Interior Minister Rios accused the protesters of attempting to ‘hold entire cities hostage.’ Since Sunday night, social and political organizations that support former President Evo Morales have been blocking roads and avenues in protest of the worsening living conditions caused by the economic crisis.

Besides demanding the resignation of President Luis Arce, citizens are also calling for Evo Morales to be allowed to run as a presidential candidate.

In Cochabamba, authorities confirmed at least nine roadblocks on highways, affecting the supply of basic goods and fuel. The protests have also disrupted traffic between the departments of Sucre and La Paz. “Evistas” have cut off vehicle circulation in municipalities such as Sipe Sipe, Mizque and Vacas.

Commenting on the roadblocks, Interior Minister Roberto Rios accused the protesters of attempting to “hold entire cities hostage.” “The goal is not to improve the country’s situation, but to push for a candidacy that does not meet legal requirements,” he said, noting that a Constitutional Court ruling prohibits indefinite reelection and bars Evo Morales from running for president again.

“In Chuquisaca, drivers decide to join the national strike and roadblock this Tuesday.”

Undeterred by threats, Indigenous leader Juan Enrique Mamani said the protests would continue “until the Arce government steps down.”

Drivers, students, university professors, farmers and rural residents have also announced protests against the economic crisis. Some of these social groups have already begun blocking roads in Potosi, Sucre and Pando, while also participating in urban demonstrations in cities such as El Alto and La Paz.

Amid concerns about increasing unrest, Defense Minister Edmundo Novillo warned that if the protests spiral out of control, the government may deploy the Armed Forces to ensure democratic stability and public safety. The Arce administration said it will use all legal mechanisms to prevent the protests from undermining the country’s institutional framework.

"I am going to decree the Popular Consultation. The Constitutional Court will undoubtedly decide, it may or may not decide, according to the existing norms", affirmed the head of State.

The President assured that the exercise of citizen participation will be issued via decree because there was never a favorable concept in the Senate of the Republic about the proposal.

Despite the fact that last May 14 the plenary of the Senate voted on the initiative and declared it sunk with 47 votes in favor and 49 against, the president assures that due to the cheating and irregularities that occurred at the time of the vote of the congressmen, it cannot be considered that there is a definitive ruling on the matter.

In Petro's opinion, this entity incurred in a formal defect by not reading his request for a previous concept and the text of the questions presented before the vote of the senators, in accordance with the provisions of the fifth law of the congressional regulations.

After announcing that he will call for the consultation by decree, he wished that the Constitutional Court would help to rebuild the concept of the Social State of Law, the search for equality and human freedom in Colombia.

"Hopefully the Constitutional Court, then, will help us to reestablish not only this principle of the Social Rule of Law, but also the principle of popular sovereignty, as stated in the Constitution, the only owner of power in Colombia is the people. And no one can silence the people", he said.

On the other hand, he asked the people to decide at the ballot box on the relevance or not of a labor reform.

"And if you doubt that the majority is not with the labor reform, let them vote on it and we will see who has the majority. It is up to the president to silence himself in the campaign. Only the No Committee and the Yes Committee will do the campaigning," he exclaimed.

The questionnaire designed for the consultation Petro refers to contains a dozen questions on labor.

The first question asks whether he agrees that day work should last a maximum of eight hours and not be extended beyond 18 hours, while the second question asks whether it is appropriate to pay a 100 percent surcharge for work performed on a day off, Sunday or holiday.

The content of the remaining ones refers to the extension of labor possibilities for the disabled, the granting of preferential credits for micro, small and medium-sized companies and that informal employees be formalized or have access to social security.

Brasilia, Jun 3 (Prensa Latina) In a gesture that defies borders, deputies of the Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB) and representatives of the Cuban parliament renewed here today the promise of brotherhood among peoples, invoking solidarity as a bridge before the winds of global injustice.

This Tuesday, the doors of the National Congress were opened not only to protocol, but to the soul of the peoples.

It was not just any meeting, nor just another diplomatic appointment: it was the embrace of the Caribbean and the Sertão (a territory that evokes Brazil's deep and resilient identity), of shared utopias and intertwined resistances.

Within the framework of the eleventh Brics Parliamentary Forum, initially composed of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, and recently expanded, the PCdoB received the official delegation of the National Assembly of People's Power of Cuba.

The meeting, held at the headquarters of the parliamentary leadership of the PCdoB, was an act of political affirmation, but also a rite of revolutionary affection.

Ana María Mari Machado, vice-president of the Cuban Assembly and of the Council of State, headed the delegation, accompanied by Deputy Alberto Núñez, young legislator Ian Pedro Carbonell and Ambassador Adolfo Curbelo, among other diplomats.

They were warmly received by deputies Márcio Jerry and Daniel Almeida, strong voices of the PCdoB and heirs of the tradition of friendship between Brazil and Cuba.

Jerry, also vice-president of the Government in the Lower House, did not spare words: "All our permanent solidarity to Cuba. This is a historic relationship that honors and commits us".

The meeting was part of the parallel program of the forum, which discussed issues that go beyond the conjuncture: multilateral integration, sustainable development and parliamentary cooperation.

From the status of associated country, Cuba has found in the Brics a platform to share its vision of a multipolar and fair world.

