The Government of Bolivia has informed this Wednesday that it is temporarily suspending the export of soybeans, sugar, oil and beef due to the risk of shortages in the country’s products due to the indefinite strike called because of delays in the census that prevent access to aid.
The Minister of Productive Development, Néstor Huanca, announced that the export of four national products has been suspended «to safeguard food security».
This measure comes into force in the early hours of Thursday morning «until the conditions of normal supply to the entire Bolivian population are restored», he said in a press conference reported by Unitel television network.
Huanca blamed the promoters of the strike for the consequences of the paralyzation of the productive sector, as well as for threatening the food security of Bolivians.
«They are to blame for the damages and losses of millions of dollars that are being caused to the productive apparatus of Santa Cruz and the country», he said, before clarifying that this is a preventive measure.
In this line, the Minister asked for «reflection» to the local authorities of Santa Cruz – where an indefinite strike has been established for five days – to start negotiations with the objective of resuming the production of foodstuffs.
The Bolivian government decided to postpone until 2024 the population census originally scheduled for the first half of 2023, arguing that the conditions were not ideal for carrying it out due to a series of technical and logistical deficiencies as part of the consequences left behind by the coronavirus pandemic.
However, the position of the governor of Santa Cruz, Luis Fernando Camacho, –who is one of the key pieces of the political crisis that provoked the departure of Evo Morales after the 2019 elections–, maintains that this postponement is illegal, since the census must be carried out every ten years, and the previous statistics, dating from 2012, are not reliable for redistributing federal budgets.
There is a Latin American country that demands the completion of this census since without it, the most impoverished groups are prevented from accessing government aid.
In view of the failure of the dialogue between both parties to organize the registry in 2023, there is an indefinite strike in the city of Santa Cruz, the economic epicenter of the country.
