The Bolivian government has faced its first social conflict since President Rodrigo Paz Pereira took office. This followed bakers' decision to break off dialogue with the executive branch and immediately raise the price of 'battle bread' (a French baguette), a staple product in the national diet.
The National Confederation of Bakers of Bolivia (Conapabol) announced that the price will increase from 0.50 to 0.80 Bolivianos in La Paz and El Alto. The confederation denounced that the government failed to provide subsidized inputs for three months, which the state-owned Empresa de Apoyo a la Producción de Alimentos (Emapa) is supposed to distribute to maintain the official price.
Conapabol's leader, Rubén Ríos, justified the measure, stating that the situation for the sector had become unsustainable to maintain the previous price. 'We can no longer subsidize the population for another three months; we want the real price of bread in Bolivia,' he said.
Ríos lamented the 'lack of response' from the Deputy Minister of Commerce and Internal Logistics, Gustavo Serrano, who was supposed to convene a key meeting with the sector to review the subsidy scheme for flour and other inputs. The meeting, scheduled for this Wednesday, never materialized, leading Conapabol to break the existing agreement and implement the increase immediately.
The conflict, erupting in the third week of Paz's administration, opens up a sensitive social front for a government that promised economic stability and price control.
Deputy Minister Serrano called the bakers' decision a 'blackmail' of the country and announced that the executive branch will not yield to pressure. He added that the technical teams from the Ministry of Productive Development are verifying the actual costs.
The state subsidy covers part of the cost of flour, yeast, sugar, and shortening to keep the price of 'battle bread' low. This system, operated by Emapa, is one of the pillars of inflation containment in Bolivia, where basic foodstuffs have a high weight in the family economy.
