Bolivia’s economic crisis fuels distrust in government amid debates over ‘failed’ coup

Bolivians struggle with economic crisis, dollar shortage, and political turmoil, impacting businesses and livelihoods across the nation.

Signs reading “I’m buying dollars” line the doors of Víctor Vargas’s shoe shop in the heart of Bolivia’s biggest city, a desperate attempt to keep his family business alive.

Just a few years ago, Mr. Vargas, 45, would unlock the doors at 8 a.m. to a crush of customers already waiting to buy tennis shoes imported from China. Now, his shop sits hopelessly empty.

“Right now, we are in a dreadful crisis,” he said. “No one buys anything anymore. … We don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Bolivians like Mr. Vargas have been hit hard by economic turmoil in the small South American nation — fueled by a longtime hyper-dependence on, and now shortage of, U.S. dollars.

The economic downturn has been exacerbated by an ongoing feud between President Luis Arce and his ally-turned-rival former President Evo Morales in the lead-up to next year’s presidential election. Many Bolivians impacted by the crisis have lost trust in Mr. Arce, who even denies the crisis.

“Bolivia has an economy that’s growing. An economy in crisis doesn’t grow,” Mr. Arce said. That was contradicted by both economists and dozens of Bolivians.

That deep distrust came to a head on Wednesday following a spectacle which the government called a “failed coup d’etat” and opponents including Mr. Morales called a staged “self-coup” meant to earn the unpopular leader political points before elections.