Bolivia’s embattled president says will take a 50 percent salary cut

play Live Sign upShow navigation menu.css-15ru6p1{font-size:inherit;font-weight:normal;}Navigation menuNewsShow more news sectionsAfricaAsiaUS & CanadaLatin AmericaEuropeAsia PacificMiddle EastExplainedOpinionSportVideoMoreShow more sectionsFeaturesEconomyHuman RightsClimate CrisisInvestigationsInteractivesIn PicturesScience & TechnologyPodcastsTravelplay Live Click here to searchsearchSign upEconomy|Business and EconomyBolivia’s embattled president says will take a 50 percent salary cutPaz says the salary cut for him and cabinet ministers shows the government's 'commitment' to the country'. xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogleAdd Al Jazeera on GoogleinfoA resident walks past police near barricades set up by anti-government protesters on a highway in El Alto, Bolivia, Saturday, May 23, 2026 [File: Juan Karita/AP Photo]By ReutersPublished On 25 May 202625 May 2026Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz says he will cut his salary and those of his cabinet ministers in half amid a growing political crisis marked by protests and roadblocks demanding his resignation. Speaking at an event in Sucre, the country’s constitutional capital, on Monday, Paz said the pay cuts demonstrated the government’s “commitment to the country”. The cuts come as Bolivia enters its fourth week of political and social unrest. Protests have caused growing supply-chain issues in the cities of La Paz and El Alto, where severe shortages of food, fuel and medicine are hitting markets, hospitals and petrol stations. Protesters are pressing Paz’s centrist government to roll back austerity measures and address rising living costs, with demands ranging from increasing wages and restoring a fuel subsidy that had kept prices at 2006 levels. The protests come amid concerns that the president is aligned with big business and elites, and ruling in favour of them – especially as he did not appoint any Indigenous or working-class people to his cabinet, a contrast from the past. Paz, who took office in November and inherited an economy in turmoil, has defended spending cuts and fuel subsidy reductions as necessary to stabilise public finances. Advertisement AboutAboutShow moreAbout UsCode of EthicsTerms and ConditionsEU/EEA Regulatory NoticePrivacy PolicyCookie PolicyCookie PreferencesAccessibility StatementSitemapWork for usConnectConnectShow moreContact UsUser Accounts HelpAdvertise with usStay ConnectedNewslettersChannel FinderTV SchedulePodcastsSubmit a TipPaid Partner ContentOur ChannelsOur ChannelsShow moreAl Jazeera ArabicAl Jazeera EnglishAl Jazeera Investigative UnitAl Jazeera MubasherAl Jazeera DocumentaryAl Jazeera BalkansAJ+Our NetworkOur NetworkShow moreAl Jazeera Centre for StudiesAl Jazeera Media InstituteLearn ArabicAl Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties & Human RightsAl Jazeera ForumAl Jazeera Hotel PartnersFollow Al Jazeera English: