Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz declared a nationwide state of emergency on Saturday following weeks of anti-government protests that have paralyzed the country. The government deployed the army and bulldozers to remove roadblocks set up by demonstrators, which had severely disrupted daily life and transportation across major cities, according to AFP.

For more than six weeks, labor unions, indigenous groups, and coca growers have staged protests, blocking roads with stones, logs, and other obstacles. These blockades have caused acute shortages of fuel, food, and medicine, inflicting billions of dollars in economic losses and posing a threat to the country’s first non-socialist government in two decades.

In a televised address early Saturday, President Paz warned that legal action would be taken against protesters and announced the 90-day emergency, restricting the right to assemble and authorizing domestic military deployment. Hours later, AFP journalists reported army and armed police convoys in El Alto, where residents were seen welcoming the security forces as they began clearing the blockades.