paz’s government roll back austerity measures and address rising living costs.
One of the sources said Ernesto Justiniano, a vice minister involved in anti-drug trafficking efforts, has been tapped to replace current Defense Minister Marcelo Salinas.
Education Minister Beatriz Garcia also resigned on Tuesday evening, local media reported.
Earlier in May, President Paz announced he would reorganize his cabinet in the wake of the protests. Labor Minister Edgar Morales stepped down in the shakeup, alleging a lack of understanding with Paz, according to local media.
The president’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the changes.
The conflict began with a workers’ strike in May that escalated into highway blockades that cut off access to the neighboring cities of La Paz and El Alto, which are home to some 2 million people.
The mayor of El Alto, Eliser Roca, told journalists on Tuesday that the city is losing about $6.5 million a day due to blockades. He urged protesters to dialogue with the government, and noted that small business owners were suffering.
“Many families live day to day … they also have the right to eat,” he said.
Paz last week took steps towards declaring a state of emergency that could send troops into the streets in an attempt to restore calm.
“The central government did not take advantage of the opportunity to reconcile with its people, with that 54% (of people) the president speaks about who brought him to power, but unfortunately, once he arrived (to power), he forgot about his electoral base,” Mario Argollo, executive secretary of the Bolivian Workers’ Center labor group, told protesters gathered in El Alto on Tuesday, where they burned tires and called for Paz’s resignation.
Bolivian Minister of the Presidency Jose Luis Lupo in an interview with Reuters last week ruled out any possibility of Paz resigning and said calls for the president to step down were “anti-democratic.”
Paz rose to the presidency on pledges to open Bolivia to foreign private investment in projects related to mining, hydrocarbons, lithium, and energy.
He took office as Bolivia contended with acute shortages of fuel and dwindling foreign currency reserves.
Paz in April replaced his energy minister, naming to the role Marcelo Blanco, former vice minister of electricity and renewable energies.
(Reporting by Monica Machicao and Daniel Ramos; Writing by Iñigo Alexander and Daina Beth Solomon, Editing by Natalia Siniawski and Lincoln Feast.)
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