By Monica Machicao
LA PAZ, June 2 (Reuters) – Bolivia’s defense minister stepped down on Tuesday after a month of anti-government protests that have blocked roads across major cities, two government sources said, marking the highest-level departure yet under centrist President Rodrigo Paz who is himself facing calls to resign.
The election of Paz, who took office in November, ended almost two decades of leftist rule. Protesters, including labor unions and groups loyal to former leftist President Evo Morales, are demanding Paz’s government roll back austerity measures and address rising living costs.
One of the sources said Ernesto Justiniano, a vice minister involved in anti-drug trafficking efforts who served as anti-drug czar in 2002 and 2003, has been tapped to replace current Defense Minister Marcelo Salinas.
The president’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The conflict began with a workers’ strike in May that escalated into highway blockades that cut off access to the neighboring cities of La Paz and El Alto, which are home to some 2 million people.
Paz in late May said he would reshuffle the cabinet in response to the protests, and last week took steps towards declaring a state of emergency that could send troops into the streets in an attempt to restore calm.
Bolivian Minister of the Presidency Jose Luis Lupo in an interview with Reuters last week ruled out any possibility of Paz resigning and said calls for the president to step down were “anti-democratic.”
Paz rose to the presidency on pledges to open Bolivia to foreign private investment in projects related to mining, hydrocarbons, lithium, and energy.
He took office as Bolivia contended with acute shortages of fuel and dwindling foreign currency reserves.
Paz in April replaced his energy minister, naming to the role Marcelo Blanco, former vice minister of electricity and renewable energies.
(Reporting by Monica Machicao and Daniel Ramos; Writing by Iñigo Alexander and Daina Beth Solomon, Editing by Natalia Siniawski and Lincoln Feast.)
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