Updated on
Summary Transportation drivers' strike paralyses Bolivian cities while doctors continue on strike.
A transport workers strike caused chaos across Bolivia on Monday (May 07) at the start of a week of protests that hit both the government and opposition.Demonstrators blocked main streets in La Paz from the early hours of the morning. They were protesting plans by the local government, led by an opposition mayor, to take more control of transport services in a bid to impose more order on its traffic-heavy streets.The strike is set to last two days, but protesters say it could go on indefinitely if the local authorities do not back down in their attempt to regulate the transportation.Transportation leader Ilarion (ee-LAH-ree-ON) Quispe (kees-PEH) said the problems were ongoing.Many residents depend on the Bolivian capitals huge network of privately owned minibuses to get to work and school.Because of the strike, schools and universities were closed, while public and private companies said they would be lenient with employees who had difficulties getting into work.Local media reported that transport strikes took place in a least six of the countrys top 10 cities, including La Paz and El Alto.The nation has also been hit by serious strikes by doctors who have gone on for 40 days, leaving many citizens relying on emergency treatment. The doctors were angered by government plans to increase their working day from six to eight hours, without what they considered to be proper compensation or social benefits.
