Bolivia detains protest leader Vicente Salazar and seeks six‑month preventive detention

Bolivian police captured Vicente Salazar, the executive of the Federación Departamental Única de Trabajadores Campesinos “Túpac Katari,” on 4 July 2026 in El Alto. After initially closing his vehicle’s windows and resisting, Salazar was taken to the Special Crime‑Fighting Force (FELCC) in La Paz. The Ministry of Government confirmed he is being investigated for five alleged crimes – terrorism, public incitement to commit offenses, criminal association, attacks on the safety of transport services and attacks on the safety of public services – linked to more than 50 days of road blockades that disrupted supply chains, caused shortages of food, fuel and medicine, inflicted economic losses estimated at around $3 billion and resulted in at least 14 deaths. Prosecutors have asked a court to impose a six‑month preventive detention, which a judge approved, placing Salazar in the high‑security Chonchocoro prison.

In a parallel development, Bolivian authorities also detained agricultural union leader Bisende Salasar, head of the Túpac Katari farmers’ federation, for his role in the same blockades. Salasar faces similar charges of public incitement, terrorism and criminal association, and his arrest follows a government‑issued complaint that the protests caused severe shortages across the country. Both arrests are part of a broader investigation that officials say will also target former president Evo Morales and other organizers of the month‑long protests.