Articulated by figures such as Congresswoman Alice Portugal, the Brazil-Cuba Parliamentary Friendship Group has made the political gesture an art of resistance.

In visits to Havana, in votes against the unjust U.S. blockade, in public statements, the group always raises its voice against the economic siege that has weighed on the island for more than six decades.

Congresswoman Portugal said it clearly: “Defending Cuba is not only a political cause, it is a humanitarian cause”.

The meeting also recalled the agreements signed in key areas such as health, food and clean energy. “Our cooperation can save lives, it can sow the future,” Núñez expressed with conviction.

The Cuban delegation also evoked the role of women in their Revolution, the cultural battle against machismo, the feat of developing vaccines in the midst of the siege. In each intervention, the word was not only speech: it was testimony.

Brasilia, Jun 4 (Prensa Latina) Brazil's ruling Workers' Party (PT) submitted a request to the Supreme Court to adopt measures in view of the possibility that former President Jair Bolsonaro, accused today of being a coup leader, may flee the country.

This request arose after it was confirmed that congresswoman Carla Zambelli, a self-confessed Bolsonaro supporter, left the national territory after being sentenced to 10 years and eight months in prison.

Convicted of commissioning an invasion of the Judiciary's computer system within the framework of the 2022 electoral process, Zambelli announced that she left Brazil and intended to settle in some nation in Europe to denounce the persecution she suffers from the Supreme Federal Court (STF).

In addition, the PT's lawsuit against Bolsonaro takes into account the leave of absence of the former president's son, parliamentarian Eduardo Bolsonaro, who settled in the United States and from there attacks Brazilian democratic institutions.

"It is clear that the next one to flee will be Bolsonaro. That is why I have just filed a request with the Supreme Court to take action on a letter sent by me and the PT bench, which lists restrictive measures to prevent him from escaping Brazil," wrote on the social network X the petista lawmaker Rogério Correa.

He argued that, if it was already serious in March, the situation now takes on new dimensions.

With the escapes of his son and Zambelli “we believe that there are more than enough reasons for Bolsonaro to wear an electronic anklet, to be forbidden to leave Brasilia without judicial authorization, as well as to approach embassies”.

Correa also requested that the court evaluate the possibility of preventive imprisonment given the constant interference in the judicial process taking place in the superior court against the ultra-right politician and his close entourage for attempted coup.

The day before, the Attorney General's Office requested before the STF a preventive imprisonment order against Zambelli. According to local media, the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office also requested the blocking of his assets and the inclusion of his name in the red list of the International Police (Interpol).

In the same case, Lindebergh Farias, leader of the PT bench in the Chamber of Deputies, had requested the Attorney General's Office to provisionally imprison Zambelli for representing a concrete risk to the application of criminal law, public order and the integrity of the national democratic institutions.

According to Farias, shortly after the conviction, the defendant fled the country without notifying the Supreme Court and began to remain outside the scope of criminal jurisdiction.

Reports revealed that she raised close to US$50 thousand through donations via Pix (instant payment system), which were used to finance her stay abroad, which constitutes a deliberate attempt to frustrate the execution of the sentence.

This step aims to demonstrate the ‘unity and courage’ of the center-liberal coalition to continue pursuing its reform agenda. On Tuesday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that his coalition government will face a vote of confidence in Parliament on June 11. He described the move as “offensive, not defensive,” following a presidential election in which the ultranationalist Karol Nawrocki defeated his liberal-backed candidate.

Tusk is taking this step to demonstrate the “unity and courage” of the entire center-liberal coalition to continue pursuing its reform agenda despite the election of an ultraconservative president who has pledged to follow in the footsteps of the current head of state, Andrzej Duda.

For Tusk, the confidence vote is an opportunity for a “new offensive momentum” for the coalition. He stated that the vote will be followed by a “periodic evaluation of the government’s work and of individual ministries” beginning in July. This evaluation aims to “identify areas for improvement” and could lead to cabinet changes, although “those who have done their jobs well have nothing to fear,” he said.

In a televised interview Monday, the Polish leader declared that his center-liberal coalition is “not willing to retreat even a step” and acknowledged the possibility of a “difficult cohabitation” with the new president.

Tusk said he has an “emergency plan” to govern even if Nawrocki tries to block “beneficial changes” included in his program starting Aug. 6, when Nawrocki assumes the presidency. He emphasized that his goal is to ensure “everyone, both inside and outside the country, understands the gravity of the moment.” However, Tusk’s initiative has not been welcomed by all members of his coalition, which includes parties ranging from center-left to center-right.

Szymon Hołownia, speaker of the lower house and leader of Poland 2050 — one of the coalition’s main parties with a Christian democratic orientation — called the confidence vote a “bad idea” and a “theatrical gesture” on Monday.

Hołownia argued that the government already holds a majority in the lower house and that, instead of a confidence vote, it should “seek a new opening and present the people with a work plan.”

He said the government would survive until the 2027 parliamentary elections because there is no alternative but advocated for showing the country “a fresh start” after what he called the “yellow card” of the presidential election, in which liberal candidate Rafal Trzaskowski narrowly lost.

Hołownia also expressed willingness to cooperate with Nawrocki, stressing the need for stability — a sentiment echoed by Tusk on Monday night, though Tusk also warned again of the possibility of “difficult cohabitation” with the new president.