Aircraft tapped to restock shelves in protest-hit Bolivia

LA PAZ, Bolivia－Unrest in Bolivian cities is restricting food and fuel supplies to parts of the country, leading to shortages and price hikes.

Bolivian Interior Minister Arturo Murillo told reporters that the interim government was using aircraft to transport supplies to some towns cut off by roadblocks set up by supporters of former president Evo Morales, who resigned early this month and took up asylum in Mexico.

"We are spending what it takes on flights so the people won't go without supplies," he said.

The roadblocks are affecting the administrative capital La Paz, along with El Alto, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz, Sucre, Potosi and Oruro, among other cities, according to TV news, which showed empty shelves and stands at local markets.

In La Paz, the prices of some basic foods have doubled, Xinhua reporters saw on visits to shops.

"A box of eggs that used to cost 21 bolivianos ($3) has gone up to 50 bolivianos," said a housewife who gave her name as Marina.

A meat vendor who called herself Mery gestured to her empty stand.

"Before the unrest, a kilo of premium beef cost 40 bolivianos. Now you have to pay 100 bolivianos. In the worst-case scenario, you can't even find any," said Mery.

Chicken products from the cities of Santa Cruz and Cochabamba have become scarce.

In a TV report, Cochabamba's traditional La Cancha market was shown as having low supplies of fruit and vegetables and several empty butchers' stands.

The Poultry Association in Cochabamba said it was unable to make deliveries of chicken and eggs to La Paz because of the roadblocks. The producers group called on the Bolivian Air Force to make its aircraft available for the delivery of goods and produce.

Several cities in western Bolivia were found to be short of liquefied petroleum gas for use by both households and industries.

On Sunday, police chief Rodolfo Montero said officials hoped to negotiate with Morale supporters in El Alto, where they had blocked access to a state-owned oil facility.

Morales' supporters refuse to recognize the authority of Jeanine Anez, an opposition senator who declared herself interim president after Morales resigned.

Bolivia has been plagued by protests since Morales won a fourth presidential term in elections on Oct 20. The opposition refused to recognize his victory, claiming the result was fraudulent.

Morales announced his resignation on Nov 10 after the military demanded his departure. He arrived soon after in Mexcio, which had offered him political asylum.

At a special session of the Senate on Nov 12, without members of the ruling Movement Toward Socialism party, Anez assumed the presidency of the chamber, which allowed her to proclaim herself interim president of the country.

But Morales' party denounced Anez's self-proclamation as illegal.

NATACHA PISARENKO/ASSOCIATED PRESS