Police in Bolivia clash with disabled demonstrators

Disabled protesters clash with police in La Paz, Bolivia.

(Image credit: Aizar Raldes/AFP/Getty Images)

published 26 May 2016

On Wednesday, police in Bolivia used high-pressure water cannons against disabled activists trying to get to the presidential palace to demand an increase in benefits.

The activists have been camping in La Paz for a month, and want a five-fold increase in their state benefits, the BBC reports; they receive 500 bolivianos ($14) a month. Many of the activists were in wheelchairs, and the government said they attacked officers with knives and harmful gases.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.