The bakers’ unions began the 48-hour strike on Monday, which caused product shortages in the capital city, La Paz, and in the city of El Alto. About 765,000 people live in La Paz, while the population of El Alto, the highest large city in the world, located at 4,150 meters above sea level (13,620 ft.), is close to 1.2 million.
The Minister of Defense, Reymi Ferreira, and the Minister of Productive Development, Veronica Ramos, said in a press conference that the soldiers of seven military units of the two cities will produce daily 70,000 units of the 60-gram bread piece known as “marraqueta.”
According to Ferreira, if the strike initially convened for two days persists, bread-making in the military barracks of those two cities will continue and increase. For his part, the Minister of Productive Development explained that the price of flour in 2013 was equivalent to $48 per bag of 50 kilos, while this year the product costs about $21, which shows that the state grant is no longer necessary.
According to the Government, the subsidy to the price of flour, which was applied for four years, is no longer justified due to the current abundance of cheap flour imported from Argentina. In addition, Bolivia has increased wheat production in recent years, although imported flour remains cheaper. The authorities insist that under the present situation and cost structure the profitability in the production of unsubsidized bread is guaranteed.
In other regions of the country such as Santa Cruz (East) and Tarija (South), the manufacture and sale of bread is normal because in these areas no subsidies to the price of flour had been applied in the past.
