On Friday, December 19, 2025, the streets of Bolivia’s largest cities, La Paz and Santa Cruz, fell eerily silent. Usually bustling with the clamor of buses, taxis, and vendors, these urban centers were brought to a standstill as public transportation workers staged a widespread strike. Their grievance? A sudden, government-mandated 100% fuel price increase that has sent shockwaves through Bolivia’s economy and ignited a wave of public outrage.
According to the Associated Press, the strike was no small affair. Protesters in La Paz blocked major street corners, while in Santa Cruz and other cities, public transportation ground to a halt. Long lines snaked outside shuttered bus terminals, and residents—fearing further price hikes—rushed to local markets to stock up on food and essentials. The cost of living, already on a steep incline, soared even higher as both food and transportation prices doubled almost overnight.
“The government has given the people the worst Christmas gift,” declared Edson Valdez, a prominent leader of the transportation union. His warning was clear: if the government failed to restore subsidies for gasoline and diesel, the protests could soon engulf the entire nation. Many Bolivians echoed this sentiment, including homemaker Natalia Rodríguez, who lamented, “Not only have transportation fares doubled, food prices are through the roof, they’ve risen again.”
Meanwhile, the government stood firm. Presidency Minister José Luis Lupo, addressing the mounting unrest on December 19, insisted, “The decree will not be touched. It is not negotiable. It is a painful measure, but it must be done.” While Lupo signaled a willingness to negotiate public service rates with local mayors and drivers, he made it clear there was “no other way.”
The roots of Bolivia’s crisis run deep. President Rodrigo Paz, who assumed office just over a month ago, inherited an economy in dire straits. After two decades of leftist rule, the country’s foreign currency reserves were depleted, inflation was on the rise, and fuel shortages were crippling domestic industries. “We inherited a country hurt in its economy, hurt in its reserves, without dollars, with rising inflation, without fuel and with a ransacked state,” Paz explained, according to AP reporting.
The government’s decision to double fuel prices is part of a broader effort to close what officials describe as a “populist cycle that encouraged waste and corruption.” Lupo asserted that the harsh new measures are necessary “to stabilize the economy to generate growth.” The Ministry of Economy projects that accumulated inflation will close out 2025 at a staggering 22%, with a fiscal deficit of 12.5% of gross domestic product. Cutting fuel subsidies, officials say, will save Bolivia $3 billion—a sum they plan to redirect toward much-needed investments.
But these savings come at a cost. For years, Bolivia has imported half its gasoline and nearly all its diesel, selling them domestically at half price. This policy, while popular, has drained the nation’s foreign currency reserves and left the government with few options but to act. The removal of subsidies has triggered not just the transportation strike, but also a sharp rise in food prices, further straining everyday Bolivians.
In an attempt to soften the blow, Paz’s administration has rolled out a 20% wage increase and pledged to preserve social bonuses for the country’s poorest sectors. These measures have drawn support from business leaders and even the U.S. government. On December 18, a delegation of U.S. business leaders met with President Paz to discuss the government’s plans for attracting new investment, signaling cautious optimism from international stakeholders. The Legislative Assembly, for its part, approved an initial $550 million loan from the Andean Development Corp. (CAF) to help stabilize the economy and pay down debt.
Bolivia’s fuel crisis, however, is not unfolding in isolation. Across the hemisphere, fuel supply disruptions have become increasingly common, with ripple effects felt far beyond South America. In the United States, much of the Northeast—spanning as far west as Missouri—has reported significant fuel supply disruptions as of December 20, 2025, according to Land Line Magazine. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) responded by issuing a regional emergency declaration, in effect through December 26, to address urgent fuel transportation concerns.
States in the affected region, including Connecticut, have enacted their own emergency measures. On Wednesday, December 17, Connecticut joined the list of states declaring an emergency due to fuel supply issues. The state's exemption, effective through December 26, applies to the intrastate transportation of diesel, heating oil, kerosene, propane, gasoline, and biodiesel to homes, businesses, and government entities. This emergency order waives maximum driving time regulations for motor carriers providing direct assistance during the crisis, allowing them to deliver critical fuel supplies more efficiently.
The exemption comes with strict conditions: drivers must carry a copy of the emergency order, and it only applies when they are transporting fuel for emergency relief. Once a driver or vehicle is used for non-emergency cargo, or is dispatched elsewhere, the exemption terminates. Motor carriers with out-of-service orders or suspended registrations are barred from taking advantage of the relief. Drivers can return to compliance with standard regulations after 24 hours off-duty following their extended hours.
The Connecticut Department of Transportation, for its part, has been working overtime. On December 14, hundreds of snow fighting trucks were deployed across the state to keep roads clear—an effort complicated by the ongoing fuel shortages. The department urged drivers to exercise caution, reminding them, “Don’t crowd the plow,” as winter weather and fuel disruptions converged to create challenging conditions.
The parallel crises in Bolivia and the U.S. Northeast highlight a stark reality: fuel supply disruptions, whether triggered by domestic policy shifts or logistical bottlenecks, have immediate and far-reaching consequences. In Bolivia, the government’s gamble to end subsidies aims to restore economic stability, but it risks deepening social unrest and hardship for ordinary citizens. In the U.S., emergency exemptions and coordinated responses are keeping critical fuel supplies moving, but the situation remains precarious as winter sets in.
As both nations grapple with the fallout from fuel shortages and price spikes, their leaders face difficult choices—balancing economic imperatives against the needs of their people. The coming days will reveal whether these measures can restore calm or whether the unrest, like the price of fuel, will continue to rise.
