Bolivia is at breaking point. For over forty days, the cities of La Paz and El Alto, along with the regions of Oruro, Potosí, and Cochabamba, have been strangled by blockades impeding the passage of food, goods, and people by road. Demonstrators seek the resignation of President Rodrigo Paz.

The blockades are a colossal display of worker and indigenous power against an unpopular right-wing government. But the mobilizations are far from unified, and these frictions have the potential to create a disturbing power vacuum and to escalate a dangerously unstable political and economic climate.

Meanwhile, the government is resorting to increasingly repressive tactics as it struggles to contain a conflict that is moving rapidly beyond its control. Ninety people have been arrested, and many injured in the disputes. Leaders of trade unions have been reportedly kidnapped off the street, and a number of them imprisoned. In a public statement, the trade union confederation, the Central Obrera Boliviana (COB), denounced the government for initiating a “manhunt” against its leadership.